Former McHenry County Economic Development Corp. president to lead Blackhawk Bank expansion

ROCKFORD – A bank looking to expand in McHenry County has picked the longtime head of the McHenry County Economic Development Corp. to lead its effort.

Blackhawk Bank announced Wednesday that it appointed McHenry County businesswoman Pam Cumpata to be senior vice president for its strategic expansion into McHenry and Kane counties.

Cumpata will serve as senior vice president of business banking, in which she has more than 30 years of experience, according to a news release from Blackhawk Bank. She served as the president of the McHenry County Economic Development Corp. for the past eight years and on the board of directors for United Way of Greater McHenry County and Sage YMCA.

The bank looked at 11 counties on either side of the Illinois-Wisconsin border before choosing Elgin for its expansion.

“We understand keenly that diversification of our geography and market opportunities are responsible ways to expand our core competencies to new markets,” Blackhawk Bank President and chief operating officer Dave Adkins said. “Pam understands Kane and McHenry counties’ unique attributes and understands how to help its members capitalize on opportunity.”

Blackhawk Bank specializes in local community banking. It offers small-business counseling, a speaker’s panel of experts and financial products and services intended to improve its customers’ quality of life, according to the release.

Blackhawk has banking centers in Rockford, Belvidere, Machesney Park, Roscoe and Beloit, Wisconsin. It operates a mortgage processing center in Rockford and plans to add another bank in Janesville, Wisconsin, later this year. It had $689.2 million in total assets and $597.2 million in total deposits as of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“We’re expanding our footprint in communities where there is an opportunity and an expressed need for our unique selling propositions,” Blackhawk Bank’s board chairman and CEO Rick Bastian said. “We bring a very different approach to relationship development, and that style of banking resonates with the residents and business owners in McHenry and Kane counties.”

Cumpata has a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University in Chicago and attended Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management from 2005 to 2006, participating in the Women’s Senior Leadership Program.