BVU and Bank Midwest Connect With Strategic Partnership
Strategic Partnership with Buena Vista University allows for employees of Bank Midwest, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive educational benefits.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and Bank Midwest have joined forces as Strategic Partners to strengthen their communities and the people they serve.
This partnership allows for employees of Bank Midwest, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost per credit hour for students enrolled in BVU’s convenient online/hybrid undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program.
“It’s important for both our employees and their dependents to have opportunities to pursue education, and a Strategic Partnership with BVU is a great way to help facilitate that.”
Bank Midwest Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Dykema, a 1990 BVU graduate
“It’s important for both our employees and their dependents to have opportunities to pursue education, and a Strategic Partnership with BVU is a great way to help facilitate that,” says Bank Midwest Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Dykema, a 1990 BVU graduate. “Anything we can do as an employer to help employees achieve their educational goals along the way we see as important.”
Bank Midwest has about 200 employees at 11 locations in the tri-state area, which includes Armstrong, Lake Park, Okoboji, Spirit Lake, and Wall Lake in Iowa. The 140-year-old employee-owned organization, which was founded in Wall Lake, has assets exceeding $1 billion, and is a full-service financial institution offering loans and traditional FDIC-insured accounts, as well as insurance, investment, and trust services.
“I’ve always been a strong proponent of a liberal arts education as it exposes you to a wide range of knowledge in many fields,” says Dykema, who double-majored in art and mass communication. “How to learn is an important thing, and my education at BVU enabled me to adapt to whatever came about.”
“Buena Vista University is eager to partner with Bank Midwest,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “Through this Strategic Partnership, we will work together to create opportunities and provide educational benefits to continue to strengthen our community’s workforce.”
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Strategic Partnerships at StrategicPartnerships@bvu.edu.