Glacier Bancorp names CEO successor

A bank president from Salt Lake City has been chosen to succeed Mick Blodnick as president of Glacier Bancorp.

Randy Chesler will serve in a newly created position of president of Glacier Bank, the company’s sole banking subsidiary, while Blodnick will continue as president and chief executive officer of Glacier Bancorp and CEO of Glacier Bank until he retires at the end of 2016.

“It is our full expectation that Randy will succeed me as CEO,” Blodnick said in a press release. “I plan to work closely with Randy through the end of 2016 to ensure a smooth leadership transition.”

Chesler most recently served as president of CIT Bank, the Salt Lake City-based banking subsidiary of CIT Group. He has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

During his 10 years with CIT Bank, Chesler held various leadership positions, including president of small business lending and consumer finance.

While Chelser was at CIT, the bank’s total assets grew from less than $500 million to more than $20 billion.

Earlier in his career, Chesler was president and CEO of Size Technologies, a consumer-payments software company. He was manager of U.S. Bankcard for Associates First Capital, executive vice president of Visa U.S.A. and an executive at Citigroup.

As president of Glacier Bank, Chesler will report to Blodnick and will oversee Glacier’s banking businesses and other products and services.

Blodnick’s career with Glacier Bancorp, the parent company of Glacier Bank, has spanned 37 years, the last 17 years as president and CEO.

Glacier Bancorp conducted an extensive search for Blodnick’s replacement and considered several highly qualified candidates.

“Randy rose to the top not only in view of his talent and experience, but as a person with the leadership traits and quality of character that fit well with the Glacier organization,” Blodnick stated.

Chesler’s diverse background will complement the depth of community banking talent across Glacier’s 13 banking divisions, he added.

“As we continue our growth toward $10 billion in assets and beyond, we recognize the importance of adding management talent and perspective gained from leading large, diverse and growing banking organizations,” Blodnick said.

Chesler will assume the president position of Glacier Bank on Aug. 3.