Mindy Charski: Business Journalist, Content Writer, and Ghostwriter

01/01/2025

It's fun to start the new year with a byline. Happy 2025 everyone!

Stearns Bank is fostering trust, financial empowerment and meaningful relationships with Minnesota’s sizable Hmong community by establishing a branch in one of their cultural hubs.

06/25/2024

It was a treat to profile a fellow alum of WashU - especially someone so interesting!

A WashU education helped prepare John W. Davis, AB ’74, for assignments in an international world of espionage.

04/03/2024

Does your company have a chief culture officer? I found three community banks that do and explored why they are investing in a position to protect and develop culture.

Is culture something that falls into place naturally or something that is cultivated?

03/29/2024

My latest article for Next Avenue answers a question that many parents with juniors and seniors in high school may be asking:

College admissions teams have found that good old snail mail is an attention-grabbing novelty to the digital natives they target today

02/06/2024

These days, only a small number of bankers are embracing the challenge of the de novo process even as the need for new banks grows. I spoke with executives behind four de novos about their startup journeys and how they are serving their communities for this Independent Banker story:

De novos breathe new life into the banking sector, but activity is still far below its historic highs. That said, a new crop of community banks shows there’s great potential for success.

01/16/2024

My latest piece for Independent Banker explores how moving a manual commercial loan process to an all-digital platform has enabled The Killbuck Savings Bank Co. to handle commercial loan requests more efficiently and seamlessly.

With a new digital commercial loan solution, The Killbuck Savings Bank Co. has catapulted its commercial lending and loan origination system into the high-speed digital era.

09/21/2023

My latest piece for Independent Banker profiles V1BE, a new service that customers of Primis Bank can use to summon drivers—at no extra cost—to not only deliver debit cards but also to handle services like picking up and delivering money.

Inspired by a fateful food delivery, Primis Bank launched V1BE, a banking delivery service that serves both individuals and businesses.

09/13/2023

2023 marks the 30th year since the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) was listed in the U.S. I explore the most popular varieties of ETFs in this story for Thrivent.

Similar to stocks, bonds and mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are securities you can add to your investment portfolio. They're another way to potentially grow wealth while working toward your financial goals.

07/03/2023

With rising interest rates and inflation on the move, the word “consistency” doesn’t have an easy association with the current banking environment.

Yet, consistency in various forms has helped three very different community banks excel at commercial lending. They share some of their secrets of success in this story I wrote for Independent Banker.

04/20/2023

The first few weeks of an employee starting a new job are pivotal in terms of how they’ll connect to their new company and their role. I spoke with community bankers about how they have perfected their onboarding processes.

The first few weeks of an employee starting a new job are pivotal in terms of how they’ll connect to the bank and their role. We spoke with community bankers about how they perfected their onboarding processes.

03/04/2023

I explore some ways the SECURE Act 2.0 impacts small businesses in my latest piece for Thrivent:

American workers and their families gained new retirement savings opportunities when the SECURE Act 2.0 was signed into law in late 2022. The law builds on another retirement game-changer, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the original SECURE Act).

03/04/2023

Customer data fuels efficient and effective marketing these days. Community banks own an enviable amount of data, but not all are leveraging it to its fullest extent. I delve into why that is and how banks can begin to implement a first-party data strategy in this story for Independent Banker.

https://www.independentbanker.org/article/2023/03/01/market-your-community-bank-with-first-party-data?fbclid=IwAR1iJwZvqxDpn314Jrplk-Er6gXpM8myP2EAOOU9R2RrlbM8tEzZMTWAFT0

Customer data fuels efficient and effective marketing these days. Community banks own an enviable amount of data, but not all are leveraging it to its fullest extent.

02/01/2023

Many community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) have received an influx of capital from the Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). This piece for Independent Banker explores how three community banks are putting the money to good use.

When the U.S. Treasury created the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), it provided MDIs and CDFIs with an influx of capital that they’re using to help minority-owned businesses in their communities.

06/17/2022

Buying a new car today is not easy and not fun. I offer tips in my latest piece for NextAvenue:

With supplies low and demand high, dealers have more leverage and buyers must work harder

04/01/2022

What does the future of workplace flexibility look like for community banks? I explore the issue in my latest piece for the ICBA's Independent Banker magazine: https://www.independentbanker.org/article/2022/04/01/the-future-of-workplace-flexibility

03/05/2022

The Basics of Starting a Consulting Business: It's my latest piece for First Citizens Bank.

https://www.firstcitizens.com/small-business/insights/starting-a-business/basics-of-starting-consulting-business

Choosing your specialization, target audience and business structure are three of the first steps toward starting a consulting business.

02/28/2022

In my latest piece for Stacker Studio, I explore how saving when you're young can impact your overall wealth: https://stacker.com/stories/31224/how-saving-when-youre-young-impacts-your-overall-wealth

Using data from GoHenry, we detail how you can grow wealth over time by saving as little as $1 a day starting at the age of 5.

02/01/2022

This Texas-based writer doesn't get to write about Texans very often, so working on a cover story about community banks in the state was a delight: https://independentbanker.org/2022/02/community-banks-are-thriving-in-texas/

With the record growth of San Antonio, Houston and Austin, southern Texas is becoming a hub for business. Here’s how four community banks are thriving in this environment.