First American State Bank Celebrates 30 years
30th anniversary of First American – From engineering to banking (and woodworking)
April 11, 2025 – INTERMOUNTAIN JEWISH NEWS
By STEVE MARK, IJN Staff Writer
Regardless of the paths we follow in life, sometimes destiny has a way of changing our direction.
Jay Davidson is a perfect example. A Los Angeles native who later moved to Williston, ND, Davidson attended the University of North Dakota, earning a degree in engineering.
A perfect major to prepare for a career in the banking industry, right?
“The great thing about any STEM training is that you discipline your mind to think,” says Davidson. “The greatest thing I ever learned from engineering school was the ability to analyze and think, and you can apply that capability anywhere.”
So, an engineer became a banker, no matter the initial indication.
“To be involved in banking was something that I’d always wanted very deep in my heart,” Davidson says.
“My grandfather’s bank (American State Bank in Williston) got into trouble when the oil crisis (in the late 1980s) occurred,” says Davidson. “My dad was on the board with his brother, my uncle, and they asked me to join the board to help him out, to get him out of the hot water we were in.
“I realized, I just loved the business. It made sense to me.”
After working at his grandfather’s bank Davidson migrated to Colorado. In 1995, he founded First American State Bank in Greenwood Village. Davidson’s blueprint for success is as simple as it gets. “When someone walks into our bank,” says Davidson,“ there will be somebody from the bank with a big smile on their face. We go out of our way to greet them.
“Our tellers are probably the most important people in the bank because they interact with my customers more than I get to, and so we only hire the best and brightest people to do that.
“My job is to make my teller happy, so she makes my customer happy.
“We have a culture statement that we built when we first started the bank. It defines the simple things, like do unto others as you’d have them doing to you, respect people when you pick up the telephone and smile — that smile will be transmitted in your voice.
“Simple things, like integrity. What would you do when you’re all alone? Will you take the route of integrity or not?
“We expect you to take the route of integrity, whether somebody’s watching you or not.”
Now, marking the bank’s 30th anniversary, First American is still thriving, with assets over $260 million. It is no small thing for an independent bank to survive The Great Consolidation of early 2023 following the pandemic.
“It was extremely problematic, because it shut down business,” says Davidson. “It shut says Davidson. “It shut down transactions. But now, we have a really large component of high net worth. We have a lot of people who put a lot of money in the bank, and these people trust us.
“In the midst of COVID, people were still doing their own little transactions, but they’d do it mostly on mobile banking or online. The deal volume went way down. We weren’t making loans because nobody wanted them. We weren’t opening new accounts because nobody would come into the bank. There was a lot of confusion.”
It took great patience, skill and fortitude to navigate that storm. Davidson reflects on the market 30 years ago, compared to someone wishing to open an independent bank today.
“The regulatory environment has gotten very stringent and has made it very, very difficult to start a bank from scratch,” says Davidson. “The capital requirements, the regulatory requirements are pretty steep.
“The regulators would say, ‘Well, we’re just protecting the FDIC insurance by only allowing the best and the most well capitalized people out there.’ You’re also stifling innovation and getting involved in things that maybe you should not be involved in as a bank regulator.”
Davidson eschews any talk of expansion.
“We’re kind of unique in that I don’t have branches,”Davidson says. “I have all the retail products that you could want, but I’m not a consumer based bank. I’m more of a professional business owner type bank.
“Let’s say you’re buying an apartment building and you’re going to rent it out: I’m your bank, because I understand commercial real estate and I understand management.
“So, I don’t really want to build out a bunch of branches, and we are absolutely unique in that area. There are very few other banks that have a single location. What I’m finding now is that I’m pivoting from high net worth professionals, people my age, which is ancient.
“My daughter (Michelle Gruber) is also involved in the bank and she is helping me pivot into the millennials, her generation of business people.
“The reason I started getting into that is that I met the friends of my daughter and her husband, and I was blown away by these young people. They are just top-notch business people, very sincere, with high integrity and ethical standards. But, they don’t wear suits and ties. They don’t go the corporate route. They’re doing their own thing. And they’re my market for the future.”
When he is not greeting customers at the bank,Davidson could easily be found at his home, woodworking.
Yes, Davidson, 75, even draws a parallel between his life’s work and two of his favorite pastimes.
“I love fine furniture,” says Davidson. “I’m a woodworker. I build in the old style, so it’s heirloom stuff that will last forever.
“I also like shooting. I’ve been shooting since I was five years old, so I guess I’ve been shooting guns for 70 years, and I’ve never harmed anybody. I hate the rap that people give us.
“In woodworking, you have to plan things one step at a time. You can’t make side steps. There’s no cheating the system when you’re doing that.
“It takes time and, and you have to be precise. Just right.” Just like at the bank.
