MIB Officers and Staff

Loren Brown

MIB President
President & CEO
Ascent Bank 

Loren Brown is CEO and President of Ascent Bank. He formed Ascent Bancorp in 2015 and worked with his great team to gather local investors to purchase First Security. Loren started his banking career as a Loan Administration Analyst at Mountain West Bank, NA and remained there in a wide variety of positions until its sale in 2014 with Loren serving as SVP/Cashier. Loren is a proud 2004 graduate of Carroll College with a Bachelor’s Degree double majoring in Accounting and Business Administration. While working at Mountain West, Loren attended the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania graduating in 2011. Loren believes that community banks are an integral part of our communities and is committed to making Helena and Montana a wonderful place to live and work. He is married to Michelle. The couple consider all of their four-legged animals their children. He loves spending time in the outdoors, pursuing all kinds of recreational opportunities that the great state of Montana offers, and writing bios.

Tim Schreiber

MIB Immediate Past President
SVP/Chief Credit Officer

Farmers State Bank

Amber Brown

MIB Vice President

President 
Peoples Bank of Deer Lodge

 Amber Brown is CEO and President of Peoples Bank of Deer Lodge.  Amber Brown joined Peoples Bank of Deer Lodge in August of 2000.  She began her career working as a Teller and quickly moved into new roles and responsibilities over her time there.  She serves on multiple local community boards including City of Deer Lodge Planning Board, Powell County Medical Foundation, and Discover Deer Lodge.

 Amber is passionate about community banking and knows that community banking is an integral part of successful business and people. 

 Her and husband, Beau, own and operate a small bowling center in their Deer Lodge community.  Amber is proud to have raised two amazing daughters in small town Montana.   Her off time is spent enjoying gardening and supporting her husband on the racetrack.

Clinton Gerst

MIB Secretary

President 
Bank of Bozeman

Clinton is the President of the Bank of Bozeman.  He moved to Bozeman from Texas in 2015.  Clinton started his over 30-year banking career in New York but fell in love with this part of North America when he ran Citibank’s office in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Clinton has a BS in petroleum engineering, magna cum laude, from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  Clinton and Joanne have two children – a daughter who is married and works in New York and a son who is a recent MSU grad and works for the city of Bozeman.

Clinton serves on the Board of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce and the MSU Community Banking Board.  He is a Representative-at-Large for the Texas A&M Leadership Council and serves on the Prospera Loan Committee.

Clinton sings in his church choir and enjoys hiking and skiing with his family. 

Laura Clark

MIB Treasurer 
President/CEO of Opportunity Bank of Montana and Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc.

Opportunity Bank

Laura Clark has demonstrated her commitment to community banking in Montana throughout her entire career.  Her experience spans over 40 years and includes a variety of executive positions with Montana Bancsystem, Bank of Montana System, Security Bank, Bankers Resource Center, First National Bancorp, Bank of Bozeman, and Opportunity Bank of Montana. 

After serving as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank of Bozeman, Laura joined Opportunity Bank of Montana in March 2014.  In her role as the President/CEO, Laura provides leadership for all functional areas of the Bank and has overall responsibility for managing and directing the Bank towards its objectives, policies, strategic plans, vision, and mission.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Montana State University – Billings.  She currently serves as a board member for ExplorationWorks, Montana Independent Bankers, and the Helena Rotary.  Laura is also a past participant of Leadership Montana, and she currently serves on the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) Legislative Committee.

James E. Brown

James Brown worked for six years in Washington D.C. as a congressional aide, prior to earning a master of laws degree in taxation while clerking for the Washington Supreme Court. He returned to Montana to practice over five years with the Helena law firm Doney Crowley Payne & Bloomquist, P.C., before starting his own practice, The James Brown Law Office, PLLC in the fall of 2012. 

Prior to being elected to public office in 2020, Brown lobbied the Montana Legislature on behalf of a number of business-oriented clients.  With this background, Jim brings more than 30 years of legislative and public policy experience and over 20 years of legal expertise to the Montana Independent Bankers Association.

Mr. Brown, a native of Dillon, is a fourth-generation Montanan who has worked in the hayfields and in the halls of Congress. He has interests in politics and international travel and also enjoys backcountry hiking and fishing. 

Terri James

Member Services/CONVENTION COORDINATOR

Montana Independent Bankers

For over 38 years Terri and her husband Mark have owned and operated businesses in uptown Butte. Terri’s parents also were self-employed, teaching her the strong work ethic she presents to every task and project of the association.

A highly respected and involved member of her community, Terri served on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Mainstreet Uptown Butte, a 37-year member of the Butte Chamber of Commerce, Founding Board Member of the Uptown Butte Christmas Stroll, and President of Evel Knievel Days. Terri currently serves on the board of directors of Montana Society of Association Executives.

According to Terri, her greatest achievements are raising her two children (Austin and Taylor) and being married to her best friend since 1984. She now lives in Beaverhead County near the beautiful Big Hole River and works out of the Dillon office. She enjoys gardening, snowmobiling, biking, skiing, fishing, and just about anything in the outdoors.