Small towns and rural areas have a champion in Bernie Sinner, who invests himself in growing and sustaining communities in the Fargo area and beyond. 

Sinner, president and board member of BankNorth, serves on the boards of member community bank associations and has helped develop bank branches in North and South Dakota communities that other banks were leaving. He looks for progressive opportunities for small towns and was instrumental in introducing high-speed internet to Casselton, North Dakota, before many people knew what it was. Agricultural technology initiative Grand Farm is building its Innovation Campus in Casselton thanks in part to Sinner’s efforts. 

His significant impact on his community through volunteer service in a wide variety of initiatives and organizations earned Sinner the Casselton Business Association’s Bradley J. Burgum Community Service Award in 2010. 

Sinner began his banking career after graduating from Saint John’s University, returned to the family business and farmed with his brother-in-law for a few years and then went back to banking, bringing with him the Benedictine values of service, hospitality and community.