About Dakota Prairie Bank
History
Dakota Prairie Bank is a third-generation, family-owned bank that
has survived the obstacles of the past century, including the Great
Depression.
On June 25, 1906, Draper State Bank in
Draper, South Dakota was founded by George Hayes. After serving
four years in the Navy, George's son, Keith Hayes returned to Draper
in 1945 and began working in the bank with his father. George served
as President and operated the bank in Draper until his death in
1969, at which time Keith was named President of Draper State Bank.
In 1985, Keith
purchased the bank in Presho. Both banks operated under the name
Draper State Bank until 1996 when the name changed to Prairie State
Bank. Due to trademark issues the name changed to Dakota Prairie
Bank in 1997.
In 1999, George's grandson, Stephen Hayes was named President
and CEO of Dakota Prairie Bank. That year, the Hayes family and Chief Financial Officer
Leroy Louder
began looking at ways to grow the organization and pursue an
expansion into Fort Pierre. After 10 years of planning and hard
work, they broke ground on the new facility in November 2009.
Present
The Fort Pierre branch was completed in May 2010 and opened on
June 16, 2010. The new branch now serves as Dakota Prairie Bank's
main office and houses a branch manager as well as four full-time
employees. Overall, the three branches employee 17 full-time
employees.
