Daniel Otten, senior vice president of Farmers State Bank of Hartland, recently received the Certified Lender-Business Banker Top Scorer award from the Institute of Certified Bankers, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, in Washington, DC.

Otten had the highest exam score of all CLBB exams administered nationwide in 2007.

Otten heads up the commercial lending department located at the Albert Lea Branch of the Farmers State Bank. He has more than 25 years of credit and business consulting experience and has been working with the Bank since 2001.

Nancy Skophammer, owner and CEO of Farmers State Banksaid of

Otten&8217;s accomplishments, and the growth of the Albert Lea Branch, &8220;I was delighted when I was told Daniel was the CLBB Top Scorer.

He has always had a passion for his work, and this designation provides a well deserved recognition of his abilities.&8221;

She added, &8220;Daniel joined Farmers State Bank as the senior vice president and commercial lender in 2004. Since then we have experienced tremendous growth at our Albert Lea location, with much of it being attributed to Otten and the team of banking professionals working with him.

We opened the branch with four employees and now service over $20 million in loans and employ seven full-time staff.

The bank, including all three locations (Hartland, Freeborn and Albert Lea), now exceeds $75 million in assets and continues to be a regional leader in providing agriculture and business banking services.&8221;

The CLBB designation is awarded to individuals who demonstrate excellence in the field of commercial lending. To qualify for the CLBB certification, individuals must have certain levels of experience and education in the lending profession, pass an exam and agree to abide by a code of ethics. The CLBB exam covers many areas including banking products and services, legal, regulatory and ethical issues, credit analysis, loan structuring and problem assets.

Financial services professionals, working through the ABA Institute of Certified Bankers, initiated the CLBB designation and eight others in order to establish meaningful standards of knowledge in specialty areas of the financial services industry.

ICB certifications formally recognize those who meet these standards and meet professional continuing education and development requirements.