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Friday, March 29, 2024

Leading with Faith honoree — Steve Blum

Steve Blum
Steve Blum, right, chief financial officer of Star Bank in Eden Prairie, with Harry Wahlquist, CEO. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Chief financial officer and director, Star Bank

Age: 50
Parish: St. John the Baptist, New Brighton
Spouse: Kimberly
Children: Nicholas, Caroline, Kelsey
Education: St. John’s University, 1991
Number of years with company: 6 years

For Steve Blum, “leading with faith” means weaving that goal into every facet of life, from raising a family to serving in parishes to guiding organizations. Chief financial officer and director of Star Bank in Eden Prairie and chairman of his parish’s pastoral council, he is humble, team-oriented and generous, and he treats people with care and empathy.

Q Describe your business.

A Star Bank is a family-owned, independent community bank with 10 branch offices in Minnesota. Nine out of 10 of these branch offices are located in towns with populations of less than 3,000 people and we are proud to be a vital member of the communities we serve.

Q Describe your position and role.

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A I serve as the chief financial officer and director of the bank. I oversee the internal audit manager, information technology officer and physical security officer.

Q What does “leading with faith” mean to you?

A When our lives are centered in our Catholic faith, “leading with faith” becomes a natural part of all the facets of our lives. Our faith becomes interwoven into who we are and it grounds us as we lead our families, serve in our parishes and help guide the organizations that we work for.

Q How do you concretely apply your faith and Catholic values at work?

A I devote time to daily prayer and weekly adoration and incorporate the management and financial decisions that need to be made for our business into that prayer life.

Q Please tell a story about a time when living out your faith at work really made a difference.

A I have been very supportive of an assistant who has had many challenges in her personal life and have tried to be as patient, thoughtful and understanding as I could be for her. I have shared my faith with her on many occasions and she knows that I have been praying for her. It has been remarkable to see all the ways that her life has changed over the past several years for the better and how someone who was going through a very critical time could be lifted up and guided through the grace and virtues of our Catholic faith.

Q Who or what has inspired you to bring your faith to the marketplace?

A My wife, Kim, has been an inspiration to me and so many others in our family and has really been at the center of it all! I prayed for almost three years that I would meet and marry an amazing, faith-filled Catholic woman before meeting her at the Basilica of St. Mary in 1997. There have been so many blessings that have come to us and our family of three since then, and all of them point back to that initial blessing when we first met. Kim has always encouraged me to live out my faith at church, in our home as a husband and father, in social settings with friends and family, and at work.

Q What achievement at work are you most proud of?

A With all sincerity, this Leading with Faith Award has been the most significant achievement in my career to date and will remain so for the rest of my career!

Q In what specific ways have you experienced God’s presence in your workplace?

A God desires to be rooted at the center of our lives and that includes living out our faith in the workplace. There are so many opportunities to live out the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the workplace (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord). God is present each time in the way that we interact with a customer, lift up a coworker, or show that we care about the concerns and needs of those we supervise.

Q What advice do you have for others who want to lead with faith?

A Have the courage in today’s secular world to not leave your faith at home each day you go to work. Bring it with you and incorporate those principles into the decisions of your career. My experience has been that you will find that the business world needs principled leaders who are grounded in faith.

Eight honored for Leading with Faith

 


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