The Stenehjem Family

Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame
2016 Inductee

The Stenehjem Family, founders of what is known today as First International Bank & Trust, has been in the banking business for over 100 years, with a fourth generation poised to assume leadership of the institution that serves customers in North Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona through 26 branches. It was an agricultural boom in western North Dakota that spurred Norwegian-American brothers Odin and Gerhard Stenehjem to start a bank in the small town of Arnegard. It later moved to Watford City, where its corporate headquarters remain.