Business is alive and well in communities throughout the Midwest. Factories. Farms. Warehousing and distribution. Shopping centers, office parks, and community centers. Museums, pools, parks, restaurants, and all the homes, condos and apartments clustered around creeks, avenues, and hilltops. This is no baby boomer’s daydream. It’s what millions of people have lived and worked for over the course of their lives. It’s what they’ve built for themselves, their families and their employees with help from banks like First Midwest. It’s what we mean by making life a little richer.

First Midwest has grown to become the largest independent bank in Illinois. But we’re still a community bank. This is important because no other bank of our size and strength is committed entirely to serving the businesses around which local economies are based. And no other bank, large or small, has bankers and financial specialists better able to understand the financial needs of this market or is better equipped to meet them.

EVERY BUSINESS IS UNIQUE in certain ways. Getting to know a company and its owner is a big advantage in the way First Midwest does business. At a time when almost any casual business contact is termed a "relationship," First Midwest works hard to build strong, long-term client relationships based on mutual trust, accountability and results. Our bankers are lenders, cash managers, Trust officers or market experts in agriculture, real estate or investments. But first they are relationship managers with the tools and training to see the big picture...to work with you in identifying ways to improve cash flow, borrow strategically, manage business risk, keep better records, establish tax-favored benefits and plan regularly for the future.

The operations of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, healthcare providers, media and entertainment companies, and professional firms appear much more alike when viewed from a financial perspective. All pass through similar stages and face the same issues. Our cumulative experience with such a wide range of enterprises lets us help clients understand that most problems they face are common and can be dealt with, confidently and efficiently.

First Midwest bankers will help your company implement strategies to improve average cash flows and sustain adequate capitalization. But we also help clients with construction, leasing, inventory management, insurance, 401k and profit sharing plans, merchant banking, corporate investment management and more.

First Midwest Bank’s tiered services, local decision-making, and emphasis on client planning are designed for the flexibility that innovative, privately owned companies require. At First Midwest, we know commercial loans don’t differ all that much from one bank to another. But here’s something that does: the ability to see a business with financial needs beyond borrowing money and the commitment to fit the pieces together with the long-term interests of owners in mind.

COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, RETAIL

• Comprehensive financing options, from unsecured lines of credit to asset-based lending
• Equipment leasing
• Customized cash management solutions, from tiered e-funds solutions to retail and wholesale lock box service
• $2 billion Trust Division providing bundled 401k and qualified benefit programs, corporate investment services, key employee asset management and estate planning*
• Life, credit, property, key-employee, business interruption insurance**
• Relationship review process that links business and personal financial needs
• Account and services packages tailored for professionals and small business
• Employee banking services, including direct-deposit banking to qualifying businesses

*Some Trust products are not FDIC insured.

**These products are: