Todd Gipple never really fancied himself being a banker.
While captivated by numbers and skilled at math, he never imagined a full career in the industry. Nor could he envision his career climb to the helm of a bank holding company that launched its own de novo (Latin for “from scratch”) bank three decades ago in the Quad Cities.
But just days ago at its annual meeting, the QCR Holdings (QCRH) Board of Directors approved a leadership transition, making Mr. Gipple its new CEO and president. In late 2026, he’ll also be leading from a new Bettendorf headquarters now under construction.
The now Moline-based holding company is the parent of Quad City Bank & Trust (QCBT) and its sister banks across Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. It’s also an institution where Mr. Gipple has steered the ship for 25 years – almost since the company’s beginnings – from becoming its first chief financial officer to chief operations officer, a company director, president and sitting on its banks’ boards.
The longtime Quad Citizen and Iowa native is only the third CEO in company history. He followed one of QCRH’s co-founders Doug Hultquist (CEO from 1993-2019) and Larry J. Helling, who retired at the company’s annual meeting Thursday, May 22, as both CEO of the holding company and its subsidiary Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust.
From one bank to four
Sitting in his stately office last month at QCRH’s headquarters, known to many as the Velie Mansion, Mr. Gipple told the QCBJ that he’s in awe of the tremendous growth the company and its banks have seen. That growth, which he helped lead, has expanded its Midwest footprint, financial strength and assets, workforce and market share.
“When I started we had one bank, Quad City Bank & Trust, and we were $340 million in assets and 25 years later, we have four banks and over $9 billion in assets.” What it means, he said, is QCR has grown 30 times its original size and now has the largest deposit market share in the Quad Cities area.
But even more impressive, he attests, is that QCRH continues to be guided by the same relationship-driven philosophy with which its founders began. “I believe our culture that we had back then 25 years ago is still the same. And that’s hard to do when you grow that fast,” he said.
After its launch of QCBT, QCR Holdings evolved into a multi-bank holding company serving the Iowa markets of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Valley and Des Moines/Ankeny as well as Springfield, Missouri. From an estimated one dozen original employees in 1994, he said today it employs about 1,000 total.
While not being one of the original investors, Mr. Gipple joined early enough that it felt like being in on the ground floor. “We were blessed to have some of the significant centers of influence in the community,” he said, crediting co-founders Michael Bauer and Mr. Hultquist for their recruitment.
“I struggle at times (to realize) that I used to be the young guy around here, and now all of a sudden, I’m the old guy around here,” said Mr. Gipple, who also turned 62 last week.
Eyeing bright city lights as CPA
Growing up in Wapello in rural southeast Iowa, Mr. Gipple at first thought about a law degree because of the attorneys he’d met at the county courthouse, where his mother worked as a paralegal. “I would study at my mom’s office in the library, surrounded by all the legal books.”
But a taste of bookkeeping dismissed his early plan. “Most people can’t believe a high school junior would think of this, but I knew that I wanted to be a CPA then,” he said. “I went to a small high school in Wapello and they offered a bookkeeping course that I loved. I had an aptitude for math and I loved the symmetry of accounting.”
So rather than a law degree, he was off to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to master the world of debits and credits. “The University of Northern Iowa was a great place to get a BA in accounting. Back then, if you were a teacher or a CPA in the State of Iowa you probably went to UNI,” he said.
Ahead of his 1985 college graduation, he had his life planned out. “I was likely headed to one of the big cities in the Midwest to go with one of the Big Eight accounting firms,” he said. Presumably, the Twin Cities, where he even had a job offer.
But then a campus visit from a Quad Cities CPA would change his trajectory. Mr. Hultquist, one of his QCRH successors, at the time was recruiting graduates for the Davenport accounting office of Peat Marwick (later KPMG).
Mr. Hultquist – who today is six years retired – proudly takes credit for convincing this smart, upbeat college grad to come to the Quad Cities.
“I remember my first visit here with Doug and the team at KPMG and I fell in love with the smaller practice, the smaller office,” Mr. Gipple reminisced.
In fact, forgoing the bright city lights of Minneapolis/St. Paul actually accelerated his accounting career. “Because I went to a smaller office with a Big 8 firm, I got a lot more experience a lot sooner. Two years in, I was already running bank exams, meeting with boards and meeting with bank CEOs when I was 24 years old.”
When he’d tell his peers in the major metros this “They’d be like ‘You’re doing what? You’re running exams?’ I’m punching things in paper, putting stuff in binders and running out for coffee.”
Mr. Gipple rose through the public accounting ranks for 15 years to regional partner, playing a pivotal role in one of the mergers, Mr. Hultquist recalled. In 1991, KPMG merged into RSM McGladrey.
So a few years later, when QCRH’s leadership team realized their need to create a high-level CFO position for the publicly traded company, Mr. Gipple came to mind. In the fall of 1999, Mr. Hultquist and Mr. Bauer asked the accomplished CPA to join their young company.
Mr. Gipple arrived in January 2000 after transitioning his accounting clients. “When I was telling all those clients … I would just tell it this way, ‘Hey, instead of coaching from the sidelines – coaching banks, now I actually get to play the game.’”
Easing the transition, in part, was that many of those trusted clients would later bank with QCBT. “It’s been nice to see them have success and we’ve been able to help them along the way,” he said.
Attracting the best
The reason for QCRH’s explosive growth, Mr. Gipple said, is simple – the quality of people. “Whether it’s at Quad City Bank or its sister banks, our MO (modus operandi) is to attract the best bankers in the community to our banks. When you bring the best people then they’re going to bring the best clients and that’s how you grow.”
But he also is quick to admit “We are not always looking for a great banker. We expect if you work here you’re going to be really good at your ‘what’ – what you do everyday.”
The key, he added, is to fill the company “with people that are good at the ‘how’ they do it.”
One of the best examples is Laura “Divot” Ekizian, who in January assumed the helm of QCBT. “Divot didn’t grow up as a banker, but she became an incredible banker and now is CEO,” Mr. Gipple said.
In recruiting candidates for any position, he said they consider “Do they live our values? Do they take good care of their teammates while they’re taking great care of clients in the community? That’s probably the difference for us.”
For Mr. Gipple, there’s joy in a new employee’s aha moment. “When we hire somebody from the outside, I guarantee you within six months they are going to tell … someone in a leadership role ‘it’s so different here’ because we all take care of each other.”
“That’s our secret sauce, I think. And to be able to maintain that over 25 years and over 30 times our size, that’s why we keep being successful.”
From the sidelines now, Mr. Hultquist credits QCRH’s evolution, in large part, to Mr. Gipple, who he said led the initial expansion and then the growth in other markets.
“One of my first big responsibilities was finding where we start the next bank,” Mr. Gipple recalled. When they determined the market, he said they knew who they wanted to lead Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust (CRBT). “One name came up every time and that was Larry Helling.”
Fortunately, the CRBT’s launch aligned with Mr. Helling’s own desire to start a bank. “We were very blessed to be a part of that and to be the holding company that helped with that,” Mr. Gipple said.
Like Quad City Bank, CRBT also was a de novo “and arguably, the most successful de novo bank in the State of Iowa,” Mr. Gipple said. “It grew even more quickly than QCBT.”
Passionate about ‘the how’
For the new CEO, maintaining the company’s relationship-driven organization and attitude is paramount. “I think that’s really the heart of our culture. It’s how we deal with clients. It’s also how we deal with each other here,” he said.
“We tend to think of the people we work with as family. It’s ‘the how’ we take care of each other that makes it a great place to work,” he said.
His commitment is both recognized and appreciated by that family.
“His passion for the entire footprint of QCR Holdings is palpable and it resonates with all our employees,” Ms. Ekizian told the QCBJ in an email.
Noting his devotion to visiting all the bank charter locations and teams in person, she wrote “At his core, Todd cares very much about our people and our purpose.”
“Todd has been one-half of the very top echelon of QCRH leadership for his entire career here,” she wrote. “He has helped to drive most of our strategic decisions to successful outcomes. He is not only passionate about what we do at QCRH, he is just as passionate about HOW we do it.”
Challenges past, present
Among the changes ahead for Mr. Gipple will be the construction and ultimate move of QCRH’s new headquarters and bank branch in north Bettendorf.
While a relocation brings new challenges and possibilities, he knows that he is surrounded by a team who has persevered through challenges before. “Surviving the great financial crisis (2008), that is probably the biggest one,” he said.
But a close second was the pandemic. “COVID was both one of the most stressful times in banking and one of the most enjoyable because we could help so many of our clients navigate financially.”
Looking ahead, his first concern is the economy and that their clients remain OK. “The uncertainty in D.C. is creating challenges for our clients and I would say those challenges are uncertainty,” he said.
But he’s confident in the future for much the same reason that he’s still working, delaying thoughts of retirement, and having fun at his job. “It’s the caliber of people I work with,” he said.
“The leadership team that Divot (Ekizian) has here, the leadership team we have at the other four banks. The leadership team we have driving all the support services, that group operations team, the shared services. Those leadership teams, again, are some of the best and brightest people I’ve ever worked with in my 40 years.”
Todd Gipple – At A Glance
Occupation: CEO and president, QCR Holdings, Moline.
Education: University of Northern Iowa, B.A. in accounting, 1985.
Family: He and wife Lori have two sons, Tim (wife Amber) and Troy (wife Kelly), and three grandchildren. His parents Danny and Joyce Gipple still live in the family home in Wapello, Iowa.
Current home: Bettendorf (after raising their family in rural Blue Grass.)
Service, memberships: Member, past chair, YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley; board member, John Deere Classic; and longtime member at Davenport Country Club.
Hobbies: Racing cars. “Driving on a race track is exhilarating. And the most calm I am ever ever in my life is when I’m in the driver’s seat. Everything else just goes away.”
On leadership: “I’ve learned that 80% of this job is the people stuff. That’s the most important and at times, that can be the most challenging. But that is where you should spend your time – with the people that make it happen. Make sure you’re investing time with them, make sure you’re investing in them, make sure you’re giving them the opportunities to become leaders.”
