Regional Leaders 2025: Leaving their mark 

The Quad Cities Regional Business Journal is proud to share some of the profiles found in our second annual Regional Leaders, published in January. This special publication recognizes 150 business and community leaders who we consider to be among the most noteworthy and impactful across the bistate region.  Last week, the QCBJ held a reception […]

The Quad Cities Regional Business Journal is proud to share some of the profiles found in our second annual Regional Leaders, published in January. This special publication recognizes 150 business and community leaders who we consider to be among the most noteworthy and impactful across the bistate region.  Last week, the QCBJ held a reception for these leaders and now we will be highlighting their profiles in our newsletters a few at a time. You can still purchase a copy of the glossy, full-color print edition here. The QCBJ team identified those we believe are leaving their mark on the Quad Cities through their careers, mentorship or philanthropy. We recognize, however, that it is not an inclusive list and urge readers to reach out to us for suggestions for 2026. The profiles are excerpts from surveys the Regional Leaders completed and/or biographies compiled from information our reporters gathered from company websites, LinkedIn profiles and other accounts. Today’s collection come from the Banking category: Jennifer DeWitt Editor  Quad Cities Regional Business Journal 

BANKING

LINDA ANDRY PRESIDENT & CEO, ASCENTRA CREDIT UNION, BETTENDORF

Linda Andry has served as president and CEO of Ascentra Credit Union since the spring of 2021. She was promoted to the role after serving as interim CEO since the summer of 2020. She replaced the late Dale Owen in the leadership role.  Andry has more than 30 years of experience in finance beginning her career as a teller for the former First National Bank of Moline at City Line Plaza. During her time there, she also worked as an internal auditor and a senior financial accountant until the bank merged with Bank One. She then entered the insurance industry as a senior accountant for Bituminous Insurance in Rock Island. She joined Ascentra, headquartered in downtown Bettendorf, in 2005 as chief financial officer. When she is not busy with work, Andry is busy helping in the community and the credit union industry with a variety of organizations. Her current board services includes Ascentra Credit Union Foundation, Bettendorf Development Corporation, Community Business Lenders Service Corporation in Des Moines, First Community Trust in Dubuque, and she is a Quad Cities Community Foundation’s Investment Committee member.  As a member of North Ridge Community Church, Andry serves as their treasurer and lends her talents to Christ’s Family Day Care, serving as treasurer since 2004.  Andry previously served on the boards of Affiliates Management Company Financial Services, Bettendorf Business Network and Great River Chapter of Credit Unions. Also, she has helped the latter organization’s annual golf outing raising funds for the Children’s Miracle Network and the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.    Andry received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western Illinois University in 1993 and received her CPA designation in 1995. BROCK BIGGERSTAFF SVP, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, AMERICAN BANK & TRUST, DAVENPORT

Brock Biggerstaff serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at American Bank & Trust. His teams are responsible for consumer lending, information technology, marketing, mortgage loan origination, and mortgage loan servicing. He joined the bank in January 2019 and prior to that worked for a large, independent bank in the State of Iowa where he held various roles including VP – Retail Product Manager. He is a graduate of AIB College of Business (Accounting and Finance) and the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Brock and his wife, Alicia, live in Bettendorf, where they are raising two boys, Brayden and Connor. In their free time, they enjoy outdoor activities including fishing, boating, sports and just relaxing with friends and family.  In the community, he is an active Bettendorf Rotarian, serves on the Executive Leadership Team for the Quad Cities American Heart Association, participates in many local charity and volunteer events. He also helps out with his kids’ sports. FAVORITE PART OF LIVING IN THE QC: Being relatively new to the QC, it was a breath of fresh air to be welcomed into the community as well as we have.  BIGGEST MENTOR/ROLE MODEL:  Lisa Baker - SVP, Bankers Trust - Des Moines. Lisa was a mentor, role model, and boss to me for many years. She continues to encourage and challenge me today, even though I've been away from her team for five years. Her leadership led to me recognizing my strengths and weaknesses, which allowed me to know when it is appropriate to ask for help versus having the confidence to take on challenges directly. FAVORITE VACATION: My honeymoon! We stayed at a Sandals on the island of Antigua, and it was stunning! PHILANTHROPIC PASSION: Children and heart disease.   LAURA ‘DIVOT’ EKIZIAN PRESIDENT & CEO, QUAD CITY BANK & TRUST

Laura ‘Divot’ Ekizian came to the Quad Cities from suburban Chicago to attend St. Ambrose University. After graduating in 1992 with a degree in mass communications, she became the head coach of the SAU Women’s Golf Team. Ekizian also worked as SAU director of alumni and parent relations while earning her MBA. In 2000, she joined QCBT, serving as president and chief relationship officer the past four years. Effective Jan. 3, she assumed the CEO role, replacing the retiring John Anderson.  Her board memberships include Quad City Arts, Girls Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, Quad City Health Initiative and SAU and the John Deere Classic. She served as the JDC’s 2014 volunteer chair. FAVORITE PART OF LIVING IN QC: We have a vibrant arts, music and culture scene, plenty of outdoor amenities, community members that care about their fellow citizens and a brand new bridge to make our commute stress-free!  APPEAL OF HAVING YOUR BUSINESS IN QC: QCBT has grown right along with the region over the past 30 years. Our founders wanted to impact this area by making sure there was a local community bank supporting our local economy. That has allowed QCBT to be part of many local success stories. BEST CAREER ADVICE: Get actively involved in community organizations. The professional development I experienced because of boards I was on … still pays dividends.  BIGGEST ISSUE FACING QC: We need stronger and innovative collaboration between our communities. We need to improve our early childhood education system while also making our schools and higher education the best in the country. We need expanded image and branding that reminds community members how fortunate we are to live here while raising our profile up to young professionals looking to grow their careers and find a place to call home. LEE GARLACH OWNER & CEO, FORTRESS BANK, PEORIA, ILLINOIS; AND PRESIDENT, FIRST STATE BANCORP. INC.

Lee Garlach has been a horse rancher, an entrepreneur and even a beer distributor.  All those experiences help drive him and Fortress Bank’s philosophy of being “a bank of business owners for business owners.” Garlach also is president of the bank’s holding company First State Bancorp, Inc.  In 2008, Garlach with a group of visionaries purchased First State Bank of Illinois just months before the financial crisis hit. While many banks failed amid the global crisis, the investor group’s new commercial bank – like a mighty fortress – stood strong, according to a history on Fortress Bank’s website.  In 2017 and three years after entering the Quad Cities market, the Peoria-based commercial bank rebranded as Fortress Bank.  Garlach drew on his financial background and entrepreneurial spirit in buying the bank. A former CPA and bank examiner, he also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and business operations. A cattle rancher in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, he later owned the former United Distributors, a Quad Cities beer distributorship.  Under Garlach’s leadership, the Peoria-based Fortress first entered the Quad Cities market, along with Pekin, Illinois, in 2014 with loan production offices. In 2017, Fortress built a new bank facility – strategically located at Interstate 74 and 53rd Street in Davenport – that would become the bank’s first branch to have the Fortress Bank name. The bank expanded its footprint in 2019 with a loan production office in Des Moines, where it expects to operate three or four branch banking offices in the greater metropolitan area.   Garlach is active in the community including having served a rare two-year term as volunteer chairman of the John Deere Classic. He served both in 2019 and carried over the role until 2021 – since the pandemic shut down the 2020 PGA Tour event.