Laura Oberst

Laura Oberst is an executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo’s Business Banking Group. Based in Minneapolis, she oversees more than 4,700 team members at 450 locations in 41 U.S. states. Business Banking serves more than 100,000 businesses with annual sales from $5 million to $20 million. Business Banking offers customers relationship management and a full  breadth of products and services, which include credit, cash management, risk management, employee benefits, succession planning, and wealth management. Wells Fargo is the nation’s #1 SBA 7(a) lender in dollars for eight consecutive years (federal fiscal years 2009 – 2016) and the national SBA 7(a) lending leader in units and dollars for two consecutive years (federal fiscal years 2015 and 2016.)

A 32-year Wells Fargo veteran, Laura began her career as a management trainee. Her first job after training was as a retail branch manager in 1985 for Norwest Corp., a Wells Fargo predecessor bank. She moved on to hold leadership roles of progressing responsibility in Community and Commercial Banking. In 2014, she assumed her previous role as North region head for Middle Market Banking.

Laura earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota, and her associate’s degree in accounting from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She serves on the board of directors for HealthPartners, Inc., the Greater MSP Economic Development Partnership, and the North Dakota Trade Office. She is also a committee member of the Dorothy Day Center Capital Campaign. Laura currently serves as chairperson on the Wells Fargo Minnesota Leadership Council and the Metropolitan Contributions Committee. A long-standing supporter of developing women’s careers, she has been actively involved in Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable and Deloitte’s 100 Wise Women initiative. Laura helped launch the Women in Wholesale Group within Wells Fargo. In 2015, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal awarded Laura its Women in Business award.

Laura is originally from Rugby, North Dakota. She and her husband have three children and live in Minneapolis.