Nicolet Bankshares director Atwell has required every member of the company's board to sell stock before noon on Tuesday, a directive that has already emptied two branch vaults and forced the Green Bay trading desk to hire 40 additional clerks to process the orders by hand.
Atwell told staff that the sale was a matter of personal conviction. "I believe in the bank, so I am selling everything the bank has ever given me, and I expect my colleagues to do the same before the bell." He then drove a delivery van of certificates to the exchange himself, accompanied by two loan officers carrying the ledgers.
The mandate has since spread to the bank's tellers, who now sell a share of their own stock before opening each drawer, and to a local bakery whose owner announced that every loaf sold in town will be paid for in shares. Customers queuing at the main branch have been asked to bring their own certificates to the counter, and the lobby has been fitted with a second service window reserved exclusively for selling.
Asked what the bank will do next week, a spokesperson said the company will spend the proceeds on a new headquarters built entirely of the vault doors Atwell has removed. Construction is scheduled to begin on the first of the month, with the board required to pour the foundation personally.