If you are shopping an SBA 7(a) or conventional commercial loan in Wisconsin, the bank you call first matters more than most borrowers think. A lender that already writes a lot of commercial credit and sits in your state is structurally likelier to say yes than a national name passing through. This page ranks the Wisconsin-headquartered banks doing the most commercial lending right now, using public Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report data. It is the open-book version of what the paid report does with far more inputs.
Wisconsin's banks lend against dairy, manufacturing, and paper, an old industrial-agricultural mix that keeps a wide community-bank field in business.
The 15 most active commercial lenders in Wisconsin
Ranked by commercial and industrial (C&I) loans outstanding, Q1 2026. Bank names link to the live BankingLens scorecard.
| # | Bank | City | Assets | C&I share | ROA | Fit notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Associated Bank | Green Bay | $45.5B | 26.8% | 1.07% | Large multi-state regional, an active C&I book. |
| 2 | Nicolet National Bank | Green Bay | $15.5B | 18.4% | 0.61% | Large regional lender, a steady commercial book. |
| 3 | First Business Bank | Madison | $4.3B | 36.7% | 1.29% | Mid-size regional, heavy C&I concentration. CRE-heavy book. |
| 4 | Town Bank | Hartland | $4.5B | 36.4% | 1.39% | Regional commercial bank, heavy C&I concentration. Built for commercial deals. |
| 5 | Johnson Bank | Racine | $7.0B | 13.5% | 1.24% | Mid-size regional, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 6 | Bank First | Manitowoc | $6.1B | 15.7% | 1.56% | Regional commercial bank, a steady commercial book. Top-decile returns. |
| 7 | Incrediblebank | Wausau | $2.1B | 37.0% | 1.00% | Community bank, heavy C&I concentration. Built for commercial deals. |
| 8 | National Bank of Commerce | Superior | $2.2B | 18.3% | 1.75% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. Top-decile returns. |
| 9 | National Exchange Bank and Trust | Fond Du Lac | $2.9B | 13.1% | 1.68% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. Top-decile returns. |
| 10 | Ixonia Bank | Ixonia | $960M | 22.9% | 0.80% | Small local lender, an active C&I book. |
| 11 | Horicon Bank | Horicon | $1.7B | 12.3% | 1.34% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 12 | Northwestern Bank, the | Chippewa Falls | $712M | 27.2% | 2.96% | Small local lender, an active C&I book. Top-decile returns. |
| 13 | Farmers & Merchants Bank, the | Berlin | $949M | 20.4% | 1.19% | Small community bank, an active C&I book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 14 | Peoples State Bank | Wausau | $1.5B | 12.7% | 1.03% | Local commercial lender, a steady commercial book. CRE-heavy book. |
| 15 | Forward Bank | Marshfield | $1.2B | 15.2% | 0.92% | Community bank, a steady commercial book. |
Assets and ratios are Q1 2026 FFIEC call-report figures. ROA is annualized return on assets. A bank's headquarters city is shown; many lend statewide and beyond.
C&I lending muscle, ranked
Commercial and industrial loans outstanding for the top 10 Wisconsin-HQ lenders, Q1 2026. This is the single number our ranking leans on hardest.
How we ranked these
Three steps, all of them transparent. First, we took every bank headquartered in Wisconsin. Second, we kept only banks whose commercial and industrial (C&I) loans are at least 10 percent of the loan book (a bank that is 90 percent home mortgages is not your SBA lender, regardless of size). Of the qualifying banks, 64 cleared that bar. Third, we ranked them by C&I loan dollars outstanding, which already blends balance-sheet size with how committed a bank is to commercial credit, and kept the top 15.
This is an honest, simplified proxy. It does not see a bank's actual SBA 7(a) origination volume (that lives in SBA FOIA data, not the call report), its appetite for your industry, or whether it funded forty SBA loans last quarter or zero. The $49 Borrower Assist report folds all of that in and ranks against your specific deal, not just your state. That is the part worth paying for.
What Wisconsin looks like for a borrower
Wisconsin's banks lend against dairy, manufacturing, and paper, an old industrial-agricultural mix that keeps a wide community-bank field in business.
Across 156 Wisconsin-headquartered banks sits $174.9B in total assets, anchored by Associated Bank in Green Bay at $45.5B. Half the state's lenders hold more than 9.0% of their loans in C&I, half less; the ranking below pulls the most commercial-heavy to the top.
None of that tells you which of these banks will fund your specific deal. A $400,000 restaurant acquisition and a $4M owner-occupied warehouse purchase have different optimal lender lists even in the same state, and the ranking above does not split by loan size, industry, or collateral. Treat it as your starting shortlist, not your final answer.
How to use this list
- Start with the bank near you that has the strongest commercial profile, not just the closest branch. A lender with a real C&I book understands your deal faster.
- Ask for the SBA or commercial lending group directly. The general line routes business deals slowly.
- Have a one-page summary ready: use of funds, cash flow, collateral, owner credit, timeline. Banks decide whether to engage in the first ninety seconds.
- Run two banks in parallel, not five. Two real conversations close a loan; five waste everyone's time.
Hero photo: American farmland by benjamin lehman on Unsplash, used here as a regional editorial image for Wisconsin.