Meet the Directors: Clark Lauritzen

As chairman and president of the First National Bank of Omaha, Clark Lauritzen leads a financial institution that opened its doors to customers in 1857, a decade before the Nebraska Territory became the country’s 37th state. First National Bank of Omaha is a privately owned family business, and Lauritzen is the sixth generation in his family to head the bank.

In another family tradition, Lauritzen was appointed to serve on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Omaha Branch Board in 2023. He was the second in his family to do so, following his father, Bruce R. Lauritzen, who served on the same board from 1993 to 1999.

This year, Clark Lauritzen joined the Bank’s Kansas City Board of Directors.

“First National Bank of Omaha has grown organically and through acquisitions, particularly in Kansas City, where we have grown significantly in the last few years,” Lauritzen said. “In October 2025, we acquired Country Club Bank, and we just announced the acquisition of Blue Ridge Bank and Trust this year. With these additions, First National Bank of Omaha now ranks in the top five in market share of all banks serving the Kansas City metropolitan area.”

With First National’s footprint in Kansas City expanding, Lauritzen viewed the opportunity to join the Kansas City Board as a natural next step and another chance to serve a community and work with an organization he admires.

“I am a big fan of Kansas City,” Lauritzen said. “I spend a lot of time there, and I think the city’s great culture is part of what makes the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City so special. One of my biggest takeaways from my time on the Omaha Branch Board was seeing up close how much of an impact the Federal Reserve has on the communities it serves — and how well the organization is run,” he added. “That experience left me with a desire to do more for my community if I could, and so when I was asked to serve on the Kansas City Board, it was well timed.”

Lauritzen said that, as a lifelong banker, he has always appreciated and respected the Federal Reserve’s mission and the role it plays in the banking system. First National Bank of Omaha’s regional presence, he added, will uniquely inform his contribution to the Kansas City Board as it works to fulfill the Fed’s mission.

“Our bank operates in nine states, all of which are concentrated in the middle of the country. In many ways, we are a Tenth District bank,” Lauritzen said. "First National Bank is the third-largest agricultural lender in the country. Agriculture is important to our bank, it’s important to our country and it’s important to the Kansas City Fed. The number of people and businesses that bank with us in the Federal Reserve’s Tenth District gives me a perspective that hopefully is valuable to the board when we’re discussing economic conditions and monetary policy. I feel well positioned to offer real-time economic insights about key industries and consumer lending to the Kansas City Board.”