Anthony J. Ahern and John Buelow Join the Board of Directors

National Exchange Bank & Trust Chairman of the Board, Peter E. Stone, announces the election of Anthony J. Ahern, president and COO of J.F. Ahern Company, and John Buelow, executive vice president and president for Mercury Marine, part of the Brunswick Corporation, to the Board of Directors.

Ahern joined J.F. Ahern Company in 1993 and held a variety of roles throughout the organization before including estimator, sales and project management, vice president of the pipe fabrication department, and executive vice president. Ahern was named president and chief operating officer in November 2018 becoming responsible for the four members of the management committee team that oversee Ahern Fire Protection, the Wisconsin construction and service groups and the director of safety.

Ahern earned his bachelor’s degree in History with a concentration in Business Administration from St. Norbert College. He gives his time to the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, the Pipe Fabrication Institute, and the Plumber & Steamfitter's Local 400 Apprenticeship Program. He is also a trustee of the Local 400 Pension Board. Previously, he has served on boards for Marian University, St. Mary's Springs Academy, St. Agnes Hospital Foundation, and Fond du Lac Area United Way while rising to lead each of these boards.

John Buelow joined Mercury Marine in 2004 and has held a variety of positions in finance, including vice president and CFO of Brunswick Marine in EMEA and Asia-Pacific. He has held several leadership positions at Mercury’s global headquarters including vice president in business development, Mercury Castings, category management, strategic planning, and most recently in global operations.

Buelow earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from UW-Oshkosh and his MBA from UW-Milwaukee.

National Exchange Bank & Trust, based in Fond du Lac, Wisc., is an independent bank with more than $2.6 billion in assets. J. F. Ahern Co. is a mechanical and fire protection contractor specializing in HVAC, Plumbing, Controls, Sprinkler, Extinguisher & Alarm and Fabrication for construction and service projects. Founded in 1880, the company has over 1,400 employees servicing commercial and industrial customers across the United States. Mercury Marine has been making world-class outboards and sterndrives for more than 75 years. They started back in 1939 in a small machine shop in Wisconsin, and have grown into the largest builder of marine propulsion systems in the world.