ABOVE: Erica Berhow, one of this year's 4 Under 40 recipients.

FAIRMONT– Erica Berhow is one of four Martin County residents who has been selected as this year’s 4 Under 40. The program has a goal of recognizing up and coming local leaders and inspiring others to work toward getting involved and bettering their community.

Berhow is a Fairmont native and gradated from Fairmont High School in 2006. After that, she went on to Minnesota State University-Mankato, where she initially pursued biology.

“I hate science,” Berhow said with a laugh. “You get into college and I had an end goal and an end job in mind and once I started taking the classes, I thought, ‘I really don’t like biology, why am I doing this?’ And it wasn’t until my sophomore year that I realized I needed to do something different.”

While she wan’t a fan of science, she was a fan of math. Berhow dabbled in accounting classes for awhile but found that that wasn’t for her, either.

“Finance was broad enough that I could see myself doing a variety of things,” she said.

Upon graduating, Berhow spent a few years working at Kato Cable in Mankato, doing accounts receivable and customer service work.

After that, she and her now-husband and high school sweetheart, Matt Berhow, considered where to plant their roots together. Erica admitted that moving back to Fairmont wasn’t originally on the docket for them but the more they thought about it the more appealing the idea was.

“About six months before we got married, we took a leap and I got hired here,” Berhow said of Profinium Bank in Fairmont, where she is Administrative Executive Officer.

She began working there as a bank teller in 2012. Since then, she has worked her way up through the ranks, serving as both a personal banker and a mortgage lender. She just transitioned to her latest role in December of 2023.

“I help with loans of all sorts,” Berhow said of her work.

Helping with loans isn’t close to all she does. Berhow, a four-year member of Rotary, is currently serving as the service club’s president. In addition to that, she’s involved in the club’s STRIVE program, which partners members with high school students for mentoring purposes.

“I really love building relationships and connections with young adults because I’ve been there. I didn’t always know what I wanted to do and what I thought I wanted to do isn’t what I ended up doing. I think that’s always enlightening to let people know it’s okay to now know exactly what you want to do,” she said.

Berhow is also very involved with her church, Immanuel Lutheran. There she previously served six years as Treasurer and now assists with altar guild and volunteers at other church functions.

She is also a busy mom, caring for her 4.5-year-old son, Graham, who is a preschool student at Fairmont Elementary School.

Despite the involvement she’s had in her community, Berhow was reluctant to accept the recognition of her work through being named a 4 Under 40 recipient.

“At first, I didn’t want the spotlight– that’s not why I volunteer and give my time– but once I heard more about how it’s recognizing me in hopes of inspiring others to volunteer and get involved, I thought it was really important,” Berhow said.

A piece of advice she’d give to the younger generation is to never give up and keep digging to find what it is they’re good at and passionate about.

“Keep trying new things. Even those who have gone away to college and think that our community might not have something for them, take a chance, come back and experience things in Fairmont because there are so many great things that people forget about that are available right here in our small town,” Berhow said.

The fourth annual 4 Under 40 recognition program will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday March 12 at Best Western in Fairmont. Tickets can be purchased at Best Western, Fairmont Ford or online at www.twinvalleybsa.org/4under40.

Articles on the other recipients of this year’s 4 Under 40 will appear in subsequent Saturday editions of the Sentinel