Meet Clint Hooppaw
Credit, lending, and leadership expertise for community financial institutions, from someone who has sat in your chair.
I Didn't Plan a Career in Banking
I started my working life as a carpenter, where I learned to respect careful work and the people who do it. After college I moved into retail management. I learned a great deal about running a team and serving customers, and I also learned what it feels like to burn out in a job that no longer fits.
Then someone took a chance on me. A leader in banking saw a skill in me that my resume didn't show and gave me the opportunity to prove it. That decision changed the direction of my career.
Many of the most capable people in any bank or credit union are waiting for someone to see what they can do, and helping organizations find and develop those people is a big part of why I do this work.
Three Decades in the Work
Over three decades in financial services, I've worked and lead teams in commercial lending, consumer & mortgage lending, credit, lending operations, and collections.
That work taught me that strong credit programs depend on people. They need analysts who can read a deal clearly, lenders who can explain their thinking, and leaders willing to hold the line when it matters.
When those pieces come together, institutions grow with confidence and examinations become far less stressful.
If you'd like the details of my career history, you're welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn.
Why I Started Highpoint Advisors
I founded Highpoint Advisors to help community banks and credit unions build stronger credit cultures and stronger credit professionals. In early 2025 I made it my full-time work.
Today I help institutions through consulting, training, and coaching. That includes portfolio and policy reviews, collections program support, courses and conference sessions for lenders and credit teams, the Interim Accelerator Program for emerging leaders, The Ridgeline Collections Framework for consumer collections teams and fractional Chief Credit Officer engagements for organizations that need senior credit leadership without a full-time hire.
How Credit Professionals Grow
My work is organized around the way credit professionals develop over a career. Communication runs through every stage, because sound analysis only helps when someone can explain it clearly to a loan committee, a borrower, or a board.
- Analyze: Reading financials, understanding the borrower, and spotting risk early.
- Recommend: Turning analysis into a clear, well-supported credit recommendation.
- Steward: Managing loans and relationships after closing, including problem loans and collections.
- Lead: Developing people, shaping policy, and guiding credit culture across the institution.
What Working With Me Looks Like
Highpoint is a solo practice, so when you work with Highpoint, you work with me. I keep my approach practical and collaborative, and I frame what I see as recommendations and opportunities your team can act on.
I also teach regularly, delivering courses and conference sessions on topics such as construction lending, environmental risk, loan presentations, and commercial credit skills, often in partnership with industry associations. Whether I'm in a classroom or a boardroom, my goal is the same: to leave your team more capable and more confident than when I arrived.
Serving My Community
Outside of Highpoint, I serve as Mayor of Apple Valley, Minnesota, a community of about 56,000 people.
I was first elected to the City Council in 2010 and have served as Mayor since 2021.
Public service keeps me grounded in the same things that matter in community banking: trust, accountability, and showing up for the people you serve.