Managing Partners & Co-Founders
Craig P. Mueller
Craig P. Mueller
Craig P. Mueller
Craig Mueller is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of TruStar Advisors. Mueller brings to TruStar 40 years of experience and deep banking relationships.
Craig spent the first 13 years of his career at the American National Bank of St. Paul as a commercial lender and then transitioned to its Investment Department, then joining Dain Rauscher, Inc. and started the Financial Institutions Unit in the Fixed Income Department. Craig was also a member of the elite “Chairman’s Council” and liaised with corporate, public and specialty finance divisions gaining insight and experience in each group.
Craig was a co-founder of North American Capital Markets and eventually joined Oak Ridge Financial in 2007 and in 2009 partnered with Stieber as Co-Heads of the Financial Institutions Group.
In 1997, Craig was a seed investor in a Twin Cities de novo bank that is now over $1 billion in assets. This launched the opportunity to enter investment banking by assisting another 6 groups to start de novo banks. During this process Mueller sat on two holding company boards learning firsthand what fiduciary responsibility meant.
Most recently, Craig and David Stieber joined together to form TruStar Advisors in January 2024.
Craig holds a B.S.B.A. degree in Finance from Creighton University.
David J. Stieber
Craig P. Mueller
Craig P. Mueller
David Stieber is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of TruStar Advisors. Stieber brings to TruStar nearly 25 years of experience advising community banks on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital raises, stock valuation and other general financial advisory assignments.
Prior to founding TruStar, Stieber spent 14 years at Oak Ridge Financial as Managing Director and Co-head of its Financial Institutions Group focused on the community banking industry.
Prior to Oak Ridge Financial, Stieber acted as a consultant to a major Midwestern financial institution working directly with senior management on M&A strategies, target identification and analysis. Stieber started his career at RBC Capital Markets, spending 10-years working with financial institutions in the central United States.
During his career, Stieber has worked on over 100 completed assignments for community banks.
David holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Iowa and is a Certified Public Accountant.