Wells Fargo held its annual shareholders meeting in Des Moines in April. You might be wondering: Why Iowa? Some have considered the move a political one aimed at softening the prospects of protests and stockholder pressure. But the company line started to emerge when Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan introduced his son and daughter-in-law and two of their children who live in Iowa. Sloan was able to hang out with his grandkids before tackling the shareholders meeting on April 24. Now, that’s not likely to be the real reason. Board Chairwoman Betsy Duke listed all the reasons in her opening comments, including: “We appreciate the opportunity to be with you here in Iowa, where each of five major Wells Fargo business lines has significant operations and presence. That includes community banking; consumer lending; payments, virtual solutions and innovation; wealth and investment management; and wholesale banking.” There are other staffs in the state as well. The big one is Wells Fargo’s home lending business — Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which is headquartered in West Des Moines. “It traces its roots to the Iowa Securities Co., a mortgage loan business founded near Waterloo in 1906 by Willard Beal. Helping people become homeowners has been a point of pride here ever since,” Duke said. In total there are 123 locations in Iowa, including 64 community banking branches, as well as 44 home mortgage locations and 15 Wells Fargo Advisors brokerage offices. With approximately 16,000 team members in Iowa and 14,500 in metropolitan Des Moines, Wells Fargo is Central Iowa’s largest employer.