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Gregg Carlson describes himself as a “conduit” between the financial institutions he advises and the candidates who are seeking top executive positions with those organizations.

And like an effective conduit, the president of Carlson Search Group transmitted a lot of energy and information back and forth as he assisted West Bancorporation Inc. in the recent search that culminated in the selection of Dave Nelson as the bank holding company’s new president and CEO.

“West Bank was a company with a great story to tell, but it really hit a couple of bumps in the road,” said Carlson, who said he spent “a good couple of weeks” with the company’s board and search committee to fully understand the company’s history and its future direction in preparation for the search process.

West Bancorporation was rocked by record losses and declining stock values last year at the height of the financial crisis. The board sought a new leader to replace Tom Stanberry, who resigned in July, to turn the company around.

“The more I was able to understand that story, to hear the commitment of the board of directors as to what it would take to get out of this hole and back on the path they were on, the more effective that I am out on the market,” Carlson said.

The search committee selected Carlson’s firm from among about 12 to 15 executive search groups that approached the company, said Jack Wahlig, chairman of West Bancorporation’s board of directors.

“It was a very competitive process,” Wahlig said. “That was how they spent the first few weeks of their effort, and it paid off. … Gregg did an excellent job for us; we’re very pleased with the process and the successful candidate.”

The Twin Cities native moved to Des Moines from Minneapolis in 1989 to head corporate human resources for about one-third of Wells Fargo & Co.

“It was still pretty early in my career, and I started looking around; I kind of had an entrepreneurial bug I wanted to answer at that stage in my career,” he said. Three yearslater, he launched Carlson & Associates in West Des Moines, which has cultivated a finely tuned niche in the financial services search world. He has been affiliated with partners in Minneapolis-St. Paul at two points in the past, but as of last year was on his own again.

“We have clients of all shapes and sizes,” he said. “Early on in my career I tended to do more searches for what I would describe as Fortune 200 and 300 companies, and we still do a lot of work in that niche. But over time, we’ve also been able to find a really nice market in more medium-sized companies like West Bank.”

Though there have been ups and downs with the economy over the years, staying small has worked well for the firm, said Carlson, who currently has just one employee.

“When someone contracts with the firm, they know they’re getting me,” he said. “It’s sort of a high-touch approach and it’s served us well over the years.”

The structure of the search committee he works with typically depends upon the client’s size and preferences. In West Bancorporation’s case, its board formed a five-person search group from among its members.

Tapping a network of contacts around the country, Carlson assembles a small group of executive bios for consideration. For West Bancorporation, he brought them five candidates’ names initially.

“What we find in that meeting is that we learn a lot, because they’re now responding to real people, real backgrounds. You find out, ‘Gee, they really didn’t mention this much, but they really want certain aspects.'”

It’s rare to bring an executive back to his or her hometown, as in the case of Nelson, a Des Moines native who moved back from Rochester, Minn.

“Relocation is always tricky,” Carlson said. “Three years ago, I would have been sitting here telling you that relocation is our biggest issue.

“But I think this is a really good time to be out in the market. I just think there have been some folks who have been hunkered down who are ready to think about what else is out there.”