Karen Appelgren, vice president and director, Business Resource Center at Zions Bank

To put it simply, Karen Appelgren just loves to help.

If she had to describe her job in one word, she would probably have to say “banker,” but what she does goes far beyond writing loan documents and cashing checks. As director of the downtown Zions Bank Business Resource Center, Appelgren teaches clients just about everything they need to run a business, soup to nuts.

“It’s a collaborative effort to grow a business,” Appelgren says, enthusiasm in her voice. “It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes the effort of a community to build strong economic communities. I feel like part banker, part teacher. I think I have the best job in the world.”

Since opening its doors in January 2014, the center has consulted with 190 entrepreneurs, trained more than 1,000 business people though workshops, and provided more than 2,500 mentoring hours.

“We kind of fill in the gaps for people,” Appelgren says. “How do you know if you can make money? Will there be demand? How do you find the resources you need?”

Appelgren was certainly qualified for the job — she had just come from developing the Women’s Business Center, a division of the Mountain States Group, where she trained business hopefuls in business planning, finance, marketing and operations.

Her background as a teacher helped as well. She worked as a substitute teacher for the Boise School District for 10 years, and then got to spend one year — “my magical year,” as she calls it — at the Academic Interventionist Boise Language Academy. There, Appelgren taught three levels of math to a population hosting 20 different language groups. Most of the students had had no prior experience with the English language.

Appelgren cites one moment in particular that stands out. The school had just opened and she was outside during lunch to monitor the students, who were from different countries and in some cases, different factions of the same country. But they were all playing soccer — sports was “the universal language,” Appelgren says.

“It made me think, what would the world be like if we just saw each other as people and accepted that we’re all human beings?” she says. “It was beautiful.”

After a year, the school made budget cuts and Appelgren went back to the business world. One thing that didn’t change, however, was her devotion to giving back to the community. She is a founding member of the United Way Treasure Valley’s Women’s Leadership Council, and as much as she can, she volunteers with Dress for Success, a company that helps outfit economically disadvantaged women for job interviews and other business events.

Appelgren, an Arizona native, loves Idaho and Boise in particular. She enjoys walking and riding her bike on the greenbelt, and she attends the symphony and the Shakespeare Festival as often as she can. The mother of two grown sons, she also loves to play strategy games with her family.

One day, Appelgren would like to pursue public office. She is particularly passionate about strengthening and enhancing Idaho’s public education system.

But for now, she is enjoying the here and now.

“I love what I’ve done before, and I love what I do (at Zions Bank),” she says. “Every day, I look forward to coming to work.”