Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc._2023 Annual Report

• the effectiveness of the risk management framework; • the commencement and outcome of litigation and other legal proceedings and regulatory actions against us; • the impact of recent and future legislative and regulatory changes, including in response to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank in 2023; • risks related to climate change and the negative impact it may have on our clients and their businesses; • the imposition of other governmental policies impacting the value of products produced by our commercial borrowers; • severe weather, natural disasters, widespread disease or pandemics, acts of war or terrorism or other adverse external events, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine; • potential impairment to the goodwill the Company recorded in connection with a past acquisition; • changes to U.S. or state tax laws, regulations and guidance, including the new 1% excise tax on stock buybacks by publicly traded companies; and • any other risk factors described in the “Risk Factors” section of this report and in other reports filed by Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in this report. In addition, past results of operations are not necessarily indicative of future results. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this report is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. PART I ITEM 1. BUSINESS Company Overview and History Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. (the “Company”) is a Minnesota corporation and financial holding company with one wholly-owned subsidiary: Bridgewater Bank (the “Bank”). The Bank has two wholly-owned subsidiaries: BWB Holdings, LLC, which was formed for the purpose of holding repossessed property; and Bridgewater Investment Management, Inc., which was formed for the purposes of holding certain municipal securities and engaging in municipal lending activities. The Bank has seven full-service offices located in Bloomington, Greenwood, Minneapolis (2), St. Louis Park, Orono, and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Company previously had a second wholly-owned subsidiary, Bridgewater Risk Management, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Captive”). The Captive insured the Company and its subsidiaries against certain risks unique to the operations of the Company and for which insurance was not available or economically feasible in the insurance marketplace. The Captive pooled resources with several other insurance company subsidiaries of financial institutions to spread a limited amount of risk among themselves. Effective December 15, 2023, the Captive was dissolved and is no longer active. The Company is headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb located approximately 5 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. The Company and Bank were established in 2005 as a de novo bank by a group of industry veterans and local business leaders committed to serving the diverse needs of commercial real estate investors, entrepreneurs, business clients, and successful individuals. Since inception, the Company has grown significantly and profitably, with a focus on organic growth, driven primarily by commercial real estate lending. Assets have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 31.1% since 2005, surpassing total asset milestones of $500 million in 2013, $1.0 billion in 2016, $2.0 billion in 2019, $3.0 billion in 2021, and $4.0 billion in 2022. While this growth has been almost entirely organic, in 2016 the Company completed a

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