10 HќќѠіђџȱ юћјђџ юћѢюџѦȱ2014 COVER STORY When he became chief executive Ĝȱȱȱȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱȱ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱȱ predecessor, “You can’t get 10 years’ worth of experience in less than ŗŖȱ¢ǯȄȱ ȱDZȱȃ Ȃȱ going to make a lot of mistakes. Learn from them.” Ten years have since passed, and now Heeter, 52, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Indiana Bankers Association, ěȱ ǯȱŗǯȱ ȱȱȱȬ¢ȱ stint at another Indiana bank, Heeter has spent his full 36 years in banking with MutualBank, Muncie. Heeter also serves as CEO, president and director of MutualFirst Financial Inc. and as vice president of the MutualBank Charitable Foundation Inc. Additionally he is a member of the IU Health Ball Memorial Physicians Board, the Community Foundation of Muncie ȱȱ ȱ ¢ȱęȱ advisory board. A former member of ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ Advisory Council, Heeter has served with the Ball State University College of Business alumni board, Muncie ȱ ¢ȱ ȱȱ Commerce, United Way and Muncie Family YMCA. He is a graduate of Ball State University and of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. Hoosier Banker ȱ ȱ Heeter about his banking insights and goals as IBA chairman. What are your responsibilities as CEO of MutualBank and as president and CEO of MutualFirst Financial Inc.? “My primary responsibilities are strategic planning, shareholder and investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, and board governance. Technically M&A is part of ¢ǰȱȱȱȱĜȱ standpoint, I manage the holding company. ȱȱȱȱȃ ȱȱǰȱ ȱ Ĵȱ is our president and chief ȱĜǯȱ ȱȱ of responsibilities is set up so that I run the company, and Pat runs the asset of the company, which is the bank. “Because we are a public company, compliance with SEC requirements is important. We have an obligation to disclose relevant information in a timely manner. I spend a great deal of time on governance-related issues — board meetings, board education, board communication and reporting. “We have two boards, one for the bank and one for the holding company, with the same people serving on both. We make sure that our board has a clear understanding of traditional bank-related requirements, such as the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, security, audit and so forth. Strategic ȱȱȱȱęȱ activity.” How do you time-manage such vast responsibilities? ȱ ȃ ¢ȱȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱȱȱ ȱ of both the holding company and the bank; I became CEO on Nov. 1, 2003. Our board foresaw that the functions of president and CEO are such big jobs, that to have one person do both ȱȱȱȱěȱȱȱ that job apart. That’s why we organized to separate the running of the holding company from running the bank.” What is your history with MutualBank? “I joined MutualBank on Sept. 7, 1978, while I was in high school. I was drawn to the bank, because it was highly respected and a good environment. “It was my senior year, and I was playing football. I’d leave school about 11:30, come into the bank and work until 2:30, then go to football practice. When the football season Dave Heeter: Lifelong Banker Dave and Deb Heeter pose with a copy of the MutualBank vision and values — based on character, compassion, class and competition.
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