One of Joe’s most memorable experiences happened during the recent pandemic with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). “During PPP, we were working sometimes over 20 hours a day, 24 hours a day in some cases. There were a lot of employees involved in that, and I don’t think I ever had to ask somebody to help out, they just came in and did it,” he said. “We were a team, and it was an awesome feeling.” Joe continued, “We are able to be adaptive to the many changes because we were a smaller bank and had a little bit more flexibility. That was a huge advantage of community banks during that time. We were getting calls from bigger banks, asking if we could help them out. Community banks rose to the occasion and led the way during PPP, both in Missouri and nationwide. “We were constantly in contact with our customers; people’s livelihoods were at stake. We would get calls at all hours. Once, we even answered a customer’s call at 3:00 a.m. We were in the office working anyways, so why not?” Having an amazing team of employees doesn’t happen by chance. “I’ve been at a couple of different banks over the years. I’ve been here for coming up on 15 years. We really have a great group of people at this bank. We’re a bank with 22 employees, and we have done a fantastic job. It is not ‘Joe Armour,’ it’s all of us, all the team members at 1st Advantage Bank,” Joe said. “It doesn’t matter what your title is. We pick up trash from the parking lot if needed, and we do what needs to be done to make this bank successful and to give the level of customer service that our customers expect. Attitude certainly is everything!” It is important to Joe that he gives back and helps others outside of work too. He is currently involved with Community Living Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to adults and children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Prior to that, Joe sat on the board of directors for nine years with 10 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==