9 Hoosier Banker September 2015 COVER STORY Trust, integrity, loyalty.” These and other traditional value terms pop up readily in the speech of Donald E. Goetz, president and chief executive officer of DeMotte State Bank. An unabashed enthusiast, Goetz keeps in his office a copious display of family photos, Christmas keepsakes and other memorabilia. Now 61, Goetz joined DeMotte State Bank fresh out of college and was named to his current position in 1988, at the age of 34. Deeply immersed in community, he has been active with the DeMotte Chamber of Commerce, the Lafayette Diocesan Finance Council, St. Cecilia Parish, Kankakee Valley Intermediate School bond board, Jasper County Tax Abatement advisory board and the NW Jasper Regional Water District, among numerous other organizations. Goetz also has served with industry organizations, including the Community Bankers Association of Indiana, the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions and the American Institute of Banking. Hoosier Banker recently interviewed Don Goetz about his perspectives as a community banker. What are your responsibilities as president and CEO of DeMotte State Bank? “My basic responsibilities include investing and other day-to-day activities, but my primary duty is to provide vision for the company. Closely aligned with that is to make sure the company transcends into the future. “Right now our bank is going through a six-year plan, with current executive management transitioning out. We are stair-stepping the transition to bring in younger people as part of our management succession. “We want this to remain a community bank, so we need to make sure we remain viable for consumers, providing the products and services that they want and demand.” What are your challenges? “Our challenge is to make our message heard as a community bank. We need to help consumers understand that our product lines are just as good as, if not better than, the products that much larger banks offer ‒ and often cheaper. “Our obstacle is in getting that message out. The big banks can splash ads on Chicago television, but we don’t have the advertising budget for that. “We also have struggled, along with all community banks, with the Great Recession of 2008. Working out of that hole was difficult, with loans going bad while regulators were making compliance demands at the worst possible time. “But now we’ve turned the corner. Building will be starting up again, and then developments will start moving. “During the crisis, we saw the worst in people, but we also saw the best in people. Honestly, I found more good than bad. People wanted to work with us to save their homes, and we wanted to help. It was a team effort.” What drew you to banking as a career? “I studied marketing and accounting at Purdue University, and at that time Demotte State Bank was looking for a college graduate to come in to train as future president. A gentleman I knew from church, by the name of Clair Misch, was chairman of the board, and he began recruiting Family photos are close at hand in the office of Don Goetz. Don Goetz: Old-Fashioned Banker Values “ Continued on page 10.
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