11 Hoosier Banker January 2016 I spent my first six months behind the teller counter at the Franklin Street corporate headquarters, to learn firsthand what the employees did. “Then I spent three years as assistant manager and three years as manager, which was a lot of fun, especially when we’d close mortgage loans and the customers would get the keys to their new homes. That was the best part. “Following were 10 years as head of the loan department and then, in 1997, I was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer for three years. In 2000 I was elected president and chief operating office. In July 2004, I was elected president and CEO. “First Federal Savings Bank is the only post-college job I ever had. My father-in-law was right, because everything worked out.” What is it like to be with the same institution for so many years? “It’s kind of like watching your child grow up. The bank has gone from being small and limited to what we are now. “When I started in 1980, we had three offices and about $74 million in assets. Our only transactions were taking first mortgage and home improvement loan applications, plus we had passbook savings and certificates of deposit. “In April 1999 we went public with a stock issuance, and in 2000 we reached $175 million in assets. Since then, we have grown from four offices to nine, and from $175 million to $400 million in assets. We now offer every service available, except that we don’t have a trust department. “We’ve had great leadership through the years from a lot of good and dedicated employees, including our long-serving board. It makes it much easier to have experienced people surrounding you.” Please describe your home life/ pastimes. “Susan and I have been married for 35 years, and we have lived in our home on Oak Hill Road for 34 years. Susan is a partner in an Evansvillebased public accounting firm, and she has been a practicing CPA for 34 years. We have two grown children: Christopher, 28, and Laura, 26, who both reside in Evansville. “Christopher works here at First Federal as a vice president in the commercial loan department. He started his career with Home Bank, Martinsville, while his wife, Kristen, finished her law degree. She’s now an attorney in Evansville. “Our daughter Laura is a certified fitness trainer and deep muscle massage therapist. “Swimming has been a major activity for our family. It began when Christopher took an ‘unauthorized plunge’ in the backyard swimming pool at the age of 2. The next week he was enrolled in the University of Evansville swim tots program and, within a year, he was jumping off the high dive. “Laura was determined not to be left behind by her brother, so she was in the water from Day One. By the time they were the ages of 6 and 4, Christopher was swimming competitive races, and Laura was swimming across the deep well for ribbons. Both grew up swimming, and we enjoyed traveling the Midwest for them. “While they were students at Indiana University, Christopher and Laura swam all four years, and IU’s men’s and women’s teams were both consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country. Their senior years, Christopher was elected a team captain by his peers, and Laura won the 2012 Hoosier Award and the 2012 Big Ten Conference Sportsmanship award for Indiana.” Who are the main influences in your life? Vintage mechanical banks were a gift from C.Wayne Worthington, Mike Head’s late father-in-law, who also was a bank president and served IBA in its top leadership role. “The first big influence in my life was my father. He was the primary breadwinner in my family. I watched how hard he worked to provide for five kids, and yet we never wanted for anything growing up. For three years, he coached two baseball teams involving myself and two younger brothers, never missing a practice or a game, while at the same time working 3rd shift at Keller Crescent. My mother drove the ‘kid taxi’ from the baseball park to the swimming pool. “My other big influence was Susan’s dad, as more of a business role model. He was in the bank at 5 a.m. every day, regardless if there was a foot of snow on the ground, or if it was 100 degrees outside. He ran the bank, he was active in the community, and he was always there for his family. When I accepted the IBA chairman’s gavel last fall, it was an honor to receive it in the same French Lick hotel where my father-in-law had accepted it in 1979. “Both my father and my father-inlaw taught me the old-school value of hard work.” What advice would you offer to young bankers beginning their careers? “First, read everything available related to this industry, because it’s so vast. Second, be the first one in the office every morning, and be the last one out every day.” t
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