8 Hoosier Banker May 2016 COVER STORY Gene Miles has been with First Farmers Bank and Trust Company, Converse, since 1979. Several years ago, leadership of First Farmers Bank and Trust Company, Converse, “made the strategic decision to grow through acquisitions,” explains Gene Miles, 62, president and chief executive officer of the bank. The search stretched across state lines into Illinois which, like Indiana, offers fertile farm ground and productive soil. As Miles recalls, “We felt we would be very successful there over the long haul.” The plan worked. First Farmers Bank and Trust Company now employs nearly 400 people in Indiana and Illinois and serves more than 50,000 clients. Its headquartered hometown, Converse, has fewer than 1,250 residents. Miles is a longtime player in the bank’s success story. He has served in multiple positions, including commercial loan officer, compliance officer, investment officer, marketing officer and accounting officer. Additionally Miles is active in community leadership positions with St. Joseph Hospital, the Miami County Community Foundation, the Northern Indiana Community Foundation and the Miami County Economic Development Committee, among others. He is a graduate of Purdue University and of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. Hoosier Banker recently interviewed Gene Miles in his Converse office: What are your responsibilities as president and CEO of First Farmers Bank and Trust Company? “I’m in charge of the overall operation of the bank, with a particular interest in mergers and acquisitions. We’ve been very active in that area in the last several years. “The acquisition process starts with strategic planning and identifying a target area that makes sense for you. Second is earning the board’s buy-in. The third step is engaging in conversations with the investment banking community, which acts as the gobetween in most cases. “We are an ag bank, so we extended into Illinois because of the fantastic farm ground. Agriculture has been our strategic focus.” How do you retain your bank’s small-town values as you expand? “We consistently hire people who share the philosophy that the customer is first. I give our board of directors a lot of credit, because they understand the service side of our business, and what it means to be a community bank. ”We’re the largest depository in Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, but we can’t ‘out-technology’ the larger banks. We compete by providing local service and by focusing on our communities.” How is First Farmers addressing succession planning? “We spend a lot of time talking about succession, at both the board level and the management level. We’ve got a strong core of officers who are developing in different stages of their careers. “At the board level, we’ve got the advantage of having been a successful organization for a long time. It has been perhaps a little easier for us to attract skilled directors who are interested in our institution.” What is the history of the bank? “In 1885 a gentleman by the name of Mark Tully founded a bank in Gene Miles: Winning Strategic Banker
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