12 MAY / JUNE 2017 COVER STORY “Another challenge is trying to make banking easy. That’s part of our vision at the bank – we want to make banking easy. Taking complicated processes, with all the regulations and red tape, and making them as easy as possible for customers and businesses is difficult. “Dealing with the ever-changing regulations, interpretations of the Dodd-Frank Act, TRID, new capital requirements, CECL and all the changes that we see happening can be a challenge. Keeping up on compliance and regulation is also a challenge, but we make sure our customers don’t experience the pain of it. “Because of these challenges, it’s important for bankers to interact in many ways, whether it is going to the IBA Day at the Statehouse, Annual Washington Trip or visiting local representatives. We need to be telling our story as bankers.” What do you most enjoy about banking? “Our bank has an employee stock ownership plan, and our ESOP is collectively the largest shareholder of our bank. I enjoy working with our employee-owners to meet the needs of our financial communities, while also benefiting the local community. “What I really enjoy is going out and riding in a combine with one of our customers, or walking with a customer through a local factory or manufacturing facility. It’s satisfying to see a new residence being built, a development in town, or a farmer putting out a field of beans, knowing that we played a part in that. We may have financed the grain bin or the truck that hauled the grain. “It adds value for me, both personally and professionally, to experience the benefits our bank is providing to customers in our communities.” If you were not a banker, what would you be instead? “I would be a college professor, probably teaching finance or economics. I like talking in front of people, and at the college level, for the most part, students want to be there. They realize that they are making an investment in their future. “During my last semester at Purdue, I was strongly considering getting a Ph.D. to work at the university level, but I soon found out that a Ph.D. required extensive research, which I did not enjoy, so I pursued opportunities outside of the university. “Later, I did get my MBA through Indiana University, and I’ve also completed the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. I’ve tried to instill in my own children to get all the education you can, because you will have it for the rest of your life.” Please tell a bit about home life and pastimes. “Teri, my wife of 30 years, is the reason for any success that I’ve had. She’s a great Kent Liechty’s office offers a view of bountiful farmland, Amish buggies and other sights of Adams County. A Purdue frame displays one of many family photos in Kent Liechty’s office.
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