Hoosier Banker 9 PHOTO CAPTION: Inspirational sayings and local photos adorn the walls of the First Bank of Berne operations building. “Community involvement provides personal growth opportunity, and it provides satisfaction to be helping others. It also is important for the bank, because when the community does well, our bank does well, too.” You studied agricultural economics at Purdue University. How did your college studies lead to banking as a career? “When I graduated from high school, I farmed for four years in the family farm operation and soon after married my high school sweetheart. I thought that I was going to farm for the rest of my life, but a few years into it, I started to get the inclination to work on more of a professional level. “So I attended Purdue and chose agricultural economics. I took a variety of agribusiness courses, including farm management, agricultural finance, economics and agricultural sales, and started to develop an interest in banking and finance. “As I was nearing graduation, I received a job offer from John Deere that was intriguing, and another from NBD Bank. I accepted the banking position. It was a challenging decision, but NBD gave me the opportunity to stay in Indiana and be closer to family.” What brought you to First Bank of Berne? “I received a call from Charlie Isch, asking me if I’d be interested in joining the team. So after four years in Fort Wayne, working at NBD Bank, I came back home to Berne. “Charlie has been a great mentor and a strong leader to follow. He remained on our board through December of 2015, and he was a pleasure to work with.”
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