12 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 Continued on page 14. Lucas White (left) and his father Kip White pose with photos of past presidents of The Fountain Trust Company, on display in the bank lobby. “On the personal side, there are still some bankers across the state that I’ve never met or don’t know well. It’s a good opportunity for me to get to know them. “I’ve talked to Sue about it and mapped out how many days it will take. Since we have the kids at home, my plan is to be gone from home as little as possible and basically fit the visits into workdays whenever possible.” The current IBA strategic plan emphasizes ‘Next-Gen Bankers.’ How can banks attract and retain talent? “There are several parts to this. It’s certainly harder for small banks in rural areas like ours. Most people in Covington who go on to college move away. Small towns have a hard time attracting young people. “We’ve actually had some success recently getting a couple of young promising people, and two things helped us do that. The first is to be a vibrant place to work, with a plan to succeed and grow. Then share what the plan is, where you want to go, and how you want to get there. “The second thing to do is to accept that younger people have different expectations, as far as what it’s like to come to work every day, how quickly they can move up, what the benefits are and the work-life balance. “Young people don’t want to work 60 hours a week. They have hobbies and outside interests. The ability to adapt to that expectation will help attract people. Things don’t have to be the way they always were.” IBA’s strategic plan also has a ‘Tell the Story’ initiative. What is the story of banking? “The traditional story is that we help people buy homes and cars. They come to get a loan, and we help make it happen. That story has been told for years. “The bigger story is how much community banks help their local communities. When the town needs something, or the school needs something, or when a group in town needs something, they can come to the bank, and we help them out. We can’t help everybody, but we help people out generally. “One example is the park playground that we helped fund in Covington. It had rusty old equipment and nobody was using it. So a group of mothers decided it was time to redo the playground. “It took them three years of fundraising. They got a state grant for a couple hundred thousand, and the rest were donations from the community and businesses. “Our bank gave $50,000 to that project. If we weren’t a local bank here in Covington, we wouldn’t have done that. That’s the story of community banks. “Where there is a bank in town, the town is still vibrant. Where there is no bank in town, the town ultimately dies. Banks are the lifeblood of communities. “That is our competitive advantage. We are local, we are here, and we’re tied to the communities.” How did your family become involved with banking? “My great-grandfather and greatgrandmother started out as farmers. The family story is that my great-grandmother was out slopping the hogs one day and spilled some slop down her boot. She said, ‘That’s the last hog I’m ever going to slop.’ “The next day she went to Indianapolis and enrolled my great-grandfather in law school. Apparently back then you didn’t have to take the LSAT or entrance exams. You could just go enroll. A paneled room upstairs at The Fountain Trust Company serves as a quiet place for management team meetings.
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