A BACKGROUND ON Jennifer Lawton, CRCM Vice President of Compliance and Loan Administration Peoples Savings Bank Jennifer Lawton, CRCM, is the vice president of compliance and loan administration at Peoples Savings Bank, located in the small idyllic town of Hermann, Missouri. Her career path has not been traditional, but Jennifer feels like her choices have led her to the place she wants and needs to be. She was born in Linn, Missouri, and moved to a 200-acre farm in Vienna, Missouri, at the age of 12. “The farm was in the middle of nowhere,” Jennifer recalled. “It was quite an adjustment to go from living in a town to being out in the country.” The night that Jennifer graduated from Vienna High School, she decided to follow her future husband to Hermann, Missouri, and she has never looked back. She got a job as a laser programmer, and after some time, she decided that she needed to find a job that had more of a career path. Jennifer started working at a local bank that was called Bay Hermann Berger Bank at the time. She worked there for five years in many roles. Then, a friend reached out to her and told her about an open position at Peoples Savings Bank. Jennifer pursued the lead, was hired for the job and found her career path. “I was blessed by coming to Peoples Savings Bank because I’ve really had a lot of help in growing my career,” she said. As Jennifer looks back at her 23 years at Peoples Savings Bank, she is super thankful for the work ethic her mother, Renilda Howard, has instilled in her. Jennifer stated, “The quote ‘I’m a strong woman because a strong woman raised me’ fits perfectly.” She is also thankful for those individuals who have taken the time to teach, mentor and help her build a career. Among those, Mark Laune, president and CEO of Peoples Savings Bank, has been vital to Jennifer’s career path. “Mark helped me build my career. Even while he was building his own, he was helping. Mark would say, ‘Here’s a path. Why don’t you take it?’ He’s taught me a lot about banking in general.” Jennifer said. Another person she is thankful for is Tom Walkenbach, who served as the chief lending officer and a compliance officer at the bank before his retirement. He taught Jennifer a lot about loans and compliance, and oddly enough, he sparked Jennifer’s passion for compliance. “I am also very fortunate to have a great Board of Directors at the bank I work for. I really could not ask to be involved with a better group of people. Their leadership and guidance have meant a lot,” she said. In her current position, Jennifer oversees a great team of people who help her make sure everything moves forward as it should. There is also a lot of monitoring, reviewing, and training that falls under Jennifer’s purview, as well as putting out fires when needed. Jennifer wears many hats and, in her own words, is a “jack of all trades.” The Show-Me Banker Magazine | 19
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