.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} You were with First American Bank for 11 years. Why the change?

I looked for a different opportunity with a company that was focused and very growth oriented. The parent company of Great Western Bank is National Australia Bank, which is listed (by Global Finance) as the 11th-safest bank in the world. … One thing that’s key in banking is capital ratio, and Great Western Bank has a tier one capital ratio in excess of 19 percent, which is very significant and probably one of the highest capitalized banks in the United States. Consequently, it has a lot of opportunity for growth. That’s primarily what attracted me.

How has the banking industry changed since your career began?

Certainly there have been a lot of purchases and sales and consolidations. There have continued to be much larger banks and there will continue to be smaller community banks. The other change is technology. In 1983, a lot of the technology was more easily available to larger banks, and now virtually similar technology and electronic banking options are available to almost every bank, irrespective of size.

Describe a typical day at the bank.

Most of my work is on the business side of the customer base and commercial banking opportunities. Yesterday, I drove about 450 miles to an opportunity in southeastern Iowa and spent time with a business owner. Today, I’ve got three different appointments with companies that are in the Des Moines metro area that are looking at business expansion and acquisition opportunities. I spend a lot of time with the lending group, working with them on existing and potential clients.

What are some of your goals?

Our objective is to be No. 2 or No. 3 in deposit share in all the states that we are in. With the F&M Bank acquisition, I think that makes us No. 10 in market share in Iowa. So we’ve still got a way to go to meet our objectives.

What do you do in your spare time?

Three boys used to keep me busier, but my oldest now works in a bank in Cedar Rapids and my middle son is in college. I’ve only got one at home. Certainly his sporting activities; he’s involved in basketball and football, and I help coach a club soccer team. That probably takes most of my time; that and just enjoying the chance to be outdoors when we’ve got better weather than what we’ve had in the past 60 days. My history for the past 20 years has been primarily focused on the job and working with others and trying to be as successful as I can with the employer that I’m with.

Have you ever thought about doing anything else?

I have a couple different times; probably nothing serious. About 10 years ago, I looked at acquiring a manufacturing company. At the end of the day, it was probably the geographies of the company, where I would have had to relocate to, (that led to) my final decision to stay in banking.

Is it a pretty tough time to be a lender right now?

I’d say it’s always a tough time to be a lender. And in retrospect, it was probably tougher in 2005, 2006 and 2007, because today’s economy has filtered through many of the companies that are having a bigger challenge with today’s economics. It’s probably a little easier to make some assessments today. Only in retrospect, though; everything looked pretty good in 2005. Obviously, the way the economy has changed, that is not the case.