2015 Trusted Advisers Banker: Karen Hall

From secretary to senior vice president – that’s the trajectory of Karen Hall’s 42-year career with Central Bank of Branson. Hired in 1973 by then Peoples Bank of the Ozarks owner Ben Parnell for a temporary position, Hall worked through a variety of duties to build what is today the bank’s biggest business portfolio – increasing 9 percent to $95 million in loans last year from $87 million in 2013. She expects it will reach $98 million by the end of 2015.

“I worked as a teller, opened accounts, did trust work and bookkeeping, whatever needed to be done. We were a smaller bank at that time,” Hall says, adding in those 42 years Central Bank of Branson’s assets have grown from around $50 million the early 1970s to presently about $313 million.

Working commercial loans in Branson means Hall is an adviser to some of the biggest companies in the live entertainment capital of the world. She counts Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., Combs Hospitality Inc. and HCW Development Co. LLC among her accounts. She’s also worked with a variety of the town’s entertainers, both past and present including Andy Williams, Wayne Newton and Mel Tillis.

“We want to make the community grow and prosper, and I feel our bank has helped to develop the culture,” Hall says.

She believes her role as an adviser involves putting herself in a client’s shoes to keep long-term goals for the business a No. 1 priority.

“Sometimes you have to be a hard nose and say no, but you have to do that in a very diplomatic way,” she says. “None of us want to hear we can’t spend the money we’re making and do what we want to do, but sometimes we get carried away.”

From this vantage point, Hall sees Branson expanding its business portfolio through the growth of projects like the Branson Landing and building its profile as a destination through more attractions. The former May through September tourist season has lengthened on either end to include everything from youth and professional sports tournaments in the spring to holiday festivities in December.

“We’ve evolved from a small fishing community to something that we all need to take pride in,” she says.

Just as Branson has developed and expanded over the years, Hall’s involvement in her profession and the local community is intensive and varied. She previously served on several committees of the Missouri Bankers Association and for 12 years as president of the Branson Board of Education. Currently, she is a board member and secretary for the Branson Tri Lakes Area Tourism Community Enhancement District and chairwoman of the Skaggs Foundation.

But Hall’s personal passion: for 30 years, she’s volunteered her time helping first through fourth graders who struggle with reading.

“If you can’t read you can’t do anything, but if you can read then you can be a great leader,” Hall says.