2016 40 Under 40 Yearbook: Brian Straughan, 49

Then: President, The Signature Bank
Now: President and board member, Springfield First Community Bank

In 2005, Brian Straughan had no idea in a few years he’d be at the center of a de novo bank – during the throes of the Great Recession nonetheless.

But that’s how the story goes.

Straughan and two other BancorpSouth executives left the bank in the wake of its acquisition of The Signature Bank. At the time Springfield Business Journal honored Straughan with a 40 Under 40 award, he was working as The Signature Bank president.

In the five years following Springfield First Community Bank’s startup, some 480 financial institutions failed. Not SFC. Backed with $22 million in startup capital from 71 investors, including Charlie O’Reilly and family and Larry Lipscomb, the bank has grown today to nearly $400 million in assets and $3 million in net income ending 2015.

“Looking back, it was the right time, with the right people, in the right community,” Straughan says.

With six bank flags on his resume, is SFC his last career stop?

“I certainly plan on this being the last bank that I work for,” he says.