A Conversation With ... Mark Jenkins

Tell us about the operations of Bank of Billings, a small-town bank with 0.43 percent deposit market share in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
As far as asset size, we’re a $60 million bank. We’ve got 24 employees right now (and) another facility in Marionville. (In) the mid-1990s, First Miami Bancshares bought (Bank of Billings). We have a sister bank in Miami, Okla., the First National Bank of Miami, owned by the same holding company.

What challenges are you helping the bank handle?
Challenges for the bank are to help stabilize and get policies and procedures set in place for the bank to be able to grow, setting a structure for quality over quantity (for) loans. We do all types of loans – everything from agriculture/cattle loans to auto loans to real estate, construction and commercial loans. We haven’t done any (U.S. Small Business Administration) loans, but we’re looking at doing those in the future.

Where is your customer base?
Typically, we’re looking at a radius around Billings and Marionville. Billings has a population within the city of 1,000, and Marionville has a population of about 2,000. We’re the only bank in both towns. Our customer base branches out from (each town) probably 30 miles – that’s what we consider our core customer group. It’s mainly Christian County, Stone County and Lawrence County.

Does working in small communities make it harder to achieve desired growth?
It does, but there’s a lot of growth and potential in these communities. As Springfield continues to grow out, the towns of Republic and Nixa have seen a lot of growth during the last 10 to 15 years. And that growth continues to come the direction of smaller towns like Billings. As expansion comes, the need for borrowing and building houses and subdivisions and other things go along with that.

What’s your background in the banking industry?
I grew up in Sparta and I’m a fifth-generation banker. I started my banking career at Citizens Bank of Sparta in 1997. My great-grandfather helped start the Citizens Bank of Sparta (as) one of the primary investors. I worked with my grandfather and my father at the bank in Sparta. I thought about doing a lot of different things. I went to college, got my accounting degree and started as a loan officer. I have two brothers who also went into banking, so at one time, at the Bank of Sparta, there were seven Mr. Jenkinses when you called. I worked at the bank until it sold in 2004, (and) went to work at the Ozark branch of Citizens National Bank of Springfield and worked there until Empire Bank purchased it. Since 2010, I worked for Systematic Savings Bank, up until July.

What brought you to Bank of Billings?
A recruiter called me, asking if I’d be interested in making a job move, and at the time, I said no, because I was really happy with my job at Systematic. The presidency position here was vacant, and they asked if I’d be interested in taking the position. After looking into the bank, I discovered it was a very solid bank, with a good ownership group, a lot of positive potential and a brand-new facility. It was a great opportunity.

What’s happening with the 123-year-old former Bank of Billings location?
There’s a lot of history there. The bank would like to donate it to the city, and we’re still hoping that something could come about with that. Right now, it’s a vacant building, and we’re in the process of getting a Phase I and Phase II environmental study done on the bank to see if there are any liabilities or hazards that would be passed on. The building is for sale, and we’d also entertain any offers to purchase the building. (It) had some structural issues, and ultimately, to fix the building correctly, it would need to be gutted and have substantial dollars thrown at it.[[In-content Ad]]