From his day job with Empire Bank to his community endeavors, Jamie Clark is clearly invested in Marshfield.
Clark last year was promoted to Marshfield community bank president for Empire Bank, a position he counts as his chief professional accomplishment.
“I have always felt I had the ability to accomplish great things if I continue to learn, grow and work hard,” Clark says. “On the other hand, to be promoted to this position by an organization such as Empire Bank at the age of 37 exceeds even my expectations.”
An eye for his community could have been a catalyst.
Clark recounts a tight deadline handed down to him and his team in mid-December 2011.
Bank officials were asked to help a local small business purchase a large manufacturing facility by year-end. What was typically a six-week process, the team squeezed into an eight-day time frame.
“Everyone said we couldn’t make it happen, but I convinced them we could,” Clark says. “My team and I worked exhaustingly, and we closed with time to spare.
“As a result, the company has hired 30 new employees with anticipation to hire an additional 40 in the coming year.”
Outside of Empire Bank, Clark has lent his business talents to the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce, currently serving as chairman of its board of directors.
After joining the group in 2009, Clark was asked to serve as president, and upon digging in, he realized the chamber had lost more than $25,000 in the previous two years.
He set to work to reform the organization.
“While my decisions were not always well received, they were necessary to save the chamber. Based on the success the chamber had in my first year as president, I was asked to stay on as president in 2011,” Clark says, noting by the end of that year, the chamber had recovered 60 percent of what had been lost and doubled its membership.
Clark also serves as vice president for the Marshfield R-1 Board of Education. He says the work is among the most important he undertakes, considering the school district has a budget of more than $25 million, nearly 3,000 students and 350 staff members.
“Regularly, I have had to make extremely difficult and controversial decisions that affect friends, neighbors, clients and sometimes family,” Clark says.
“In preparing for those decisions, I have always been able to keep in mind what is most important and why I serve – kids.”
By doing what I believe is best for them, I have never had to hang my head over a decision I have made.”
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