A Conversation With ... George Marino

Springfield Trust Co. was founded about 16 years ago by John Courtney, who is a trust attorney. … We’re an independent trust company, and we do trust work for clients, and can be the trustees for them, as well as (handle) investments.

We have a portfolio management department. We (will soon) have 28 employees, and are just short of $700 million in assets under management, but that varies almost on a minute-to-minute basis based on the dollar volume of what’s going on in the market.

What is your job?

Basically, to manage the overall operations of the company. That includes human resources, the operations department, portfolio management sections, and I’ll also be involved in helping with new business development as I get more engrained in what I’m doing.

You joined Springfield Trust Co. on March 5. What’s your professional background?

I spent 20 years in banking. I started with Commerce Bank in Kansas City, and I worked with Commerce Bank (and others) in Springfield. Then for the last 19 years, I’ve owned my own company, Greenlawn Fertilizer. I still own it, and its being managed by one of my employees. I received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, though at that time it was University of Kansas City.

What drew you back into the financial realm?

I had been on the board of directors of Springfield Trust Co. for 15 years. I was very much involved in what was going on, and the company was continuing to expand and grow and wanted to move into some other directions.

They had the idea … to get somebody to oversee the operations area, and asked some of the directors.

I raised my hand and said that I might have an interest in it, and we went on from there. I was part of an interview process at that point.

Who should think about having a trust or using related services?

Anyone who has assets and wants those assets to be passed on without having to go through probate and taxes – not that a trust company can eliminate all taxes,

but they can certainly help reduce the tax burden.

How does Springfield Trust Co. reach out to potential clients, beyond traditional advertising?

Just this past December, we did a seminar for our clients to bring in their children and grandchildren, for us to talk to them about financial management and how they could manage their financial affairs over the years and what might be some of the better practices for them going forward.

We’re going to put that seminar on a CD and any of our clients who want to show it to their children or grandchildren will have it available to them.

What’s on the horizon for Springfield Trust Co.?

We’re going to be opening an office in Osage Beach in probably the next six to eight weeks. There’s a building being renovated up there right now, and we already have a trust officer on board, working in that market.

We also have clients in that market, so this is a natural progression for us.

Tell us about your family.

I’ve been married for 38 years to Janice, and have five children – two engineers, two accountants and one graphic designer – and I have three grandchildren. Four of my children live in Houston, Texas, and one lives in Chicago.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions regarding future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.