Banker Bill Turner honored for business excellence

A seven-person committee recently selected the Great Southern Bank chairman to receive the 2008 Excellence in Business Award. Past recipients are SRC Holdings Corp. founder Jack Stack, the Irish immigrant family behind O’Reilly Automotive Inc. and Springfield hotelier John Q. Hammons, the inaugural honoree in 2005.

“The people who have gotten it before are a highly prestigious group … and I was honored to be included in that group,” Turner said.

Harry Staley, president of the Students in Free Enterprise team at OTC, served on the committee that selected Turner. Business achievements, ethical practices and employee satisfaction were among the factors considered by the committee, Staley said.

“Our award recipients are a good cross-section of different personalities and ways of running organizations, but the one thing that is the same about all of them is they operate their business with integrity,” he said. “And they have a commitment to giving back to the community.”

Reaching out

Turner’s philanthropic endeavors as well as his business acumen and commitment to education propelled him past the competition, according to committee members.

Staley said he was particularly impressed with Turner’s involvement in The Clothesline Project – an event coordinated by SIFE last fall to raise awareness about victims of domestic violence.

Turner said his family’s charitable foundation primarily donates to educational causes and those catering to young people, such as Boys & Girls Clubs. The foundation donated $108,500 to local organizations in 2006, according to an IRS Form 990 filed in May.

On the business front, Turner is largely credited with transforming Great Southern into a publicly traded banking powerhouse with $2.4 billion in assets and 38 full-service branches primarily in south-central and southwest Missouri. Great Southern also has been the deposit market share leader in the Springfield metropolitan area since 2002, according to data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Growing Great Southern

Turner’s tenure at Great Southern began in April 1974, when he left Commerce Bank to become president of the fledgling local bank with just 14 employees. The eager executive quarterbacked a rapid expansion of bank branches in smaller Ozarks communities and guided the bank’s widening portfolio of products through the 1980s. Great Southern went public in 1989, and a decade later, Turner stepped back from day-to-day operations when son Joe was named president. Great Southern reached $1 billion in assets in June 2000 and doubled it assets five years later.

“I’m proud of the fact that we’ve had a successful growth of our company,” Turner said. “We went public almost 20 years ago, and we’ve been able to increase our so-called market cap – what the stock sells for compared to what it sold for the day we went public. And it’s like $250 million now compared to about $20 million then.”

OTC’s affiliation with the award carried special meaning for Turner, who spoke highly of the school’s mission to deliver affordable education and technical training.

“I know when it was first started there was some speculation as to whether it was going to be successful,” he said. “My opinion is it’s been one of biggest success stories in this entire area. … I just think if we didn’t have it, we’d sure miss it.”

Turner will be honored at 1:30 p.m. April 11 at OTC’s Information Commons West 100, 1001 E. Chestnut Expressway. Following the award presentation, Turner will participate in an on-stage interview with Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson, said OTC spokesman Joel Doepker.

“I think it’s a great time to hear from a business leader in the Springfield area about … how they approach life and the business world and how those intermingle,” Doepker said. “It is a candid conversation. They tend to open up and talk about … how they’ve been able to grow to such great success.”

Prior to the question-and-answer session, light refreshments will be served and attendees will view video testimonials from three of Turner’s close acquaintances, Doepker said.

Event sponsors are SIFE, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Business Journal and OnMedia/Mediacom.

2008 Excellence in Business Award

Great Southern Bank Chairman Bill Turner will be honored at 1:30 p.m. April 11 at OTC’s Information Commons West 100, 1001 E. Chestnut Expressway.

Tickets are $10 and are available by calling (417) 447-8888.