Business Spotlight: Great Southern Bancshares Inc.

Owner: Publicly traded (Nasdaq: GSBC)

Founded: 1923

Address: 1451 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield, MO 65804

Phone: (417) 887-4400

Fax: (417) 895-4533

Web: www.greatsouthernbank.com

Email: intbanking@greatsouthernbank.com

Services/Products: Retail and commercial banking; and investment, insurance and travel services

Employees: 775

Assets: $2.4 billion (as of Dec. 31)

Net income: $29.3 million (as of Dec. 31)

In its 85 years, Great Southern Bank has built a stronghold in the Springfield financial market to the tune of $2.4 billion in assets.

And to think it all began with only a $5,000 investment.

J. Wyman Hogg, R.M. Mack and John P. McNiel created Great Southern Savings & Loan in March 1923. The original location on East Walnut Street – the old Seville Hotel building in downtown Springfield – housed the three founders and another employee, while they served 936 savings and real estate loan customers.

Now, the publicly traded institution (Nasdaq: GSBC) under holding company Great Southern Bancshares Inc. serves 97,630 customer households with 775 employees, 38 banking centers, 177 ATMs and four loan production offices. The company also has a 30,000-square-foot headquarters at 1451 E. Battlefield Road and a 70,000-square-foot operations center at 218 S. Glenstone Ave. Great Southern leads area banks in deposit market share, capturing 19.35 percent of deposits in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area as of June 30, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Turner’s takeover

The company’s modern-day emergence began in April 1974, when Bill Turner left his position as Springfield president for Commerce Bank to become president of Great Southern.

“I felt Great Southern was more of an opportunity to not be totally independent but pretty much so, and be able to call more of the shots myself,” explains Turner, currently Great Southern’s chairman. “At the time, my wife and kids were highly skeptical of it.”

When Turner came on board, Great Southern’s had 14 employees and assets of about $80 million.

Only three months after taking over, Turner started an aggressive branch expansion by opening a banking center in Branson. By October 1976, the new headquarters was built on Battlefield Road and Great Southern started opening branches in Ozarks communities such as Ava, Thayer and West Plains.

Many credit Turner’s vision and style for Great Southern’s position today.

“Mr. Turner didn’t hide in his office. He was always out there to meet and greet you,” says Ralph H. Slavens, a retired real estate broker who has banked with Great Southern for 40 years. “I could sit down with him and talk about a deal or explain why I thought they ought to do it, and he always listened.”

Teresa Chasteen-Calhoun has been a Great Southern employee for 24 years, working as marketing director since 1989. She lists three keys to the company’s success: Turner’s vision, bank staff and an environment that fosters quick responses to opportunities.

“We have the ability to make decisions and get things done quickly,” says Chasteen-Calhoun. “Whether it’s a loan approval, to buy new equipment or roll out a new campaign, we can turn that around in a week to 10 days.”

Turner, the bank’s largest shareholder, recalls how Great Southern survived record high interest rates in the early 1980s when he says the prime rate reached 21.5 percent. “We had a lot of equity and net worth,” he said. “Many savings and loans went broke around the country, and we ... were able to bid for and buy good loans from those failed thrifts.”

Deregulation of the banking industry in the early ’80s also helped Great Southern expand because it could offer checking accounts as well as consumer and commercial loans. In 1989, Great Southern went public and in July 1994, its stock split for the first of three times.

Joe’s turn

Now, one of Turner’s “skeptical” family members is in command at Great Southern.

President Joe Turner began mowing lawns at the company’s properties when he was a high school junior. He also worked as a teller and in the accounting and loan departments during college breaks.

Turner completed his undergraduate studies at Drake University and earned a law degree in 1989 from University of Missouri. After working at Kansas City law firm Stinson, Mag & Fizzell PC, Turner came back to Great Southern as a commercial loan officer in 1991. He succeeded his father as president in 1999.

Joe Turner is now focusing branch expansion on metropolitan areas like Kansas City and St. Louis. Great Southern recently opened a banking center in Lee’s Summit, and Turner said it plans to open one in the St. Louis area in 2008 or early 2009.

“We’ll continue to open banking centers – probably a couple a year – but not so much in rural communities,” the younger Turner adds.

Another Turner, Bill’s wife and Joe’s mother, Ann, also was instrumental in building the company. Ann Turner managed Great Southern Travel for 20 years before retiring 10 years ago.

Economic conditions

In June 2000, Great Southern reached $1 billion in assets and then $2 billion in June 2005. However, its stock price has dropped in the last year, from $30 on Feb. 26, 2007, to $18.79 on Feb. 26, 2008.

“Banks in general have fallen out of favor with investors,” Joe Turner explains. “With the tremendous problems that the banking sector has seen in subprime lending and write-offs in that area, all banks have been negatively affected.”

Both Turners point out that Great Southern has weathered some tough economic times before.

“We’ll just continue doing what we (do) and taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves, which may be acquiring some additional institutions,” speculates the elder Turner. “It’s a rapidly changing business and we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’ll be ready.”

Great Celebration

Great Southern Bank celebrates 85 years with anniversary cake and door prizes in its branches March 7.

Excellence in Business

Bill Turner will receive Ozarks Technical Community College’s 2008 Excellence in Business Award on April 11. Turner will be recognized during a 1:30–3 p.m. event at OTC’s Information Commons West. Admission is $10; call (417) 447-8888 for reservations.[[In-content Ad]]