After 14 months in Springfield and 13 years in Joplin serving as a regional chairman for Commerce Bank, Fred Osborn has returned to work in Joplin to lead philanthropy efforts for the Mercy Health Foundation. Osborn is no stranger to the health system, having served several years on Mercy Hospital Joplin’s administrative board and on several hospital committees. After the 2011 tornado in Joplin, he was appointed to the property acquisition team, which led to the opportunity for a career change. Douglas Neff, a 22-year Commerce veteran who most recently led the company’s commercial banking efforts in Wichita, Kan., succeeds Osborn in Springfield.
Successor Advice “Work with the team we have (in Springfield) and get involved with some boards and some activities, and it won’t be long before you know everybody in town. … When you’re with a bank as long as I was (in Joplin) and in Springfield, it doesn’t matter what the business is, it’s all about building relationships with your clients, your community members, certain spheres of influence. This entire thing is about building relationships. … I immediately had the chance to work with the United Way group (in Springfield), and that alone allowed me to meet a lot of various folks.”
Close to Home “I never left [Joplin]. I’ve been commuting to Springfield. We were just facing a difficult housing market, and it just never happened that we sold our house. I like to think it was a little divine intervention there. … After the tornado, I was very fortunate that (Mercy) asked me to serve on the property acquisition team for the new hospital. For several months we were meeting, and I got to know Mike McCurry and Lynn Britton with Mercy out of St. Louis. I found those guys to be equal to Commerce Bank’s administrative staff in terms of commitment to community, and I think that – my prior relationship with St. John’s – and then seeing Mercy, what they did after the tornado, really impacted me. I’ve always had in the back of my mind – and my wife would verify this – since the time I served on the board, if there ever came an opportunity to work with Mercy in some form or fashion, I would probably take them up on it. And I did.”
$1 Billion Vision “The biggest challenge is that we’ve been so focused on becoming normal again with our temporary facilities, that we have to step back and look at the long-term vision for Mercy. Obviously, the financial commitment it is making in this community is incredible. Our challenge is to make people understand that there will be needs. We hear a lot of people talking about this contribution and that contribution. Well, new hospitals are expensive; new service lines are expensive. We’re making sure we’re giving all of our people who contributed in the past the opportunity to still be involved, and to seek out new people who have the desire to be involved with health care and providing quality care.”
Springfield Market “In Springfield, they’re starting to see some commercial activity, so I think maybe we’re at a turning point, but I still say there’s a tremendous amount of concern about regulation, about taxation and those kinds of things that do impact businesses. … The Dodd-Frank Act had a huge impact on banks, and that continues to be out there. They still haven’t even written all the regulations for it. So when I say there’s unrest, it’s because we don’t know what those regulations are going to be. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is just now starting to write their own regulations, and all those will have an impact on banks. They just don’t know what the long-term effects of those impacts will be. You throw that in together with a very low interest rate environment, and it’s just a very competitive business right now.”
Banker’s Takeaway “We had deposit growth – I can’t really tell you how much it was – but all banks have had deposit growth with the economy the way it is. … People are saving, but their alternative investments just aren’t there. A lot of this has to do with the monetary policies of (the European zone), where interest rates are so low that there’s really no investment, so people tend to put their money in cash as opposed to investing in something. That’s a macro reason, and we’re seeing it all across the country. When you hear the politicians talk about ‘money on the sidelines,’ that’s what it is.”
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
