Ozarks Profile: Charles E. Gottas

We were chartered in 1923. I've been here since 1952, which is kind of a long time. We're local in every respect. We specialize in real estate loans. We don't make other kinds of loans. We limit our lending to Springfield and adjoining counties. We specialize in making home loans, primarily, but we also do other types of real estate loans. On the other side of the coin, we have a wide variety of FDIC-insured savings products, CDs, passbooks NOW (negotiable order withdrawal) checking accounts, money market deposit checking accounts, IRAs, simplified employer pension plans from short-term to long-term. We have eight employees. We're not a large institution – $54 million. We're the only savings and loan in the area.

How does it feel to be the only savings and loan in the market?

Frankly, I'm real proud of it. At one time, there were quite a few and a number of years ago the commercial banks didn't want to make home loans, and the only place that you could get home loans was from one of the savings and loans. Well, that all changed, and now the commercial banks decided that the home loan business is good after all, and a lot of the savings and loans that were here have converted to commercial banks because they wanted to get into other things. But dealing with the public, just doing home loans, is a fun thing to do. It's a lot of fun to help people, and that we can do because we keep our loans here, we don't sell them. So, if somebody needs a little help, a little adjustment, sometimes it's very easy to do it.

What is the open-ended deed of trust offered by Systematic S&L?

It's not automatic, but by agreement we can give back some of the payments that have been paid if (homeowners) need some money to maybe repair the house, or (for) a short-term illness. It depends on equity and the (borrower's) payment record a little bit, but that's a little unusual. We can work with our customers, but when you deal with a customer for 15, 20 or 30 years, you can see good times and bad times with them, and if they come in and talk with us, we can maybe sometimes help.

Is it difficult to attract new, younger customers?

On savings products, it's not very difficult to attract funds. All our funds are from people here in the immediate area. Basically, we specialize and offer pretty good rates for the longer terms. And we do something else. We pay dividends if people want them monthly. Some places won't pay them monthly, and to somebody who's retired and wants a monthly check, it's a nice, convenient way, and they can get a reasonable rate, too.

What has kept you with Systematic?

I started as a part-time teller Aug. 13, 1952. Before the end of that year I was asked if I wanted to stay full-time, and I did. I just kind of grew with it, enjoyed it. I love the work. For many years, I did the loan closings and that type of thing. I was elected president of Systematic in 1984. It's a lot of fun to work with people. Today I see that we have a lot of repeat customers, people who I made loans to back in the early 1950s and 1960s, then their children came along and now their grandchildren come along. We just see generations. They've liked our service and they've come back.

Tell us about your family.

I was married for 46 years and my first wife passed away and I remarried. I have four daughters. My wife, Jean, has four sons and two daughters. Between us we now have 18 grandchildren. Quite a bunch makes a big Christmas list, but it sure is fun to visit them.[[In-content Ad]]