RankingBanking 24 Digital (1) - Flipbook - Page 21
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“We’re a lot more interested in where we’ll be 10 years from now than
what our profitability is going to be in the third quarter of 2024.”
Joe Turner / Great Southern Bancorp
on the Prairie books. Earlier in his career, William
work of loan workouts. “I went right to work in the
Turner rose in the ranks to be a president in the
loan department,” he says. “And I was given the
Springfield, Missouri, market for what’s now $30.6
loan portfolio, was on the problem asset commit-
billion Commerce Bancshares. When a friend who
tee and was on the loan committee. And I really
was a director at Great Southern told Turner the
began to learn that business.”
bank needed a new leader, it was a tough decision
The bank was well capitalized at the time, he
to apply for the job. Great Southern was small in
recalls. The elder Turner thinks the Federal Re-
1974, at about $80 million in assets, while Turner
serve’s lowering rates saved the bank. But Great
had a good job with a much bigger bank. “Great
Southern became a publicly traded on the Nasdaq,
Southern was kind of a long shot,” he says. “But
and it eventually changed its charter to commer-
the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to
cial bank.
run my own show. I couldn’t do that with Commerce Bank. We had to report to Kansas City.”
Its survival helped Great Southern pass the 100year mark last year in Springfield, which boasts
He took the CEO job and grew the tiny thrift.
Missouri State University and several smaller col-
By the time his son Joe agreed to take a job with
leges. It’s a vibrant economy with the headquar-
the savings bank in 1991, it had grown to $468
ters for Great American Outdoors Group, which
million but was still dealing with troubled loans.
owns the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s brands,
Like other thrifts, the bank was heavily invested
and O’Reilly Auto Parts. It’s not far from Branson,
in mortgages. As William remembers the 1980s,
Missouri, a vacation spot.
the bank was sometimes paying 16.5% for certificates of deposit but had over $200 million in 30-
Growing in a Diligent Way
year fixed rate loans at 9.5%. “That’s the wrong
Still, some of its markets in Missouri are rural
direction,” he says. Some 1,300 savings and loans
and don’t boast much growth. So, the bank took an
failed from 1980 to 1994, according to the Feder-
opportunity to buy failed banks starting 15 years
al Deposit Insurance Corp.
ago during the last financial crisis, generating
significant bargain purchase gains and expanding
Surviving the S&L Crisis
The younger Turner got started with the difficult
into Iowa and Minnesota. It began opening loan
production offices in high-growth places, including
