Independent Banker - December 2018 - 42

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ICBA 2018 Community Banker of the Year
 NATIONAL 
SOMETHING
MEANINGFUL
As the founder, CEO and chairman of Florida's First GREEN Bank, Ken LaRoe is an
outspoken advocate for the environment and for values-based business-while generating
a sizable profit for investors. Here, and on the coming pages, we meet ICBA's National
Community Banker of the Year, as well as the regional winners. All are being recognized for
their exceptional work and dedication to their local communities.
By Roshan McArthur
T
welve years ago, Ken LaRoe was on the verge
of retiring. After a successful career spanning
about 20 years working in the industry, he sold
his Florida-based bank, bought a mini motor
home and headed across the country with
Cindy, his childhood sweetheart and wife. His brother gave
him a book for the road: Let My People Go Surfing, the
autobiography of Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia's billionaire
founder and committed environmentalist. By the time Ken
and Cindy returned home, thoughts of retirement had,
well, retired.
" A light bulb went off, " LaRoe recalls. " Here's this
guy who never wanted to be a businessperson, who was
certainly very much on the socialist end of the spectrum,
and he [started a business] because of his commitment to
the environment. He has never wavered, never deviated,
never put profit first. He always put doing the right thing
first. I thought, 'If he did it for the clothing business, I can
do it for the banking business.' "
A new chapter began-an extension of LaRoe's banking
career but with a far more personal goal. After graduating
from Florida State University in 1981, LaRoe fell into
banking " out of necessity and sort of by accident. " It was
the height of a recession, and there weren't many jobs.
Faced with working in the offshore oil industry or in
retail, the self-confessed homebody instead chose to stay
close to his birthplace in Eustis, Fla. He took a job as a
management associate at Flagship Bank in Tavares, Fla.,
and enjoyed it so much that he followed it with a successful
turn at nearby Colonial Bank. Then, in 1999, he founded
Florida Choice Bank, grew it to more than $400 million in
assets and sold it to Alabama National Bancorp in 2006.
Meanwhile, his interest in environmental issues was
growing. " I was pretty much always an environmentalist.
I just didn't really know what it was, " he laughs, harking
back to a childhood spent hunting and fishing.
" I just knew it seemed insidious to defile the very planet
we rely on, " he continues. " As I became more aware of
what's going on, my commitment grew. I finally came to
my senses about 15 years ago. I said, 'I've got to change
my approach to everything.' At that point, I really started
to immerse myself in environmental issues, but now it's
grown to include everything of value. "
Establishing values
" Everything of value " encompasses environmental issues,
health and welfare, social equity, food sanctity and
financial inclusion. " I'm just appalled and incensed by what
the industrial complex is doing to our citizens, " LaRoe says.
Before he sold Florida Choice Bank, he had taken steps
toward energy efficiency but always worried about what
the board and the shareholders would say if he took it too
42 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q December 2018
Photo: Brian Carlson

Independent Banker - December 2018

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