Independent Banker - December 2018 - 44

far. But then came that road trip and that light bulb. LaRoe
knew his new venture had to be a community bank. " I have
this huge faith in community banks, " he explains. " Small
business is the backbone of our country, and community
banks are the backbone of small business. "
He started by Googling " green banks " and found two:
Triodos Bank in the Netherlands and New Resource Bank
in San Francisco. He picked up the phone and called their
CEOs to find out what they were doing differently. Then he
filed an application with the FDIC.
It was 2008. He and Cindy, both keen athletes, traveled
to Italy to compete for Team USA in the Duathlon World
Championship. While there, he picked up a newspaper and
read that Washington Mutual had collapsed. Suddenly,
LaRoe worried that they would never get their charter.
However, with what LaRoe describes as a combination
of luck and brutal perseverance, they got First GREEN
Bank off the ground, although the recession meant that
initial programs-a solar loan program and interest rate
discounts for environmentally friendly building projects-
were slow to gain traction.
Then in 2011, while she was competing in a bicycle
race in Winter Garden, Fla., Cindy fell from her bike. She
suffered a serious brain injury, followed a few months later
by a seizure disorder, and was forced to give up her career
as a physician.
It was a dark period in their lives, one that LaRoe
says he found hard to get through. " I've suffered from
depression my whole life, " he says. " I don't try to hide it.
I've told my staff, I've told my board. And if anybody ever
wants help, or wants to talk to me about it, I'll do it. That
was one of the periods of my life where I went into a very
deep depression that I just couldn't come out of. I literally
couldn't go to work. I had a great team who just stepped up
and ran the bank for me, but it was around six weeks that
I basically couldn't deal with the bank and the injuries and
the caregiving responsibilities. "
LaRoe says his values brought him back. " When
something very traumatic happens, you kind of sit back
and go, 'What's really important in life?' " he says. " And
part of taking care of a loved one is making sure that your
family is financially sound. It just became a balancing act,
figuring out what to do and how to do it. "
Going global
Another source of inspiration was the international network
of bankers he had become a part of. In 2009, Peter Blom,
CEO of Triodos, formed the Global Alliance for Banking
on Values, a group of independent bankers focused on
values-based operations, and in 2012 LaRoe was invited to
its annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. He
was blown away by the diversity of CEOs from around the
world, people of all races and religions who were trying to do
the right thing. Two years later, he joined the board, which
44 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q December 2018
I was pretty much always an
environmentalist. I just didn't
really know what it was. "
-Ken LaRoe, First GREEN Bank
allowed him to take his ideas onto a global stage and serve as
a role model for other values-based companies.
As the U.S. moved out of recession, First GREEN
Bank's environmental programs started to take off. The
bank grew to $810 million in assets, with seven locations
across Florida. Over the years, it lent more than $1 billion
(including payoffs and paydowns) to local individuals and
businesses, and its nonprofit First GREEN Foundation
supported environmental initiatives from solar panel
installation to startup farming projects. It joined the U.S.
Green Building Council, with its buildings meeting or
exceeding standards for energy efficiency and environmental
sensitivity. And in 2017, the bank became a Certified B Corp,
having met rigorous standards of social and environmental
performance, accountability and transparency.
Of First GREEN Bank's many accomplishments, LaRoe
is most proud of its living wage program, which offered
employees a minimum salary of $33,000; its solar loan
program, which financed more than a million watts of
power in two years; and its Orlando, Fla. headquarters,
which was recently recognized as the first and only LEED
Platinum retail interior project in the world.
On a human level, LaRoe says he is inspired by the
lives his community bank has affected. Members of the
community have told him how much they enjoy being part
of the bank, and one staff member recently emailed him to
explain how much her life has changed since she started
working there. A diabetic since childhood, she switched to a
plant-based diet, which has allowed her to come off some of
her medication. She now powers her house with solar and
drives a fuel-efficient car. Friends in the banking world have
also told him how proud they are of what he has achieved.
Further afield, through his work at the Global Alliance,
LaRoe has provided banks around the world with blueprints
for the programs First GREEN Bank has initiated. He
admits he would like to have a broad influence on the
banking industry and allows himself a small pat on the
back. " I think, 'Oh my gosh, we have made a difference,' " he
smiles. " This thing is a huge draw, and it's impacting people.
Maybe it's a lot larger than I give myself credit for! " 
Roshan McArthur is a writer in California.
Independent Banker - December 2018

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