Independent Banker - January 2023 - 54

WORDS OF
WISDOM
Ready to spread your wings and open
a new off ice or branch in a diff erent
state? Here are some tips from
two community bankers that have
successfully made the move.
" CHECK THE DATA FIRST.
Before we opened our
off ice in Florida, we
looked at how many
clients Meridian already
had down here and
whether there was
enough scale in those
numbers to justify opening a
separate off ice in the south, southwest
and east coast markets. Start with your
existing client base and determine
where they 'may go' in the target state.
Also, take your time hiring people
who know the markets. It would have
been diff icult for us to hire someone in
Philadelphia and then try to insert him
or her into the marketplace without any
existing relationships. "
-Wayne Griest, EVP,
Florida market, Meridian Bank
" DO AS MUCH HOMEWORK
ON THE MARKET AS YOU
CAN AND PARTNER
WITH THE RIGHT
PEOPLE. For example,
we added two successful
businesspeople (not
bankers) from Arizona
to serve as directors and to
provide additional expertise. They
helped us understand the market, the
way business was done there and what
not to do. Remember that this is a big
commitment that you don't want to
get wrong. We've looked at some other
markets and made decisions not to
move into them. "
-Brad Jacobson, president and COO,
Western State Bank
GLACIER BANK: Seasonal shifts
As a community bank with 240 branches in Montana,
Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona
and Nevada, $26 billion-asset Glacier Bank knows what it
takes to successfully stretch a bank's boundaries beyond its
traditional market area.
Based in Kalispell, Mont., the community bank broke
into the Arizona market by acquiring Foothills Bank in
2016. The acquired community bank covered the Yuma
and Prescott area and provided Glacier Bank with a
stepping stone as it " worked its way down south " into new
markets and states.
" We didn't hop over states to get to a warmer climate, "
says CEO Randy Chesler. " We viewed the Arizona
acquisition as an attractive way to create a countercyclical
balance for the bank. Here in Montana, things slow down
when the temps drop below zero for a few weeks, and
Arizona tends to operate on a diff erent cycle. "
Arizona also gets more than a million winter visitors
annually who " spend over $1 billion there, " says Chesler,
and many of them own second homes in the state.
" The economic impact of that is huge, " he continues. " We
see the business at our [Arizona branches] pick up during
the winter. As people move down there, our transaction
counts go up during those periods of time. "
Because Glacier is already established in numerous
contiguous states, its move into Arizona didn't present
steep challenges. " In terms of actually managing our
Arizona locations, getting down there and spending time
there to better understand the market, it's a fl ight away, "
says Chesler. " It really hasn't presented any particular
challenges for us. "
Like most organizations, the bank is dealing with the
national labor shortage and working to keep its physical
locations staff ed up. It hires locally and also posts the
jobs internally. The latter creates relocation opportunities
for employees who may want to move from Montana to
Arizona (or to any other of the bank's various branches)
and vice versa. " We cover eight states, so we've seen that
work both ways, " says Chesler. " As a community bank,
we like being able to let people transfer from one area to
another without having to leave us. "
To banks that are making their fi rst move out of state,
Chesler says that if they're planning to serve those making
an annual pilgrimage to a warmer climate, they should
focus on building a year-round presence in that target
market. " You won't be 'going home' for the summer, so
spend a good amount of time understanding the market,
the risks and the opportunities, " he says. " You need to be
present not just during the winter, but at all times. " 
Bridget McCrea is a writer in Florida.
54 // ICBA Independent Banker // January 2023
Independent Banker - January 2023

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