Profile: John R. Abercrombie

John R. Abercrombie

Capaha Bank

TITLE: President and CEO of Capaha Bank

AGE: 63

NATIVE OF: Tamms, Ill.

NUMBER OF BRANCHES IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: 3

NUMBER OF ATMs: 4

HOW HE GOT HIS START IN BANKING: My entry into the banking business resulted from a combination of factors that just happened to align at the right time. I had a degree in electrical engineering but discovered that I didn't really enjoy engineering work. I tried sales for a couple of years but didn't really enjoy that either. I was working as a sales representative for Xerox in Dallas, Texas but keeping my eyes open for some opportunity. My father called me one day and told me that the president of the Tamms State Bank in my hometown of Tamms was preparing to retire, and the board was looking for someone to replace him. I knew nothing about the banking business, but it sounded interesting.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU'D KNOWN WHEN YOU STARTED: I wish that I had known how even well-planned ventures can run into difficulties and how even well-intentioned people can make unfortunate decisions.

WHAT'S THE FASTEST GROWING ASPECT OF YOUR BANK? For the past year or so, it's been our core deposits. We have always had very strong loan demand, as do most of the banks in this market, and our loans have grown rapidly over the past 10 years. To support this loan growth, we have focused on core deposit growth for the past couple of years and have been very pleased with the results. In December 2006 we had $103 million in core deposits. At the end of May 2008 we have $149 million in core deposits for a gain of $46 million in the past 17 months.