The unmaking of ag engineer leads to national banking leadership

By Larry Dreiling

When Earl McVicker was growing up in southwest Ness County, Kan., he wasn't expecting to be a national leader in the banking industry.

Now, McVicker is the 2005-2006 chairman elect of the American Bankers Association, the largest trade association of community banks in the U.S.

As chairman and CEO of Capital Financial Corporation and Central Bank and Trust Co., Hutchinson, Kan., McVicker has seen his bank grow from an $80 million institution to one over $240 million with more than 80 employees at six sites across south central Kansas.

"When I was growing up, I didn't even think of what I would do in those terms," McVicker says. Come October, when he is installed as ABA chairman, McVicker will be visiting almost every state and several countries touting the industry. He also will be a major face in politics as he serves the industry as its main spokesman for the next year.

Upon graduation from Ness City High School, McVicker went to Kansas State University, majoring in agricultural mechanization.

"In high school I was interested in math and science. I thought I wanted to design farm machinery. My junior year I started taking business and accounting classes. I really liked it.

"I had a family friend who asked if I was interested in banking. I told him I really wasn't at the time."

But at the time his senior year at K-State rolled around, it was clear there weren't very many ag engineering jobs in the country. As he prepared for his 1971 graduation, he could see times would be lean when learned of classmates who had recently graduated and were working as manufacturer's representatives, setting up farm machinery out of a pickup.

"I had one class, a single class, in rural banking at Kansas State and really got into it," McVicker recalls. "I started writing to some people just looking for a job. I had offers from a couple of banks and started at the Bazine State Bank. The CEO at the time, Leo Brenner, was the brother of my ag instructor and FFA advisor at Ness City High.

"That was the connection that got me a job there. I started there right out of school. It was a little bank, but it was a good place to start."

While at Bazine, McVicker began taking summer classes at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado. In his first year of the program, McVicker was recruited to work at the First National Bank of Glenwood Springs.

"I did that from 1974 to 1976 and then moved back to the farm for about a year and a half," McVicker says. "Then I realized we'd be raising our kids in a really rural environment over 25 miles from town."

With that, McVicker moved to Dodge City, Kan., resuming his banking career at the First National Bank and Trust Co. (now a Bank of America branch) there. His first job as a CEO came in 1983 at now-closed Hays State Bank of Hays, Kan.

He credits Al Dreiling as the best mentor he's had in the banking business.

"Al was a real comfort to me because he was a seasoned, experienced banker who was willing to help me and let me learn but he didn't try to run things," McVicker says. "He was always there for me. When he said something, I always listened. He was such a valuable resource to me.

Dreiling's experience was as an executive at a large Colorado bank holding company in who'd came home to Kansas.

"I could see in his final years in the business he was giving his time to the banking industry and to the community," McVicker says. "His style with customers was amazing and he had a way of observing things and passing things onto me without trying to run things for this kid. I was still pretty young at that time. It was my first CEO job and he helped make it a great experience."

That experience led McVicker to Central State, in 1984, where he purchased controlling interest following the death of the previous owners 10 years later.

"When I got here the bank was at about $80 million. We shrunk through the 1980s to the point where it got to about $65 million," McVicker says. "We're now at about $240 million in the time I've been here. Most of the growth is in the last 10 years."

Central State has four Hutchinson branches and two in Wichita, purchasing a branch in 1993 and adding a second facility in 1998.

"The Wichita market is it's own thing," McVicker says. We don't have a lot of overlap between businesses we serve that operate in Hutchinson versus those that operate in Wichita. We've had to penetrate the Wichita market on our own."

It has helped that Central State became the first bank to locate at the Bradley Fair shopping area in Wichita. The branch in the trendy area of east Wichita has been a good growth area for the bank.

As for Hutchinson, the city hasn't grown significantly but is "remarkably stable."

"Hutchinson's a clean community. Businesses are thriving. Downtown hasn't many empty buildings," McVicker says.

Historically, Hutchinson was a major trade center for agribusiness. It once boasted the Hutchinson Board of Trade and major livestock and grain markets. In recent years, it's been oriented toward professional services and health care with some retail, with only about 15 percent of the bank's business now coming from agricultural production loans.

"Hutchinson is closer than Wichita for a lot of people," McVicker says. "To go get professional services, for health care, go shopping at the mall, have dinner with the family; Hutchinson is a really nice place to do that without going into Wichita.

"We are a gateway city for western Kansas or it's eastern most city, depending on how you look at it. So much of our retail and professional trade is with our smaller communities that are related to agriculture. We've seen license plates from a dozen different counties. We have a high pull factor here and that makes Hutch thrive."

Before becoming ABA chairman, McVicker served previously on the ABA board of directors and a number of ABA committees, and was the 2001-2002 chairman of the ABA Community Bankers Council. He is both a former president and chairman of the Kansas Bankers Association.

"It was on the Community Bankers Council that really exposed me to ABA and I really enjoyed the learning experience," McVicker says. "It gave me the confidence to continue through to being chairman.

"It's a tremendous honor and a great opportunity. I'm looking forward to it. I've said all along though that I'm just a one-year representative of the industry. It's not about me it's about someone each year doing this and doing a good job."

The main concerns of McVicker as he enters the ABA chairmanship: The encroachment of the Farm Credit System and credit unions into traditional commercial banking services, along with FCS's tax-exempt status.

"Farm Credit is always trying to knock on the door of commercial lending and non-ag lending," McVicker says. "We will be working for reform of the system."

Like most executives of a community bank, McVicker has been active in the communities he has served. He is past chairman of Dodge City Roundup, Inc., the Reno County Economic Development Council and past president of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce and the K-State Alumni Association. He serves as a member of the Executive Committee and as Vice Chairman of the KSU Foundation Board of Trustees.

Central State's parent company, Central Financial Corp., also holds shares in banks stretching from Nevada to Florida.

"We are looking for growth markets to grow our company," McVicker says. "What we try to do is work with people looking at starting community banks, capitalize them, get them on their feet and then sell our part of the assets back to the original investors. It helps build new capital in these communities and helps our bottom line."

Still, Hutchinson is home.

"This is our headquarters city," McVicker says. "We like it here. This is a good place to do business."

Larry Dreiling can be reached by phone at 785-628-1117 or by e-mail at ldreiling@aol.com.

Date: 8/24/06

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