Casey Hopkins was born in St. Charles, Missouri, and raised in Troy, a small town about 30 miles north of St. Charles. Growing up in a rural town where everyone knows one another fostered a strong sense of commitment and community. Both of his parents were lifelong educators — his mother was a kindergarten teacher, and his father taught high school and coached basketball. They instilled in him a strong work ethic, a commitment to family and community, and a love of sports and learning.
Upon graduating from high school, Casey attended Maryville University, where he played golf. Maryville offered excellent internship opportunities for students, and Casey took full advantage. In his junior year, he was selected to interview for a position with Edward Jones and was hired. “That’s where my financial career started,” Casey said. “I worked there part-time my junior year on the front lines in the call center where I learned about customer service, developing relationships and many financial products.” During his senior year of college, Casey was offered a full-time position with Edward Jones, which he accepted while taking a full course load. “It was a great experience, and I met a lot of talented people there. That experience laid a strong financial foundation for me,” Casey said.
He continued working at Edward Jones after graduation, moving into sales training. Although there was a huge upside to financial advising, he realized his heart was rooted in developing partnerships with customers in an environment where there was more control over the market and the future of their investments. In 2005, he transitioned to Enterprise Bank and Trust and worked in both the wealth management and banking sides of the business. While there, he met invaluable mentors who took the time to explain banking operations. Casey had found his niche. Serving customers and being part of helping them own their own home, start a new business or grow an existing one created a passion that led to him finding true purpose.
In 2005, Casey and his wife, Holly, made the decision to establish roots of their own and build a home in Troy, where he was raised. Although Casey wasn’t working in Troy at that time, he and his family made the move. Ironically, a position opened at the Bank of Old Monroe shortly after they moved back, and Casey wasted no time applying for the job. Casey was hired to work as a lender at the Bank of Old Monroe Moscow Mills branch. “I finally felt like I was helping people with some of the most imperative financial decisions they would make in life. It was so rewarding to help a customer buy their first home or start their first business,” Casey said.
Little did he know that the real estate crash of 2008 was looming. “I figured out what a true banker’s role should be when working alongside customers through the real estate crash of 2008.” Casey continued, “For the first five years of my career, I learned how to work with customers, meet their loan obligations and still be able to put food on the table for their families. I had to have some really tough conversations with customers, and it was a humbling season of my professional career.”
Throughout that period, Dale McDonald, who is now CEO of Bank of Old Monroe, became a mentor to Casey. “I saw him work with people through tough times, and Dale truly cared,” Casey said. Dale taught him that if there’s a way through tough times with somebody, work with them. It’s better than trying to get through it without that person. To this day, the Bank of Old Monroe prides itself on a partnership approach and walks alongside their borrowers. While working as a loan officer, Casey became branch manager at the Troy branch and, a year and a half later, was promoted to assistant vice president.
“We had an unforeseen opportunity in our Mortgage Department at the bank, and Dale called me and said, ‘Do you think you’d be interested in working with mortgages?’ Early in life, my parents taught me to never say no to an opportunity, to take the chance and with hard work, everything else would work out. So, I agreed to manage the mortgage department,” Casey said. He knew from working on the loan side there were opportunities to level up in the department. At the time, the bank was only handing Freddie Mac mortgages in-house. All other loans were outsourced to another financial entity for processing. Casey collaborated with the third party on almost a daily basis, and he was impressed with their efficiency and knowledge of the mortgage industry. In his first year managing the department, he and his team grew the mortgage revenue to an all-time high.
Casey opened a new branch in Troy in 2016 and became the branch manager while maintaining his loan portfolio. “Building a team for the Troy branch was one of the most rewarding parts of my career,” Casey reflected. “I went back to my roots — where I grew up, where my parents taught — to the community I loved.” In June 2019, then-president and CEO Darrell Harke decided he was going to retire in the fall of 2021. Casey was slated to become the next president, so a replacement was hired to take over the Troy branch and market. Casey transitioned into more of an executive role, learning and preparing for what was to come.
Today, Casey serves as the president of the Bank of Old Monroe. His desire to help people is the driving force in his life. “I didn’t choose this career path for a title. I chose it because I wanted to help and take care of people, whether they be coworkers or customers,” Casey said. “I’m at a point in my career where other people’s successes and other people’s opportunities mean more to me than mine.” Casey is not just a title holder, he’s a coach. He expects nothing more from anybody than he does from himself. He challenges others, the same way he challenges himself, and he supports the people who work for him, just as he would his own personal family.
When it comes to nurturing young talent and growing people, Casey appreciates the educational opportunities that MIBA provides: “They give us a space to educate our younger bankers and provide a ton of opportunity that, quite frankly, wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for the association. MIBA also gives a platform and a voice to community banks, ensuring that community banks will be around for years to come.”
It is important to Casey to give back to the community in other ways as well. He serves on multiple boards, including the Mercy Health Foundation and Community Opportunities. He also serves in an advisory capacity to The Child Advocacy Center of Northeast Missouri and the Dream Center. Casey has coached the Special Olympics basketball team in the past and has helped with the Special Olympics golf team. Casey is the president of the Incarnate Word Academy Sports Association.
He has also coached youth basketball for years and often speaks in schools. “I take every opportunity I can to make an impact and share what I learned from my parents. My mom told me that kids are the same at ages 5, 25 and 55 — the kids who didn’t have support at home and were making bad decisions in kindergarten are still the ones making those decisions later in life. They didn’t have mentors or the guidance and perimeters. But it doesn’t have to be like that. For me, spending time with and giving somebody an opportunity to do better for themselves is what life is all about,” Casey said.
Casey’s most prized role is that of husband and father. He loves spending time with his wife and three daughters — Landry, Reese and Bella — and makes sure they are his foremost priority. “Beyond all the success at the bank and what I’ve accomplished, it does not happen without the full support of my wife and daughters. There are a lot of sacrifices that go into professional success, and without the unconditional love and support of my family, it would never have been possible. They are my greatest accomplishments and what I’m most proud of. They understand hard work, respect, having good manners and that everything you get in this life is earned and only by the grace of God,” Casey said.
For over 118 years, the Bank of Old Monroe has been serving the local community one customer at a time. “In every decision we make, we strive to adhere to the bank’s four pillars: trust, humility, integrity and servanthood. That mindset has cultivated a culture of feeling and caring that has resulted in longevity for both our customers and our employees,” Casey said. Watch the video to learn more about the Bank of Old Monroe and what makes it so special.
