Doug Fish started his term as the 2024-2025 MIBA President on Sept. 11, 2024. Doug’s thoughtful leadership and years of experience have prepared him well to lead MIBA forward this upcoming year.
Born and raised in rural Missouri, Doug grew up on a small farm, milking cows, raising beef cattle and tending to the gamut of other livestock. From a young age, Doug had aspirations of becoming a banker. He would often go into town with his father to meet with the loan officer at Bethany Trust Company, now known as BTC Bank. The loan officer’s secretary, Annabelle Terry, was a neighbor who lived close to his family’s farm. Doug would sit down and wait at her desk when his father went into another room to conduct business. Annabelle was happy to entertain Doug and let him help out while he was there. Annabelle’s kindness left quite an impression on him.
After high school, Doug attended Northwest Missouri State University and graduated with a degree in business administration. He went on to work in a number of banks and held a number of finance positions, including spending a little bit of time working at the FDIC.
In 2013, Doug had the opportunity to come back home to northwest Missouri and work at BTC Bank. “The first day I was here, lo and behold, I was greeted by Annabelle,” Doug recalled. “The woman who would let me sit at her desk 50 years ago was still working at the bank, be it part-time.” It was then that Doug knew he made the right decision to become a banker. His life had come full circle.
Today, as the CEO of BTC Bank, Doug oversees 23 branch locations in Iowa and Missouri with 245 employees. He is heavily involved with the day-to-day of the lending side and oversees all of the other departments. “I’ve got a very good group of people working with me. They are what make the difference; they make our bank unique.”
If one were to visit a BTC Bank branch, they would be welcomed with a friendly greeting and personalized service. But that’s not all, under Doug’s leadership, and with the help of bank employees, Customer Appreciation days are held at each branch yearly. Customers can visit a branch and be served a hot meal by a teller, a loan officer, a branch manager or possibly even Doug. Now that’s appreciation.
Each fall, BTC Bank sponsors tailgate parties for local high schools. Doug and his employees pull up with a custom-made BBQ trailer and light the grill. They serve the crowds hamburgers and hot dogs with a side of chips, a drink and a cookie, all for the low cost of $5! You can’t beat that price. The bank matches the first $1,000 raised, with all proceeds are given back to the school.
Another thing that sets BTC Bank apart is its focus on community, agriculture and youth. “In rural communities, agriculture is by far the primary industry. If you don’t have strong community support for agriculture, you’re not going to have a place for youth to come to or stay at,” said Doug. “We have cosponsored 4H financial literacy programs with the University of Missouri Extension, and a number of our branches interact one-on-one in classrooms at all age levels.”
BTC Bank has also funded the EVERFI financial literacy course in 15+ local high schools. Each year, the bank awards four to six scholarships to EVERFI graduates through the bank’s 501(c)(3) BTC Area Youth Benefit Corp (BTC AYBC). BTC AYBC was established in 2013 as a way for BTC Bank employees and their friends to support the youth in the community. To date, more than $375,000 has been awarded to schools, teams, clubs and individuals.
Looking back at his career, Doug’s favorite success is people — the people that work with him and the people that rely on the bank day in and day out. “There’s nothing more rewarding as a loan officer than to help a customer buy their first home,” Doug stated.
There were many people who helped Doug along the way, but three specific people come to mind when Doug thinks of his mentors. “If any of the three were still alive, they would probably say they had no idea that I felt this way,” Doug said.
“When I was in college, I worked in a pizza place. The owner was Earl Brown. The most important thing that I learned from him was that you’ve got to be present. You’ve got to be in the moment. You’ve got to be right there, next to your employees, doing the exact same thing they do,” Doug recalled.
“The first boss I had in the finance world was James Bourschik. He gave me an education beyond the books,” Doug said. “You’ve got to look at the financial statements, the income statements, but the most important I learned from him was it’s all about the person — the interaction with that person and the conversation is just as important as what you see on paper.”
“When I worked in Hannibal with Bayard Plowman, who was chairman of the board for the bank and managing officer for the local savings and loan, I learned what a true community banker is and how to be a leader in the community,’ Doug said. “To me, Bayard was like George Bailey in the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ always helping the community.”
Being involved with MIBA has helped Doug throughout his career as well. “I’ve been on the MIBA board for almost 10 years and a member of MIBA for most of my career. In fact, I’ve been involved with MIBA longer than Matt Ruge,” Doug said with a smile. “MIBA is the voice for community banks in Jefferson City and in D.C. With fewer and fewer community banks around, we need a strong voice like MIBA’s looking out for us.”
“For me, the greatest benefit of being involved with MIBA is the peer-to-peer opportunities that you have — visiting with peers in the state who are dealing with the same issues that you are dealing with in your bank. Conversations often lead to solutions,” Doug said. “The education piece that MIBA offers is also extremely helpful.”
As president, Doug has two goals. “It would be great if I could sit here and say that 12 months from now, we have 100% of community banks in Missouri as association members, but that might be a little lofty,” Doug stated. “My goal is to grow the membership of the association and get half of those banks that aren’t members today to become members.”
“My second goal is to help change the demographics of the members who are involved on the board or committees or those who attend conferences. Right now, it seems that there are a lot of old white guys,” Doug chuckled. “We have got to get the next generation of bankers involved. They need to be prepared to take over the association and industry one day, and it’s our job to help them.”
To help him reach these goals, Doug issued a challenge to all MIBA members. “Reach out to one independent bank in Missouri that is not a MIBA member. Tell them about the benefits of MIBA and invite them to join.” Doug continued, “Involve the next generation of bankers. Invite them to attend meetings, encourage them to serve on committees and be a mentor to them. The future of the industry depends on it.”
Doug offers three pieces of advice to his fellow bankers, especially to the next generation:
- Never stop learning. Our industry changes daily, so continuing to learn is vital.
- Read, read and continue to read. Focus on your livelihood, banking, finance and things associated with the industry.
- Try to make your last customer interaction the best interaction that they’ve ever had with a banker.
He also loves to motivate his team with inspirational quotes. Doug’s favorite quote is by John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
When Doug isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with his lovely wife of 42 years, Cindy. They have four children: Rebecca, Elizabeth, Andrew and Jon, who is a second-generation banker at BTC Bank, and four rambunctious grandchildren.
He also has a small herd of cattle he tends to early mornings and evenings. “It’s something I do before I come to work. It’s just a good stress relief. I ride the tractor and don’t have to worry about anything other than making sure I don’t run into something,” Doug said.
