By Jason Moxness, Market President, Core Bank
Last week we had a very complimentary article written about us in the Kansas City Business Journal talking about the success that we have had in the short time that Core Bank has been in Kansas City.
I remember the day we opened as an official bank office with the ability to take deposits. It was January 16, 2018. I had asked Jason Terry with Blue Gurus, a friend and client of mine, to deposit the ‘honorary’ 1st Dollar in our bank and open an account on our first day in business.
I did this partially out of pride that I could say that we opened an account on our 1st day in business, but I was also a little fearful that clients might not buy into our concept that a real bank could exist on the 2nd floor of an office building.
For a while, employees out-numbered our clients.
At the start, we had 10 employees and 8 clients. Fast forward just one year and I can say my fear of starting a new bank in a competitive environment has been erased. Not only did we open an account on day one, but we opened an additional 380 accounts with clients bringing $43 Million in deposits to our bank which completely shattered every expectation that we set.
It confirmed that with the right people selling the right products, location is no longer the key driver of success in the banking world. A bank is no longer a large building… it’s a collection of people who serve.
To complement our deposit strategy, our loan team closed nearly $26 Million in Small Business loans for 25 local businesses making Core Bank the #1 Bank in Kansas City for our SBA loan volume production. That ranking is something we’re very proud of, but is also one that our SBA team has held for 6 years. It never gets old knowing that we are helping so many businesses and families in our communities. Recognition for that is humbly received.
This win feels different.
What we accomplished this year we built organically from the ground up. We were a startup. Core Bank is well-known in Omaha, but had no name recognition in our marketplace. We didn’t know if a non-traditional bank in a non-retail location in a big city with almost 180 different bank options would be able to compete… but we did and did it in a big way.
How did we do it? I’ll give you the secret recipe!
- Hire better people than maybe the budget allows. Good people pay for themselves.
- Embrace Technology and the Change that it brings. Yes – Banking is changing.
- Do something unique or you will fall into the Sea of Sameness.
So is winning still fun? Ask Tom Brady after six Super Bowl wins and he would say, ‘Absolutely’!
But I tend to look for inspiration in the new stars like Patrick Mahomes after winning the league MVP.
“This is just the beginning, we have a long way to go.” – Patrick Mahomes