Springfield Business Journal_2019-07-29

12 · SBJ.NET JULY 29-AUG. 4, 2019 2019 ECONOMIC IMPACT AWARDS by Eric Olson · eolson@sbj.net Joining Great Southern Bancorp Inc. in the mid-1970s was a bit of a risk for William “Bill” Turner. Seems odd to say, on this side of history. The Turner name today is synonymous with Great Southern, a publicly traded fi- nancial institution (Nasdaq: GSBC) with nearly $5 billion in assets. But back then, he had not been in Spring- field for too long, having moved down from Kansas City. He had worked for the U.S. Small Business Administration, making loans to small businesses in Missouri and Kansas. One of the banks he worked with, Citizens Bank, offered him a job in Spring- field. He took that, the company later was purchased by Commerce Bank and then an unexpected thing happened. Great South- ern’s president died. Turner was approached for the job. The conversation at the Turner home came next. “My kids were little then, 10, 11 years old. I told them I was thinking about leaving to go to Great Southern because it was a good opportunity,” he recalls, sitting in his original corner office at the Great Southern headquarters on Battlefield Road. “They cried and begged me not to do it. Great Southern was much smaller, a savings and loan association at the time. They thought I had a good, secure job.” Turner slept on it. “The next morning I said, ‘I’m going to do this.’ So I did, and I’ve never been a bit sorry for it,” he says. When Turner started in 1974, there was just a single bank. Now, there’s over 100 of- fices, spread across 11 states. The bank held assets of $4.9 billion and deposits of $3.9 billion in second-quarter 2019, the most recent reporting period. Shares were trading around $58 at press time, slightly under a 52-week high of $61.65 per share. Named Great Southern’s fifth president in 1974, Turner passed the baton in 1999 to his son, Joe, the sixth and current presi- dent. In the excerpts that follow, Bill Turner reflects on his career in banking, taking the company public and the family legacy. GOING PUBLIC “We had wanted to go public for some time. We had the stock market crash, and it just wasn’t feasible to sell the stock. We de- cided to go public in 1989 and went around to branches in West Plains, Ava and pre- sented the plan to people about our stock. A lot of people didn’t know anything about bank stock. They were hesitant. We did get our stock sold. I think it was $20 mil- lion worth. Of course, that increased our net worth and put us on better footing. The stock’s continued to appreciate in value. “Right after we went public, our stock came out at $9 per share. It immediately dropped to about $7. People thought, oh boy, we’re in trouble here. But our company bought a lot of the stock back and it started going up.” GROWTH STRATEGY “Most of those branches came as a result of our acquisitions of failed savings and loan associations. That’s worked out really well for us. It just became available. (Fed- eral Deposit Insurance Corp.), the insurer, would put a list of failing thrifts, and we’d bid on those. I think we’ve acquired five groups, and every one of those have been very profitable for us.” PERSONAL STOCKS “Most of my investment has been Great Southern stock. However, I do have O’Reilly [Automotive Inc.] – I’ve been an investor, still am. Some other bank stocks, which I’ve been in and out of.” TURNER LEGACY “My son has done a lot. Of course, he runs the company now. He’s done a much better job than I did when I was running things. “I think it’ll continue on. We’re hop- ing my grandson will come back someday. Right now, he’s liking New York. That may or may not happen, but we’re hoping it will.” SEMIRETIRED “Yeah. I stay active and I’m still chairman of the board. I stay involved in major things. “I just work till noon, then go to lunch and go home. If I have any real problems, I refer them to Joe.” MISSED MOST “Primarily dealing with people, custom- ers. I love working with our employees. We’ve got 1,200. When I came, there were 12. I certainly didn’t envision this kind of growth.” TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF “It’s good in banking to be a little pes- simistic. What may look good today, in a down market wouldn’t look so good. In Branson, for example, banks including ours made a lot of loans down there, depending on tourists to support theaters and all that – a lot of that’s dried up. … That was a learn- ing curve for us and a lot of other banks.” I love working with our employees. We’ve got 1,200. When I came, there were 12.” —Bill Turner LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN BUSINESS WILLIAM “BILL” TURNER JESSICA ROSA provided by GREAT SOUTHERN BANK Known for his philanthropy, Bill Turner, right, presents a $6,000 bank donation to KY3’s Steve Grant during a Children’s Miracle Network Telethon in the early 1990s.