Town Talk is an interview segment with Church Point Mayor Ryan "Spanky" Meche. In our episodes, we will discuss town issues and answer questions from residents of Church Point. Send your inquiries to towntalkquestions@gmail.com or message the Town of Church Point Facebook page.
Unveiling the History and Community Role of Farmer State Bank with CEO Troy Kibodeaux
•Chris Logan•Season 1•Episode 27
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Get ready for a deep-dive into the rich history and community involvement of Farmer State Bank as its President and CEO, Troy Kibodeaux, joins us. Ever wondered how a local bank can compete with and even exceed the customer service of larger banks? Troy spills the beans on the bank's strategy to offer more personalized service to its clients. He also takes us on a journey through time, recounting the bank's origins in the early 1900s and how it has grown and evolved since its official charter in 1944. Listen in as Troy also unveils the significant role the bank plays in the local community, the decision to expand out of Church Point, and how they're actively sponsoring events.
As we plunge deeper into the episode, Troy reveals the unique challenges faced by Farmer State Bank and how they've managed to overcome them. Hear about the importance of the bank's two strategic locations in today's banking world. We also get an insider's perspective on the valuable services offered by the bank. Moreover, we have a special guest, Mayor Spanky, sharing interesting tidbits about the Town of Church Point's Facebook page. Grab your headphones and get ready for a captivating conversation about local banking and community involvement. You wouldn't want to miss it!
Welcome to another edition of Town Talk. It's Chris Mayor Spanky, and on today's episode we're talking about money and we're talking about banking With Troy Kibodeau. He is the president and CEO of Farmer State Bank.
Speaker 2:
First off, I'd like to thank you, Troy, for joining us today. There's a lot of things happening in town.
Speaker 3:
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:
I wanna ask you how important is Farmer State Bank to this community?
Speaker 3:
Farmer State Bank is gonna be pretty important to the community. Like most community banks or nationwide community banks make about 70% of all small business loans. So your local community bank is gonna be the place typically a small business person is gonna go to get their funding, so not only in Church Point but any small town around the country. The top 10 banks in the United States which are these too big to fail banks control probably two thirds of all deposits in the whole country, so we don't have all that many deposits like the big banks do, but yet we have 70% of all lending. Local deposits are important to us. We need those deposits to lend out to. The local community relies on them.
Speaker 1:
I wanna get to a little bit more of that, which we'll talk about that coming up a little bit later inside the podcast. One question I had for you, troy give us some history. What was the first year it started? How it started?
Speaker 3:
Our official charter date was January 3rd 1944. However, the origins of the bank go back to the early part of the 1900s. So the same people that were the founders of Church Point founded former state bank Degos and Barusas, that sort of thing, and the bank did well for several years. And then when the Great Depression came along in I believe it was 1935, former state bank, bank of Commerce in Corale and Rain State Bank all merged together to get through the Depression. They formed under the name of Bank of Commerce. Now the people that were running former state bank at the time ended up running the whole organization, which was called Bank of Commerce. Then in 1943, once the Depression was over with Rain State Bank and former state bank broke off, broke back off, got their own charter and started their own organizations again. So officially our charter was in January 3rd 1944, but the origins of the bank go back much further than that.
Speaker 1:
I didn't realize that Rain State Bank also went back as far as former state bank.
Speaker 3:
Right Rain State Bank's charter was in June of 1942. Ours was in January of 1943. So they broke off right before we did from Bank of Commerce, and then we followed right behind them.
Speaker 1:
And how much has former state bank grown over the years?
Speaker 3:
The bank started out, I mean back in 1944, with probably just a few hundred thousand dollars of deposits in capital. When I began at former state bank in 1993, the size of the bank was total assets was $48 million, of which about $40 million was deposits. It's grown over the years and every year we probably grow about two or $3 million. As of June 30th our total asset size was $160 million, of which about 147 of that was in deposits. So we've grown a lot. I mean since I've started in 1993, we've tripled in size. A lot of that is because we did put branches, one on Ridge Road in Lafayette and one in Youngsville, and that's where a lot of our growth came from.
Speaker 1:
What made y'all make that decision to expand from the church point area and branch out?
Speaker 3:
You kinda wanna go where the economic activity is. Lafayette has way more economic activity, unfortunately, than church point does. If you look at what happened to church point bank, they're no longer here and, without throwing darts or anything, if they would've maybe looked at expanding out of church point they'd still be here today and they're not. So it was a good decision that we made. And if you look at a lot of other community banks that are doing well, they've gotten out of their little communities and putting branches in more metropolitan areas.
Speaker 2:
One thing I'd like to say is I thank you for being local. I know I see the former state emblem on pretty much every sponsoring event that goes on around town. That just means that y'all are tied into the community and want to be part of this community, because we see your employees all around town at these events. Y'all are sponsoring these events and that it shows the commitment that y'all have for the town of Church Point.
Speaker 3:
When it comes to the community, your community bank, like former state bank, is going to be really involved in the community. Our people are local. Most people live in Church Point. They're involved in community Kids go to school here, that sort of thing Whereas if you have a regional, bigger bank it's unlikely they're going to be as involved in the community. We encourage our people to be involved in it, in activities that sort of thing. We sponsor all types of events. We get asked to sponsor them and we gladly do it. We want to be part of the community.
Speaker 2:
What are some advantages to dealing with a local bank like former state bank? I know what it's about because I've been with y'all since I was 17 years old and I've dealt with y'all on everything that I've ever done, so that's what I'd like you to portray to the people out there is. What are those advantages?
Speaker 3:
Whenever someone is going to apply for a loan with a community bank, particularly former state bank, they can walk into the bank. They can sit down with a person. Typically they're going to know them because they're local or they've been dealing with. They have a relationship with them. Most of our loan officers have been working here for years or been in the community for years. They're well known. You can come and sit down with that person and have a conversation with them and get the paperwork going.
Speaker 3:
There's other banks that, particularly the bigger banks. You're gonna go in there, you're gonna fill an application out and they're gonna send it to corporate headquarters and they're gonna make the decision that this is not made local. So that's an advantage a community bank like Farmers Day Bank would have. You have a really good relationship and the same thing on the deposit side. You come in, you sit down, you open that account up with Debbie or Buffy or whoever and you're gonna know this person and if you have a problem you can come right back in and our call and we will figure it out on a one-on-one basis.
Speaker 1:
It still comes back to being local, being part of the community, being that person you can come in and talk to whether you want to borrow some money to start a small business or whether you just wanna open a check-in or a savings account. Seeing that local smiling face, that person you know might be somebody's aunt, that you know could be a next door neighbor, and it's still keeping that local feel right here in Church Point.
Speaker 3:
That is correct, and in a small town that's very important. In a city maybe not so much, but in a small town people wanna be able to have a relationship with whoever they're doing business with. You go to the grocery store they know the owners of the store. They know the cashiers. You go to the bank you're gonna know everyone in there. You're gonna know the tellers, you know. I can hear when customers walk in the door. The tellers hey, good morning, how are you?
Speaker 1:
They all- or you hear a voice. You might know who it is. Oh, that's Mr So-and-So. Oh yeah, absolutely I can recognize the voice right away.
Speaker 3:
You know, sometimes they're there once a week or daily, whatever. But they all know that the customer's very well. Spanky stops by the bank every now and then. He comes into the office and we have a conversation about the local economy and banking and that sort of thing, and we usually have. He's not only the mayor but he's a businessman, so we have a lot of good conversations.
Speaker 2:
I wanna thank you for that comment, because I enjoy going to visit with you. Just as much and that's a big, big deal to me is I know that your door is always open. Every time I go in to make a deposit or do some paperwork. Your door's right there, you're open, I walk in, knock and you're willing to talk. And I mean, that's not just for me, that's for, I presume, everybody.
Speaker 1:
And always wondered the fact that there are two locations here in Church Point the original one, which is on Plackman, correct, and then we have the other location on Main Street. What was the reasoning for having two locations here in town? If anybody's wondering or even asked themselves that question, Well, there is a story behind that. Okay, can you share it with us?
Speaker 3:
I can, Okay. Back in 1983, Progressive Bank, which was out of rain, decided to put a branch bank on the side of what was Rides at the time which is actually?
Speaker 3:
Which is the house? That house right? I remember? Yes, all right, they, progressive Bank, put that branch right there and then that made the board of directors of former state bank at the time very uncomfortable that there was another bank in town, a branch bank particularly. So the bank former state bank purchased the lot across the street and put a branch right there to be right across the street from the new competitor in town. So that's why there is a branch right there.
Speaker 3:
Do we need two locations in town? Probably not. However, now that that branch is there, it is our most popular drive-through location out of all five locations, really. So that location does a lot of drive-through business and to even consider shutting it down that would upset a lot of people. So we just continue operating with two locations in town. All locations can do provide the same service. Okay, now the main office is gonna do is more of the brain of everything IT center and bookkeeping, that sort of thing so we perform more duties over at the main office. But every location can do, can do anything the main office can.
Speaker 1:
So if someone maybe wants more info about former state bank, what are some numbers, what's the website and all that stuff?
Speaker 3:
Website is wwwformers24.com. The phone number at the main office is 337-684-3301. The branch is 684-3321. Call us anytime. You don't really need an appointment. You can just walk in open an account or apply for a loan If you'd like to call me. I, unlike probably most bank presidents, I field a lot of phone calls. I mean, I've been here for 30 years and I still have a relationship with a lot of customers that call me to ask me questions or what have you. And then there's other people that wanna talk to the president. So, and I will take the phone call, I will call you back.
Speaker 1:
President, ceo of former state bank, troy Kibbado, and also Mayor Spanky joining us on this episode of Town Talk. And again, if you have any questions, you have any issues you'd like for Mayor Spanky to address, you can go to our Town of Church Point Facebook page. You can message us there or email info, sorry, info talenttalkquestionsatgmailcom.
