Veteran banker opens Southern Illinois Bank in Johnston City

Northwestern Financial Review, Feb 19, 2000 by Schroeder, Margaret

The idea for opening a new community bank ran through Jim Renik's mind for several years. "I'd thought about it a number of times, and then I'd forget about it," said Renik. "Then, from time to time, I would think about it again."

After a 17-year career with Creve Coeur, Mo.-based First Bank, Renik was ready for a change from his job as president of its West Frankfort and Johnston City branches. So he took the initiative in leading a group of local investors who opened Southern Illinois Bank in Johnston City in September. Renik serves as the new bank's president.

Located along Interstate 57 in the small Williamson County town that once supplied workers for the nearby coal mines, Southern Illinois Bank makes its home in a new, $500,000 building that measures 3,500 square feet. The one-story, early American, colonial-style design fits in well with Johnston City, a town of 3,700 people and roughly 40 miles away from both the Kentucky and Missouri borders.

The bank serves mainly consumer needs, but also attracts agriculture and small business customers. Soon after Renik decided to start the bank, he approached investor Steve Rhoads, a furniture store owner in nearby West Frankfort. Like Renik, Rhoads believed that a locally-owned bank would be more sensitive to the area's residents, their values and retail needs.

"We'd had a lot of buyouts, which is pretty true around the country, and there was a great need for a community bank," said Rhoads. "We wanted a real investment in the community rather than just being a local depository."

Starting the new bank would take $3 million in capital, so Renik and Rhoads sought a broad base of mainly local residents.

Said Rhoads, "We could have just talked to the four or five richest people in town, but we didn't do that. We wanted people who not only wanted to invest in a bank, but who also brine their personal banking and sphere of influ- ence with them."

As a result, the majority of the more than 180 stockholders are residents of the surrounding area. "A few are out-of-state investors, but they're mostly somebody's brother or something like that," Renik said.

The bank's organizers limited stockholder investment to a $100,000 maximum, thus ensuring that no single person would have too much control over the new venture. In addition to Renik and Rhoads, organizers include the bank's board, all of whom are local business people. They are Renik's brother, John, vice president of the State Bank of Whittington in Benton; insurance agent Kim Archione; attorney Doug Dorris; real estate agent Margaret Karnes, and schoolteacher Lyndell Zanotti, who serves as bank chairman.

The bank employs six full-time and two part-time people. Southern Illinois Bank's organizers turned to experienced local bankers to staff the top spots. They include Vice President Cheryl Mischler, who worked at nearby Bank of Marion; Vice President Joy Gaddis, previously the senior lending officer at First Bank in Johnston City, and Cashier Toni Dunning, another First Bank alumnus.

Since opening five months ago, Southern Illinois Bank has exceeded the expectations of its leaders, and grown to $6 million in assets and nearly $3 million in deposits.

"We're ahead of schedule, ahead of all projections. What we estimated to be our loan totals for one year - we hit that in four months," said Renik, adding that the bank hopes to reach $30 million in assets within four years.

Another goal for the bank is branching out in a county filled with 13 financial institution offices. These include outlets for such banking giants as Memphis-based Union Planters, Missouri-based First Bank, and other community banks such as The Bank of Marion, and South Pointe Bank of Marion, Ill. Renik hopes to open at least two branches in the next five years. West Frankfort is a likely candidate for the first Southern Illinois Bank branch.

As for Renik, a new bank president, he's happy to lead a community-owned bank after spending so many years mulling over the idea. He likes making his own decisions, rather than having to call corporate headquarters.

"I wanted it so that you could sit there and answer [the customer's] questions, and you didn't have to say 'I'll call St. Louis,'" he said. Renik believes that the ability to make a decision locally makes a difference for customers, especially in smaller communities. "What works in the metro area doesn't always work in the country."