With teaching in mind, Bartel finds career in banking

Northwestern Financial Review, Nov 15-Nov 30, 2004 by Bengtson, Tom

When Rhonda Bartel was a girl, she wanted to be a school teacher. Growing up in Seattle, she said her experience with banks was so negative, "I wanted to take my little savings account out of the bank and never work in one." A lot can change in the course of a lifetime. Bartel's family moved to a small rural community in Missouri and in June 1972, she got a job at a bank. Today, she is vice president of that bank - the Farmers & Merchants Bank of St. Clair.

Having taken numerous classes through the Missouri Bankers Association and the Center for Financial Training in St. Louis, Bartel became the bank's compliance officer in 1994. She has held many jobs in the bank during her 32-year tenure: drive-up teller, proof operator, new accounts manager and loan auditor. She also supervised the bank's conversion to computer processing from manual posting, a project that yielded more than new levels of efficiency.

"In 1976, I worked with one or two bank employees changing our manual system to converting our bank online. We worked many hours overtime, sometimes six or seven days a week for months," Bartel explained. "One of the workers and I ended up being-together so much we fell in love and got married in 1977."

They worked together until 1997, when Ervan died of cancer. "The employees were all so helpful and supportive through it all, I am fortunate to have them as friends and co-workers," she said. Bartel notes that their two sons both married in 2003, ironically, to women who work in banks.

Bartel manages the compliance for the bank, at each of its four locations. This involves staying on top of evolving regulations, developing policies for the bank to follow, and training staff to implement the policies.

Banking has turned out to be a good fit for Bartel, who said Farmers & Merchants Bank in particular has provided a nurturing environment. "The management is very supportive of us," Bartel said. But ultimately, Bartel said, employees have to make their own breaks. "It is the attitude you have about whether you are going to make it or not."

Attitude is also what distinguishes successful bankers from average bankers, she said. "All banks basically offer the same products and services, and a customer banks with you because of convenience and customer service," she noted. "We are very customer minded and in a small community where our customers are friends and neighbors you want to help them as much as possible."

Bartel said that even though she never expected to go into banking, she may, in fact, have fulfilled her childhood career dreams.

"A few months ago, I was speaking to a lady and found out she works in the school system evaluating teachers and I told her at one time I wanted to be a teacher," Bartel relayed. "She asked what I did, and I told her I work in a bank with bank laws and regulations and help the employees with the changes. She replied then I am like a teacher. I guess without realizing it, I got the career I wanted after all."

By Tom Bengtson