The Purposeful Banker Awards: Up & Comer Award [Podcast]

Jim Young sits down with Dustin Minarchick of CNB Bank, winner of the Up & Comer Award at BankOnPurpose 2017.

After many years of success in a Credit Analyst role, Dustin made the jump to a Commercial/Retail Lending Officer and has thrived. In less than a year, he generated $10,563,000 in new business spread across a staggering 125 relationships. At an average of 2.5 new relationships a week, in addition to other responsibilities, Dustin has shown no signs of slowing down, making him a perfect choice for the Up & Comer Award.

Helpful Links

• BankOnPurpose Conference 2017 Recap - Blog (5 minute read)

Podcast Transcript

Jim Young: Hi, and welcome to The Purposeful Banker, the podcast brought to you by PrecisionLender, where we discuss the big topics on the minds of today's best bankers. I'm your host, Jim Young, Director of Communications at PrecisionLender, and we're coming to you today from basically our mobile Austin studio. We're recording this during the BankOnPurpose conference, our annual conference in Austin, Texas. My guest today is one of the attendees of that conference, Dustin Minarchick of CNB Bank. Dustin, thanks for joining us.

Dustin Minarchick: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.

Jim Young: Dustin is with us today because he was one of the winners of one of our Purposeful Banker awards. Specifically, Dustin won the the "Up and Comer Award." Do I have the name right on that?

Dustin Minarchick: That is correct. The Up and Comer Award, or I believe they may have called it "Rookie of the Year."

Jim Young: Do you feel like a rookie? I don't know if that's an accurate way to describe you.

Dustin Minarchick: In the lending role, I kind of do feel like a rookie because I'm still learning the ropes there and learning my role, and being able to try to go out and build customer relationships. Because in the past, I was a credit analyst in the back office. I was actually helping the lenders structure loans, doing the analysis on it, so eventually my goal was to get into lending.

Jim Young: Yeah, we're going to talk a little bit about that transition, but let's actually go back to you've been with CNB since right out of college, is that right?

Dustin Minarchick: Yeah, since 2007, I've been ... Actually this July will be 10 years, therefore I was in the training program for about a year, which kind of gave me a little bit of insight into how the bank works and being able to go through every department, understanding each department, and then also after that I was able to get in ... I really enjoyed the commercial side of the bank, so I wasn't really ready to go out and meet customers yet, so I wanted to get in something commercially, so I got into the credit underwriting department which deals strictly with commercial business, and assist to lenders.

Jim Young: During the conference we had some bank leaders up on stage talking about the difficulty of attracting and retaining young talent. Your situation is maybe not the norm these days, to come in that young and then stay at one place. What's kept you at CNB?

Dustin Minarchick: I think what really has kept me at CNB Bank, and I think small at times. This CNB Bank is a small ... It's not really small, but it's a community bank and that's what's really kept me there. Meaning, it's nice getting out of the office, going out to build customer relationships, and really understanding people's business and just being out there, and really trying to make a difference in people's lives. I think that's what's really attracted me and kept me at CNB Bank.

Jim Young: That sounds fantastic. Tell me again, you come out of college, what's your first job at CNB?

Dustin Minarchick: My first job at CNB Bank is the management training program. I went through every department, just fill the ropes of every department, and what they do, and who the people are in their specific departments. Being able to just understand what they do, not only on the front end. Like, you've got your tellers, everyone knows that. You've got your managers who do loans and who open accounts, but you really don't ever see the back end if you're on the front end. Being able to go through every department was something very, had a huge impact on me. That was definitely a great thing for every new banker that wants to come on and be in baking in the future.

Jim Young: You'd recommend that? If another bank was looking at how they wanted to develop young talent at their bank, would you recommend them setting up that same sort of thing?

Dustin Minarchick: Yeah, I would definitely recommend a management training program, because you do everything from the front office to the back office, and you can really get a feel for what you want to do in the future.

Jim Young: Gotcha. You go from that and then you're a credit analyst next?

Dustin Minarchick: Yeah, I was a credit analyst in credit administration it's called. I did seven and a half years of that, and that really led me to wanting to do commercial lending. That had a huge impact on me, the credit. I recommend every new green commercial lender go through credit, because it really gives you an understanding of the financial statements, along with understanding and helping structuring loans for the bank and the lenders out there who are actually chasing and tracking down new customer relationships.

Jim Young: I think I heard you say a little earlier, though, that you didn't feel like you were ready for a customer facing position at one point. What was holding you back then? What were you reservations about it?

Dustin Minarchick: I just wasn't really comfortable and ready just to go out there and beat the streets yet. I really wanted to understand the financial end of it prior to doing that in the future. Meaning, I really wanted to get a feel for what I should be looking for in the future, and I just wasn't really that sociable at that time. Just coming out of college, I didn't really know how to interact with business people. I just felt if I was 24 years old, and trying to go out and meet people that have been in business for 10 or 20 years, I just wasn't comfortable and ready to do that yet.

Jim Young: But you still had that as your goal? That was a long-term plan for you that you wanted to get to at a point where you could be a commercial lender?

Dustin Minarchick: Yes. That was my goal, was to be a commercial lender in the future, and I made that clear to my boss in credit administration when I went in there. It took a few years, but that was more on my part, too. I never really pushed the issue until over the last couple of years. We actually had a lot of lenders who are older, going to be getting out and retiring, so I thought it was perfect timing. I understood the financial statements, I understood the processes, and I understood structuring of loans. It just made perfect sense. I just had to pull the trigger and just do it, like one day I just woke up, I said, "I've just got to do this and be a commercial lender." The rest is history and I'm doing it now.

Jim Young: The person who submitted your nomination for this award, Joe Dell, was he the person you talked to about making that transition?

Dustin Minarchick: I talked to Joe Dell, as well as my boss in credit administration, which was Cory Johnston, and his boss, which was Mark Breakey who's our Senior Credit Officer. Actually, the Executive Senior Credit Officer.

Jim Young: Now, again, I imagine you were pretty valuable in the position you were in. Were you worried at all that they would say, "That's great, but we like you right where you are?"

Dustin Minarchick: Actually, what they do at CNB Bank is they really let the employees speak their minds and what they want to do in the future, and they'll set you up for that if you really want to do it, if they feel that you can do it. They don't hold anybody back, and that's what I really like about CNB bank, is they will provide you with what you want to do in the future. If just make it clear to them and just continue to work hard and show them that, your hard work in credit administration is going to carry you over into commercial lending, too.

Jim Young: You make that transition, what was it like the first couple of weeks and months in your new gig?

Dustin Minarchick: It was tough because I've never really had to go out and get business and beat the streets a little bit. What they actually did for me, which was very beneficial to me, they actually did put me on the frontline for a while, where I was doing commercial loans and consumer loans at the same time. That really built my confidence when I was dealing with the consumer customers, and the transitioned over and gave me the confidence to move forward and answer customer questions when they came through the door, and being able to structure loans for them, and being able to talk to them. It's just a confidence builder, as you continue to grow and to meet customers.

Jim Young: I'm looking at the stats here that Joe Dell gave me. 125 new relationships in the year, that's like two and a half per week. That's pretty prolific.

Dustin Minarchick: Yeah. I'm a person who likes to ... I'm a go-getter. I want to go out and develop business, I want to make an impact in people's lives out there in our community. I want to make sure ... It's all about speed to market, too. I can get this done for you in three or four days, where others might take a couple more weeks with other banks, because I've got the credit experience, I'm able to do some analysis myself. When I'm out there with the customers, I'm able to look at the financial statements and give them a yes or no that we can get something done for you. To be honest with customers, that has been very beneficial to me of being a commercial lender.

Jim Young: Yeah. Carl Ryden, our CEO, always talks about having a couple of extra clubs in your bag. It feels like your experience in credit really gives you a few extra clubs in your bag in terms of when you go out and talk to a customer.

Dustin Minarchick: Oh, sure. Absolutely. Having that credit experience is bar none, like I said before. I think everybody that wants to be a lender in the future and you don't have no lending experience, you've got to go through credit administration. That is just my opinion. Some people may not see it that way, but I just feel it will really truly benefit you in the future.

Jim Young: Did you have any mentor guiding you through commercial lending in your development in that area?

Dustin Minarchick: Yeah. There's a couple people who have really been instrumental in my development. I would say number one is Cory Johnston because he gave me ... Who was my boss in credit administration. He really gave me the confidence and he provided me with the deals to work on in the back office, where I can use that in my commercial lending in the future. There's also Mark Breakey, provided me a lot of advice, who was Cory Johnston's boss, and Joe Dell obviously. He really gave me confidence, and also one other person is Greg Dixon who is the Market Executive for CNB Bank. I cannot thank them guys enough for giving me all the tools that I needed to be successful.

Jim Young: Fair to say you've got a passion for commercial lending?

Dustin Minarchick: Yes. I just didn't realize it. Now, I really truly love it because I'm able to go out, develop business, grow jobs within my area, where I actually grew up, because I grew up in the area, and know that I'm able to create jobs out there is really beneficial and satisfying to me. It also helps the bank and it also helps our shareholders, so that to me, I am very satisfied all the way around.

Jim Young: What's next for you? You've had a pretty clear idea where you wanted to go, and now you've made it. Do you have a plan for what's next?

Dustin Minarchick: Actually, if I stayed in commercial lending forever, I would be very happy. I want to develop them 30 year relationships where in our bank, over the past couple years, we've had a lot of lenders who had 30+ years of experience in commercial lending. I want to be the next guy who does that.

Jim Young: That sounds fantastic. Dustin, thanks so much for joining us today, and to our audience, thanks for listening. If you'd like to learn more, visit our resource page at explore.precisionlender.com if you like what you've been hearing, be sure to subscribe to the feed in iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. We love to get your ratings and feedback on any of those platforms. Until next time, this has been Jim Young and Dustin Minarchick, and you've been listening to The Purposeful Banker.