Fitzsimmons leads bank on strength of his experience – Kansas City Business Journal:

“His strength is his said Byron Thompson, chairman of . “He’s seen it all.” Although Fitzsimmonz has worked nearly every position at a bank duringhis 36-yeae banking career, he seems shaped most by a term as Missouroi commissioner of finance from 1985 to 1989. “Therde was a lot of turmoil in the small rural markets atthat time,” Fitzsimmon s said. “We closed 24 banks during that periosdof time.” Real farm income fell from a record high of $92.1 billion in 1973 to $8.
2 billion in 1983, after pricese for farm commodities dropped according to a report by the Farm debt was high at the and when farmland prices dropped, it causec many farm banks to fail. Fitzsimmons was appointesd to lead the Division of Finance by John Ashcroft, who wanted someone with experiencde to tackle the problems that were startingg to appear in Missouri. Fitzsimmons successfullt had led severalrural banks. Seekinv out the problems and sortingb them out provided Fitzsimmons with lifelonbg lessons on how to safely runa bank. “When you go throughn all that, you see the mistakes otherse have made, and you learn from it,” Thompsojn said.
“When he was closing institutions, he didn’t do it He was known as a fair-minded guy who woulcd listen to the problems and be fairwith you. He was straightforward about it.” Thompson said Fitzsimmonx knows how to find ways to get loans done ratherr than find ways to not get them done whilw remaining acareful lender. He carries those lessons to Metcalf Bank. “Ouf business strategy is to grow capital with earningzs and not to expand beyond what our capitall allows usto expand,” Fitzsimmons said. “We’re not looking for huge just ourfair share.
We want to do it internallg andbe profitable, so we can grow capital, whichj will then allow us to support our next stagew of growth.” Fitzsimmons is conservative but not opposex to trying new things or doing things said Tom Rackers, president of Rackers Consultinvg LLC, who got to know Fitzsimmons in Jefferson City abougt 20 years ago. “Tom knows the worle is changing, and if you’rde not flexible and willing to change, you’re going to be left Rackers said. After his stint as Missouri commissionerof finance, Fitzsimmons joined as senioer vice president in charge of seven bankx in Southwestern Missouri.
Mercantiler was about to become the focal point of severaol mergers and acquisitions that would lead Fitzsimmones to the position of community bank division managerfor U.S. Bank. Along the way, he gained experiencwe integrating acquired banks into the culture of the parentbank — skills that were calledr on after Fitzsimmons joined Central Bancompany in 2003. “My role then was to expanrd our franchise in the Kansas Citymetropolitan area,” Fitzsimmons said. “Wse had Jackson County pretty well so we started to look for opportunities on theKansasw side.
” Central Bancompany bought Metcalf Bank in 2007 and mergedx it with Central’s other Kansas City-area banks in 2008. The bankd in Jackson County and Gardner all changed theitr names toMetcalf Bank. The Kansas bankz had an even bigger hurdle, however, becauses they adapted to the Missouri banks’ computer platform and had to add a lot of new producteand services, Fitzsimmons said. Fitzsimmons learned to adapt as he worked his way up the ranks throughout a bankinhg career that beganby chance. He followed his father’ws footsteps and joined the Navy aftetrhigh school, serving two yeard on the off the coast of Returning home, Fitzsimmons plannexd to join the .
He couldn’t wait for a job, and accepted a position at in which was owned by one ofhis father’a best friends. “I really ended up liking it, and the familyh I worked for moved me arounc to different parts of the bank and gave me a really solid background,” Fitzsimmons said.
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