Independent Banker - August 2017 - 54

Beating
small-town
brain drain
Attracting exceptional employees to small and rural towns
requires far more than competitive compensation. We asked
expert recruiters and winning community banks to share their
best strategies for finding and keeping the best people.
By Kelly Pike
W
hen Emily Collins felt like there weren't
enough opportunities to grow as a banker
in Springfield, Ill., she chose a career path
that gives hope to community bankers in
small towns and rural communities across
the country. She looked 40 minutes southeast to $54 million-asset
Midland Community Bank in Taylorville, Ill.
Today, Collins commutes from Springfield to rural
Taylorville, pop. 11,400, where she's the chief operations
officer, touching everything from HR to advertising to
compliance while working closely with the CEO.
" Everything is a lot more specialized at bigger banks, "
she says. " It's nice that in the position I'm in, I have my
hands on a lot of areas of the bank. It's been interesting to
get more involved. "
Collins' story and ones similar to it are common enough
54 ICBA IndependentBanker August 2017
for community bankers, many of whom struggle to recruit
top talent to small-town and rural locations. Experts agree
there are more community banking jobs than there is talent
to fill them, making it especially hard to compete for
employees. But while there might not be a silver bullet
for attracting and retaining future leaders to community
banks, it's not an impossible task.
Midland was fortunate that Collins was already comfortable
with small-town life, having grown up in a town
of 500 people 30 miles to the south.
" It was easy for me because I know what a small town is
like, " she remarks. " I know how it works. "
So-called boomerangs like Collins-those who grew
up in small towns and might be open to returning-are a
prime market for community banking talent, if you can
find them, experts say. They may want to be closer to their

Independent Banker - August 2017

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