Banking on success: A Q&A with Mark Schroeder
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Former German American Bank CEO Mark Schroeder was recently inducted into the 2023 Junior Achievement Evansville Regional Business Hall of Fame along with Greg Wathen, William McCurdy and James Bridwell Igleheart.
Schroeder spent more than 50 years at German American. He began his career in 1972 when the Jasper-based bank had two locations and $50 million in assets. Today, the financial institution is a $6 billion dollar holding company with 77 offices in 19 Indiana counties and 14 counties in Kentucky.
Schroeder shared his story of perseverance and success with Inside INdiana Business.
You started at German American right out of high school and never looked back. Tell me about the beginning of your career.
I kind of fell into banking. My college plans fell through. I thought I knew the direction I was headed, computer science, at what was a fledgling program at Indiana University. For a variety of reasons, I began to question whether that was what I wanted to do.
I graduated high school on a Friday and started at the bank on Monday. I really took the job as an interim job. I thought, okay, I’ll lay out a year or two and then head to IU and figure out what I want to do. I knew it would be business related. But I got into the bank and found out it was a really good fit for me.
You went to college while working at the bank. Tell me about that journey.
I went to the president of the bank, probably about two years in, and said, “I really like this, and I like doing it here. If I leave and go to IU, will you have a spot for me when I’m done?” And his answer was, “Probably, but I can’t guarantee you that. Why don’t you just go to college on our nickel while you’re working here?” And so that’s what I did.
I ended up doing some undergraduate work at the local Vincennes University campus and then finished up at the University of Evansville. I took a class or two a semester. During the summer months, there were bank-specific schools, usually a two-week school like commercial lending, agriculture lending and others. I was doing bank-specific things that you didn’t get college credit for during the summer. So when you take two to four classes a year, it takes a while. [Schroeder earned a bachelor’s degree in financial management in 1993.]
Which positions have you held at German American Bank over the years?
I started as a vault teller. I also did general teller work and then was on the loan side at that point. We had tellers that specifically worked in lending, accepting payments and things of that sort. That really led me into lending: consumer lender, commercial lender, head of lending. Most of my time was in commercial.
I may have been at one place for 50 years, but I consider it to be four different careers, the first of which was lending. I was chief financial officer for a number of years, then chief operating officer where I ran the back office side of things for the company. I did that for a stint and then I was chief executive officer for 23 years.
Did you always plan to move up the ladder?
Did I aspire to be CEO? Certainly not initially. Did I have the ambition to take the next rung on the ladder? Yes, absolutely. I tell the younger folks if you’re new in a career, you should always focus on the next rung on the ladder and what skills you need to get to that rung. Don’t focus on the top rung, just focus on the next one and do the best job you can do in the job you are in. That’s the best way to get a promotion. And bring people around you who are capable of taking your job so that you can have that next opportunity.
When I was CFO was probably the first time I said, “I think I would like to be a CEO.” And the timing worked out well. My predecessor, there was enough age difference there that I thought, okay, I can wait this one out.
Did you ever think about going anywhere else or even a different career?
I never thought about another career. Sometimes, you just stumble into something that’s a good fit, and that was the case here. Numbers come easily to me. While banking is certainly about the people side of things, fundamentally it’s a numbers game in terms of how things work, how banks make money.
I had other offers I turned down. On a few occasions, I pursued other offers and at the last minute said, “Nah, I think where I’m at is a better fit.” If I hadn’t gotten the CEO role at German American when I did, at that point I was determined I was going to be a CEO at a bank, and I probably would have moved on. I didn’t want to because Jasper is home.
How has the bank changed from the day you started until now?
What’s really changed in banking, at that point in time in Indiana, you could only bank in your county. You weren’t allowed to go outside of your county. Now, you can go wherever you want. You still have to get regulatory approvals, but you’re not confined in that way. Banking has become so much broader in terms of the products and services that we offer. And technology, our customers do more banking on their phones than in our offices. It’s just the way it is.
When I started, German American had probably between 25 and 50 employees. Now there are nearly 1,000 employees spread across two states. And the size of the loans when I started compared to the size of the loans by the time I retire—totally different. The fundamentals are the same, but there’s a big difference between making what at that time was probably a legal lending limit of less than a million dollars to today’s $30 million, $40 million credit facilities.
The thing that hasn’t changed from that first day until my last day is that if you’re in banking, particularly in community banking, you’re in a people business. It’s still people doing business with people.
What was your biggest accomplishment at German American Bank?
We were very successful at bringing other banks into the fold. The pitch we made at German American under my predecessor—I was a CFO at that time—was independence through interdependence. For small banks like German American that didn’t have the size and scale to compete and go forward, we were able to bring those banks in, and generally speaking, bring that team on board that was there, and they stayed with us.
Most of those customers, they banked with their banker, they didn’t necessarily bank with German American. The fact that we were able to bring all that together, 20 some odd combinations over that time, and keep people in place, we not only maintained the customer relationships they had but were able to grow those relationships. That and the opportunities our growth afforded our employees are the things that I am most proud of.
You stepped down as CEO last year and left your chairman position in May. How’s retirement?
I’m involved in a number of different things. I chair a Regional Development Authority, mainly involving Dubois County and Spencer County, that aims to improve U.S. 231. I’m also involved in some other things in the local community. I was a banker who really wasn’t much of a golfer, so I’m working on my golf game. I haven’t got much better, but I’m working at it.
At one of my retirement receptions, I said if my daughters were honest, they’d say Mom was there for everything, and Dad was there whenever there wasn’t something more pressing at the bank. My grandkids won’t have that memory. I’m going to be there for everything for the grandkids and our daughters. I have a shirt that says, “Not retired. Under new management. See grandkids for details.”
What does it mean to be inducted into the Evansville Regional Business Hall of Fame?
Because this honor is regional in focus and it recognizes German American as an industry leader and involved in communities throughout the region, for me to be selected, it’s really for German American to be selected. The recognition it gives German American is that we truly are a regional player, we’re not just a small community bank. We may be headquartered in Jasper, but our reach is much beyond that. That means a lot.
I was truly shocked that they reached out and selected me. It’s really an honor for all past and present and even future German American team members. For me to receive the honor is also for them to receive the honor.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Danny Herman, who was a recipient a few years ago, said he’s an example that you don’t have to leave home to have a successful career. I’m an example that you don’t have to work at multiple companies to have a successful career. But there’s no one right model.
If you want to succeed in business, get up in the morning and do your very best. Then tomorrow morning, get up and do it again—and again and again. Have the perseverance to just stay with it and stay focused and do your very best. If you do that, good things will come.
No matter how you do it, a successful career is a marathon, not a sprint. You can’t wear out and give up early, you keep powering through. It helps if you’re doing something that you truly enjoy doing. Find something you love to do, and then just stick with it.