Orvin T. Kimbrough, who just finished his third week as CEO of Midwest BankCentre after leading the United Way of Greater St. Louis as president and CEO for five years, said his new job as banker is really a “continuation” of his career in social services.
“If you look at what I’ve been doing the last 20 years, it has focused on stabilizing people’s lives in terms of social mobility, promoting human and social capital through things like education, and training in life skills and the competency necessary for any person to participate in economic activity,” Kimbrough told The American.
Now, he will focus on “economic activity” proper and making it accessible to more people.
“The bank is an extension from that,” Kimbrough said. “Human capital is important, but our community – all communities – need capital. My role as CEO of the bank is to bring purpose-driven service to the people of the region and beyond.”
Given that money talks, he already is finding his voice magnified.
“I am having the same kinds of conversations I’ve always had,” Kimbrough said. “Now I am just having them as CEO of the second largest privately financed bank in St. Louis.”
Kimbrough is the only black CEO of a bank in the St. Louis region. As far as he knows, he is the only black CEO of a bank in Missouri or the Midwest. According to an attorney in Washington, D.C. who called him about speaking to the National Bankers Association, a group of black-owned banks, they were aware of no other black CEO of a mainstream bank in the United States.
“So this progress conveys to the leadership of our region and beyond that it is okay for people who look different to lead some of our largest institutions – and not just on the charitable side,” Kimbrough said.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about systems leadership. You can change systems from the inside and from the outside. My hope is not only to help make it okay for diverse people to lead large institutions, but also to be wildly successful and help create conditions for more of our young people to dream really, really big.”
Needless to say, not all of the bank’s customers look like this son of Saint Louis Public Schools and the State of Missouri’s foster care system. He rattled off the bank’s diverse bank locations in DeSoto (with a 93 percent white population, according to the U.S. Census), South County, North County, North City and St. Charles.
“Our deposit holders are ordinary people who get up and go to work every day and strive to do more than just make ends meet,” Kimbrough said.
That they are deposit holders is significant in a region that has been identified as one of the most unbanked and underbanked in the nation, especially among black households. Midwest BankCentre has been a member of St. Louis’ Regional Unbanked Task Force since its inception in 2011.
That also was about when the bank entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, which expired in mid-2016. The bank committed to open a bank branch in an area of St. Louis populated primarily by African-American citizens; invest in a special financing program to expand loans to St. Louis-area neighborhoods with majority African-American residents; allocate funding for consumer financial education and credit repair; and expand marketing.
Though provoked by an Obama-era federal consent decree, in a statement the bank declared that it genuinely “enlarged its vision of service to the community” as a result.
“Our geographic reach has extended to include neighborhoods overlooked or shunned by our competitors. We’ve opened full-service branches in Pagedale and at Friendly Temple in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood and acquired a location on North Broadway in the near north riverfront area north of downtown St. Louis,” said Jim Watson, Kimbrough’s predecessor as CEO, who remains executive chairman of Midwest BankCentre and vice chairman of its holding company, Midwest BankCentre, Inc.
“Our efforts have spurred economic development and vitality, changed the trajectory of lives for generations by removing barriers and building opportunities, and forged relationships that led us to our new CEO,” Watson added.
Midwest BankCentre was recently selected as a national award recipient by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) for the 2018 National Community Bank Service Awards. ICBA selected the bank from among more than 100 nominations for its high-impact service and economic empowerment programs that have brought mainstream banking services to more than 1,200 previously unbanked or underbanked families in the St. Louis metro area.
According to the bank, Kimbrough’s appointment as CEO further “affirms the transformation.” Kimbrough sees the progress and the opportunity to expand upon it.
“The bank has developed products to help individuals who are not traditionally bankable in the mainstream to become bankable, such as credit boosters and products to get loans that are not predatory,” Kimbrough said.
“I expect as I get more familiar with our products and services, I will see how we can continue to make a bigger difference. I am excited about the innovation in products and services we will offer to a wide range of customers. I am excited to bring my experience in social services to leverage the technical knowledge our lifetime bankers have.”
One such lifetime banker, Dale Oberkfell, continues as president and chief financial officer of Midwest BankCentre.
For now, after only three weeks as CEO at the bank (though he previously served on its board and remains a board member), he has some learning to do.
“I’ve been here less than a month, so I need to take some time to better understand the bank’s goals and execute them and then develop some additional initiatives,” Kimbrough said. “We have a great team on board with intimate community knowledge and commitment.”
“Since I come from social services, I have an issue with any kind of predatory lending. We need to find alternative solutions to that. We are already talking about the importance of socially responsible banking and all aspects of the community having access to capital.”
For more information, visit https://www.midwestbankcentre.com.
