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THE NEW CHIEF Executive officer of Twin City Bank promises to leave his mark on the North Little Rock bank, registered in terms of bottom-line growth.
However, the moves Larry Gilb makes to boost performance won't be flashy.
"I'll be the first to tell you I'm a competitive person," Gilb says. "I play solitaire in the morning after I read my paper, and I don't ever like losing at solitaire."
Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. of St. Louis brought Gilb to town to succeed Terry Renaud, the bank's longtime CEO who resigned earlier than expected. Renaud, who turned Twin City into a banking empire for the Frank Lyon family, retired shortly after Mercantile bought the bank as part of $172 million deal in May.
"I don't believe in real complex business plans and a whole lot of razzle-dazzle," says Gilb, who came to Arkansas by way of Joplin, Mo., where he managed Mercantile's $324 million-asset bank and honed it into a keen performer. "The people [at Twin City Bank] are very much in sync with the type of philosophy I bring to the table."
Gilb says he will keep a sharp eye for efficiencies in bank operations. However; he doesn't foresee much change regarding staffing or leadership positions at the bank.
"I really can't tell you, but those will be internal issues decided by the management team here rather than higher up in Mercantile," he says. "To the degree we can streamline things, it is prudent to do that."
Only one top executive at Twin City Bank other than Renaud has exited in the wake of the buyout. Susan Sisk, a senior vice president of commercial lending, moved to Pulaski Bank & Trust Co.
"That had nothing to do with Mercantile," Gilb says. "From what I understand, she is a talented lady. She didn't go away from something. She went to something.
"I see Twin City Bank operating with the same cadre of people it has for the past five years. My job is to jockey people around to get them working in their strengths."
Succeeding a longtime CEO like Renaud, who's strongly identified with a bank, is nothing new to Gilb. In Joplin, he was tapped to replace Preston Pate, who retired after a long career...