After nearly half a century in the banking business, Butch Gary recently retired from his role as president of BankPlus in Yazoo City.
His formal retirement arrived at the end of April, and his role was passed onto to Senior Vice President John Murry Greenlee.
Gary and Greenlee’s mutual partnership with the local bank was almost destined to be from the first time the two encountered each other about two decades ago. Greenlee and his wife Amanda had just moved into the area with his former employer, Delta Pine Land. Serving as regional salesman for the cotton and soybean seed company, he was suggested by his mother-in-law to visit Gary at the bank in the hopes of securing a car loan.
“Butch provided me with the best of service the first time I walked in the front door,” Greenlee said. “He was so friendly and made me feel very welcome as a new resident. I applied for my car loan, and when I went back in to sign my loan papers, he offered me a job as a banker. I was very flattered but also very shocked and confused as I wasn’t looking for a job and was very happy with my current job at the time.”
Gary informed Greenlee that he wasn’t in a rush, adding that he had six months to make a decision on whether or not he wanted to join the banking industry. Greenlee admits he questioned Gary’s job offering since the two had just must each other for the first time.
“As any good banker should do, it was obvious that Butch had done his homework on me,” Greenlee said. “He knew me much better than I realized at the time.”
Gary told Greenlee he was looking for a “young ag lender who would be staying in the Yazoo area.”
“I had tons of agricultural experience but absolutely no banking experience,” Greenlee said. “The idea of being a banker had never crossed my mind. In fact, anyone who knows me very well knows that I am not an office type of guy but an outside type."
However, over the next six months, Greenlee prayed and consulted with his family and friends on the possibility of accepting Gary’s offer. It turned out to be one of the best decisions he had made in his life. He accepted the job and was ready to become a “young ag lender.”
“Since that first car loan meeting, Butch Gary has become one of my very best bosses, mentors and, most of all, my good friend,” Greenlee said.
Greenlee arrived at BankPlus on April 1, 2000 as a lender and assistant vice president. He celebrated his 21st anniversary at the local bank just last month. With his agriculture background, he was hired to primarily handle agriculture lender services. From the beginning, he grew and managed a large portfolio based in the agriculture world.
“While this area of lending has been my forte, I have also been able to grow my loan volume through my love for the outdoors and hunting,” he said. “This passion of mine has allowed many friendships to lead into recreational land lending opportunities.”
Those relationships proved to be unlimited in the market that Greenlee handled.
“While these two areas of lending support the majority of my loan portfolio, I also love helping all my Yazoo County friends with any of their personal lending needs,” Greenlee added.
Over the last two decades, Greenlee said the biggest reward for working within the BankPlus family is just that…family. The family-like atmosphere at the bank was and continues to be encouraged at the local bank.
“We all know that we spend more time with our working family than our real family at home,” he said. “If this working family atmosphere was not a pleasant one, it sure would make for some very long days.”
But there have also been a number of challenges within the banking world over the years. Greenlee admits all things change, and that concept is no different in banking. With steady changes in regulations, technology, staffing and customer service…changes within those daily jobs do happen.
“Human nature is to resist change as we all love our personal comfort zones,” he said. “Even though our nature is to resist these changes, we know that change is inevitable and ultimately a good thing for future progress.”
Greenlee said it can be challenging to deal with those changes on a personal level, all while encouraging his co-workers along the way.
For Greenlee, there are also obstacles personally as he continues to realize that he can’t be everything to everyone.
“I love meeting new people, developing those relationships, helping people with any needs they may have and helping to solve problems,” he said. “I take all of this so personal that it has been challenging for me to realize that there is only one of me, and I cannot be all that I would like to be to everyone.”
But those challenges and obstacles are overshadowed by the relationships he develops with his customers and co-workers, Murry continued.
Over the years, Greenlee has adapted to those changes by accepting his true nature at heart. He is a salesman, and he understands that banking is simply selling money services. When he first started in sales, he was limited to selling one type of product. At BankPlus, there is no limit.
“With banking there is no limit to my market I can sell to,” he said. “I tell you all of this because an industry that everyone needs is vital to the strength of a community.”
And there is no question that Greenlee understands the importance of a strong banking family within the community. Community banking is very much part of the community. In fact, its banking family is the community.
“As community bankers, we live amongst these citizens, go to church with them, our kids go to school with them, we recreate with them, go to weddings and funerals, eat with them in local restaurants and everything else that comes along in daily life,” he said. “We know our customers, and they know us. This makes our community one big happy family.”
As he begins his new professional journey as BankPlus’ new president, Greenlee said he will never forget the lessons his mentor provided him. That mentor is Gary, who brought him on board 21 years ago.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and I feel I have been on the winning team for 21 years at BankPlus,” he said. “I want to be the same mentor Butch has been to me and teach the young lenders I have recently hired to be a better lender than I have been.”
