Florida Banking May 2022

F irst Bank celebrates its 100th anniversary this year as one of the oldest community banks in Florida. Founded in 1922, First Bank has grown steadily alongside its agricultural community of Clewiston, nicknamed “America’s sweetest town” for its thriving sugar industry. The city is named for A.C. Clewis, a Tampa developer and banker who was involved in the founding of First Bank. Clewis has an interesting connection to the Florida Bankers Association, as well; his grandson Clewis Howell was Chairman of the FBA in 1973. “[Clewis] saw a need for local business people to help the town flourish. That was a time when the Florida land boom was going on; the founders wanted to have a bank to build commerce,” said First Bank Chairman Miller Couse. “Community banks understand the unique businesses that flourish in small towns. If you’re going to borrow money in any of our seven locations, we want to be involved. The attorney, the farmer, the mechanic… whomever it might be, we have a loan on our books for that business.” In addition to its commercial and consumer lending, the bank also has a large concentration of municipal deposits, which are then used to fund loans to other local municipal organizations. “Our services are broad and diverse because we develop products to meet our customers’ needs. Although this tends to be less efficient at times, it serves our customers well. Overall, the profit takes care of itself,” said Carey Soud, First Bank president and CEO. “It’s not just a financial investment [for us]; our lives and our hearts are here.” First Bank’s longest tenured employee has worked at the bank for 50 years. Several members of the management team are not far behind, having worked at First Bank for 47 and 48 years. The bank offers an employee stock ownership plan. First Bank employees own about 20 percent of the bank. “We are truly community owned and operated,” said Deborah Van Sickle, senior vice president and chief lending officer. “Every decision our employees make is for their investment. During the financial crisis, everybody reached into their pockets and said, ‘We’ll keep going and we’ll come out of this,’ because we’re all investors.”

First Bank’s core values are about faith, honor and building lasting relationships. During the pandemic, for example, the bank ordered meals for its staff once a week from a different restaurant to support its local customers. “We believe that life is a stewardship; it’s given to us to honor God and give back to Him, and certainly our profession is one of stewardship. People entrust us with their money and we try to utilize it for the best of the community,” Soud said. Soud became president of First Bank in 2008. He has a background in public accounting and agriculture, which is how he first met Miller Couse. “I had been actively searching for somebody to replace me down the road,” Miller Couse said. “I was chairman, president and CEO, and didn’t want to be all three. Carey turned up at the right time.” Van Sickle said: “I think what’s also made the bank successful is that the management teams over the many years have always had a succession plan.” So too does Soud have a succession plan. He looks to Miller’s son Andrew Couse to follow him as the next president of First Bank. Andrew Couse currently serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer. First Bank, Continued on page 10

“COMMUNITY BANKS UNDERSTAND THE UNIQUE BUSINESSES THAT FLOURISH IN SMALL TOWNS.”

- MILLER COUSE

WWW.FLORIDABANKERS.COM MAY 2022 — 9