Banker's sense of customer service started with eggs

MARION - "When I got out of high school in 1935, I couldn't go to college because we didn't have that kind of money," recalled Morris Neighbor, who was born and grew up in rural Linn County.

His father, Benjamin, struggled through the Great Depression operating a store in Lafayette, a community about three miles west of Alburnett. But Neighbor wasn't to be deterred.

"I bought a little panel truck, tore the insides out and put shelves in there. I had a mechanic put a rack on top for 10 cases of eggs.

"I had routes on Monday and Tuesday, came to Cedar Rapids on Wednesday to sell my fresh eggs, ran my routes on Thursday and Friday, and then I returned to Cedar Rapids each Saturday to sell more eggs. I had regular customers who wanted to buy fresh eggs and I sold them to a number of stores and restaurants in Cedar Rapids."

Neighbor rewarded his customers with an occasional dish and carried a supply of candy for children. Both gestures helped with  customer retention.

It was that sort of customer service that Neighbor, now 94 and chairman-emeritus of Farmers State Bank in Marion, knew was good for business, even then.

With the outbreak of World War II, Neighbor was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Camp Polk, east of Leesville, La., for basic training.

"I was about the first draftee to arrive and everyone else was regular army," he said. "Boy, did they use me, but I really did get good training. When a new set of officers arrived, they looked at my scores on tests and assigned me to battalion headquarters.

"When it got through the Third Armored division, the Army decided it needed another division, and it created the 11th Armored Division. When the 3rd Armored Division went overseas, I was pulled back to train the 11th Armored Division, which probably saved my bacon."

Neighbor went to Europe with the 11th Armored Division, which fought in the Battle of the Bulge with General George Patton's Third Army. An engraved brick in his office is a reminder of Neighbor's involvement in the battle that helped turn the tide of the war.

When Neighbor returned home in 1945, he had a Bronze Star and about $300 in his pocket. He landed a job as a teller at Farmers State Bank in Alburnett, which had recently changed its name from Alburnett State Bank and moved its charter to Marion after a review of its accounts showed more activity in the larger community.

"We were more aggressive than the other bank in town, which was very conservative, and we were able to make a lot of business loans," Neighbor said.

His early duties at the bank included taking out the ashes and stoking up the furnace early each morning.

Neighbor, working mornings at the Alburnett office and afternoons at the main bank, gradually moved up the ladder, eventually to become executive vice president. In 1967, Neighbor and his wife, Betty, were offered the opportunity to purchase Shelly and Lucille Shellenbarger's majority ownership of the bank.

"Fortunately, Merchants National Bank in Cedar Rapids was willing to loan us the money to buy 51 percent of the stock," Neighbor said. "When my wife and I decided to form a holding company, we needed to own 85 percent of the stock.

"We went into debt again, and being somewhat conservative, we paid it all off and became a family-owned bank."

Neighbor became president of Farmers State Bank in 1968. Neighbor Insurance Agency Inc. was formed as the bank holding company.

Over the years, Neighbor has witnessed many economic peaks and valleys in the local and national economy. After the prosperous growth years after World War II, the farm crisis of the early 1980s were a challenge for bankers, especially the president of a locally owned family bank.

"It was really a tough period," Neighbor said. "All of us had to do a lot of belt tightening, but we made it through."

Many of the farmers who defaulted on agricultural loans were more than just customers. They also were Neighbor's friends, and it's a testament to his character that many, if not all, of them remain customers of Farmers State.

When Neighbor joined Farmers State as a teller in 1945, the bank had assets of $2 million. Under his leadership, the bank has grown from assets of $19.4 million in 1968 to more than $650 million today.

Neighbor credits a strong board of directors for providing the guidance he depended on when making  difficult decisions.

"Most of them were older, experienced business people," he said. "We've been very fortunate to have good people serving on our board, but we also knew that we wanted to serve our customers.

"By doing that, we knew we would be successful."

Neighbor, who remains active with the bank, recently relinquished the position of chairman to his oldest son, Kent, a successful farmer and businessman. His son, Doug, Farmers State president and CEO since September 1999, succeeded Kent as vice chairman.

Gene Neighbor, the youngest son of Morris and Betty Neighbor, is executive vice president of Farmers State. Their father is proud of the fact that his sons worked their way through college before joining the family business.

Neighbor, who was recognized in 1995 as a "50-year Banker" by the Iowa Bankers Association, also has been active in civic affairs. He is a past president of the Marion YMCA, past chairman of the YMCA Metropolitan board of trustees and a past board member of the Granger House.

Neighbor is a member of the Marion American Legion Post 298, Trojan Lodge No. 548 and the Alburnett Christian Church. In 2002, he was inducted into the Marion Independent School District's Hall of Fame for his support in education and the city of Marion.

Neighbor also has made major philanthropic donations to the public libraries in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha, the Marion and Alburnett Historical Museums, St. Luke's Hospital, Linn-Mar and Marion School Foundations, the Alburnett Community Foundation and Lowe Park in Marion.

Looking back over his 67-year career at Farmers State, Neighbor said he has no regrets regarding past decisions, especially the decision to buy the bank in 1968. It was good for them, and for their family.

When Morris and Betty Neighbor celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in June 2011, they brought together more than 75 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their spouses. The fourth generation of the Neighbor family began working at Farmers State earlier this year when their great-granddaughter, Amber Waring, joined the bank.