Page 10 - December 31 2017 Reporter

by Melody LaMar, Managing Editor

Each year the League’s Board of Directors elects a new Chairperson. The individual holding that
position for 2018 is Travis Schroll of Beardstown Savings Bank. I sat down with Travis at the
League’s office in hopes to glean insight into the man who will charge the direction and help
develop strategies to promote the interests of all thrifts and community banks in Illinois.
WHO IS TRAVIS SCHROLL?

For our membership and readers who have never met Travis, let me brief you about what he’s
not. He’s not stuffy, withdrawn or unaffected. He is energetic, inquisitive and most notably,
genuine. He prefers to be called Travis and he truly enjoys talking about his bank, his family and
his community  and a little endurance sports
for good measure. He graduated in 1993 with a
BS in Economics/Finance from Illinois College,
Kindergarten Grad a Liberal Arts College in Jacksonville. Following
Kobi Schroll with college, Travis worked as a mortgage banker for
mom and dad. ten years at Norwest and its successor Wells
Fargo. In 2009 he accepted a position at
Beardstown Savings as Executive Vice
President with the understanding he was in line
to take over as President with the impending retirement of the sitting president. More later on how
Travis came to work for Beardstown Savings.

BEARDSTOWN AT-A-GLANCE
We spoke at length about the community and Beardstown; a river town located on the Illinois
River, and as such a center of commerce and distribution. The bank was created because railroad
employees needed a source for home financing. Founded in 1880 by blue-collar workers laying
the tracks that ultimately moved product from the docks to the market. It is the only mutually
owned financial institution in the tri-county area. As I listened to Travis, it became quite apparent
that to be an effective community bank, understanding the history of the people you serve is key.
One of Beardstown’s major employers is a large pork slaughterhouse formerly owned by Oscar
Mayer and Cargill and now by the Brazilian corporation, JBS. With 10% of U.S. pork processed
in Beardstown, the meat packing industry has attracted a substantial immigrant population in
recent years. Local banking has been impacted and Travis discusses the dynamics of immigration
and explains how his bank has adapted to this change in clientele. “Beardstown is represented
by 32 countries, but not surprisingly the Hispanic community has really grown, as has the African
population. Sort of making up for the decline in the aging and original German and Austrian first
immigrants,” he explains. This diversity is not lost on the impact to Beardstown Savings. “Most
rural populations are dying, we were growing for a while, now we’re stable, not aging like other
areas and the diversity in our population is a factor,” he interjects.

But how the impact of an evolving population plays on a community (and thus his bank), was front
and center. Travis explained how although Beardstown has become known for an increasing
Hispanic population, it has also experienced an influx of people from African nations like the

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December 2017 IllInoIs RepoRteR