How to Work with Your Banker in Today’s Uncertain Economy, with Ken Davis, Renasant Bank
John Ray: [00:00:00] As you talk to your business owner clients, what are you telling them in terms of what they should be doing to navigate this current environment?
Ken Davis: [00:00:11] Well, much like our family lives, John, ccommunication is critical. And so, I would say from the relationship between a banker and a business owner, communication is the critical part. Whether it’s good news or bad news, keeping the banker informed, and the banker keeping the business owner informed is the most important part that can be done.
Ken Davis: [00:00:39] Because if there’s no communication, nobody knows how to react or what to react when they’re presented with a situation, but if there’s communication all along, and there’s a conversation going about the different scenarios, then there can be some planning ahead and some risk mitigation taken, or even identifying potential risk, and talking about the cost of that risk mitigation or the cost of not mitigating that risk, and having that open dialogue, so you can plan ahead. And it may result in additional credit being extended, or it may result in maybe there’s no need for additional credit to be extended, but instead doing a few things differently with the existing indebtedness.
Ken Davis: [00:01:30] So, there are a lot of options available when you communicate and kind of lay out different scenarios, and are open about conversation and saying, “Let’s talk about this, so we can come up with a plan that’s mutually beneficial to both the owner and the business and the banker, so that we can continue that relationship long past this current crisis.”
Ken Davis, Renasant Bank, North Georgia Region Community & Business Banking President
Ken Davis has 30+ years of experience in the finance and banking industry. After graduation from college and serving six years in the U.S. Army, Ken returned to his hometown of Atlanta to begin his banking career. Prior to joining Renasant Bank, Ken served as an executive banker at other regional banks with responsibility to increase both commercial and consumer loan and deposit share in North Metro Atlanta. Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University and is a graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking.
Active in the community, Ken is a member of the Rotary Club of Roswell and serves as President of Roswell Economic Development & Tourism, Inc. In addition, he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the North Fulton Community Charities and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. He has served as past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and is a graduate of Leadership Gwinnett.
He has served on the boards of Georgia Ensemble Theatre, North Metro Miracle League, March of Dimes of North Fulton, the Ed Isakson Alpharetta YMCA and the Chattahoochee Nature Center.
Ken and his wife, Miriam, have three grown daughters and two grandchildren.
Listen to the complete interview on North Fulton Business Radio with Ken here.
The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and in the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
