by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
He got hooked in the summer of 1972.
First Guaranty Bank President Don Roberts started his 36-year career in the banking industry at a small bank in Corpus Christi, Texas as a 21-year-old intern.
“I did just about every job in the bank,” said Roberts who was hired by First Guaranty in June. “I subbed for everyone who went on vacation. I even did the janitor’s job when he went on vacation.”
Roberts, 59, was never in a position to lend money or run the bank during his internship, but those opportunities would come as his passion for banking grew.
“That internship really got me hooked,” said Roberts. “It made me understand that it’s the people that make the difference.”
Roberts took this experience and started along a path to make a difference in the banking industry. He earned a bachelor’s degree in International Banking from the University of Texas and a graduate degree from Southern Methodist University’s Southwestern Graduate School in Banking and spent the next 10 years in the banking industry in Houston.
“My first offers for jobs in international banking were in places like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar,” said Roberts. “I wasn’t too comfortable with those choices so I stayed in Texas.”
The native Texan stayed in the Lone Star State until he and his wife Katherine — or “Kaki” to her friends — started to consider where the best place to raise their growing family would be.
“We had a criteria with about six factors when we were looking for a place to move to,” said Roberts. “San Antonio was the only name on the list until we thought about Jacksonville. It had everything we wanted for our family.”
The City had made an impression on Don after vacationing in the area to visit Kaki’s family. The couple has raised four boys — Matthew, 30, David, 24, Parker, 21 and John, 17. The Roberts family wasn’t the only part of their life that experienced growth after they moved to Jacksonville.
Roberts was hired by Hugh Jones of Barnett Bank to run the company’s corporate banking division in 1984. He was eventually promoted to president and CEO of the Barnett Banks of Atlanta in 1990. The banks were sold in 1993 and Roberts became president and CEO of Barnett Banks of Lake County after the sale.
“He always had a good capacity for developing business,” said Jones. “He is very smart, has a strong value system and is a person of strong faith.”
After Barnett Bank merged with Bank of America, Roberts returned to Jacksonville in 1998 to help start up Florida Bank of Jacksonville. He was instrumental in developing $150 million in assets for the company over six years. Florida Bank was sold to Mercantile Bank and Roberts was hired as vice chair of CNL Bank First Coast in 2004. Three years later he created Bank Consulting Services of Jacksonville, and First Guaranty Bank was one of his clients.
“I had no idea about working here when I was consulting with First Guaranty,” said Roberts. “They not only have the ability, but the desire to be unique. It appeared that way from the outside and even more so from the inside.”
He oversees day-to-day operations at the city’s oldest bank, but also has leadership roles elsewhere in the community.
“I believe in living purposefully,” said Roberts. “When you arrive somewhere you have to put your taproot down and really get involved in the community rather than act as if you are just passing through.”
He shares this virtue with his father-in-law Bill Nash who has been recognized for his vast civic contributions to Jacksonville and is a former south central president of Prudential Insurance Company.
They also share the experience of leading the local YMCA as chairs of its board of directors. Nash still serves on the board and Roberts will end his term as chair in September.
The spare time freed up when he steps down as chair this fall may help him prepare for his annual trip to Cuba.
“It’s life changing really,” said Roberts. “We go to really depressed areas and bring the word of the Lord.”
Roberts sets aside one week a year to go on a mission to Cuba with the East-West Ministries headquartered in Addison, Texas. Americans may be prohibited from traveling to Cuba by the government but licenses are granted for various groups to visit the island country. Religious organizations can obtain a license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“We go door to door with a church worker from the area who translates for us,” said Roberts. “I’ve never had any problems during the trip.”
He also shares his faith locally as an elder at Christ Church in Jacksonville. The structure of the church was explained in a business model. The pastor is the CEO and the elders are the board of directors, he said.
“Life is about trying to figure out where God wants you to be,” said Roberts. “If you are there and you listen to him, things are going to go well.”
356-2466