It’s his combination of hard work, humility and humor that employees will miss now that Iowa State Savings Bank (ISSB) President Dave Driskell has officially retired.
Driskell, 68, recently retired after 37 years at ISSB, including 20 as bank president. A retirement coffee was held in his honor last month.
“It’s been a good run,” Driskell said. “I’ve had a full, complete career and one I’m very proud of. I’m fairly convinced that any high school classmates (at Greenfield) would say for me to become president of a bank, I would have to marry the owner’s daughter. ...
“But, nobody ever does anything by themselves. Too few people understand that. I’ve worked with great people at ISSB over the years and without any one of them I would have failed.”
Something Driskell is especially proud of is his role during the agriculture crisis in the mid-1980s. The ag crisis was not limited to Creston or southwest Iowa. It was an industrywide problem.
But, Driskell’s foresight and leadership allowed ISSB to survive the crisis. As well, ISSB was able to keep good relationships with local farmers by working hard to help them refinance.
“I worked alongside Dave during the ag crisis,” said Lee McNichols, then vice president at ISSB, and now current ISSB board member. “We worked nights and weekends, long hours, seven days a week, and we didn’t always get to go home and see our families. It was a nerve-racking time.
“We took our orders from Dave, and I feel because of him we maintained good relationships with our customers and were the only bank in this area that didn’t change hands during the crisis. So, I’d say he did a pretty good job.”
Community leader
Driskell was not only a leader at ISSB, but has always been loyal to the development and betterment of the Creston community.
He’s served on Union County Economic Development Board for 37 years, Greater Regional Board of Trustees for 19 years and Rotary. He helped create the Creston Activities Booster Club merger and served as past president of the Chamber of Commerce, among other leadership roles.
Driskell will remain with the bank part time as a senior loan advisor. He will review the bank’s credit files and analyze financial statements. He will also remain on the bank’s board of directors.
Driskell said he will also continue to serve on Union County Economic Development Board and GRMC Board of Trustees during his retirement.
New president
Iowa State Savings Bank (ISSB) board of directors recently named Kevin L. Stewart to replace Driskell as president of the bank. Stewart has been with the bank since 1996, starting as a loan officer, specializing in agriculture and commercial loans. His most recent title was senior vice president.
“Kevin is an outstanding young man,” Driskell said. “He listens. You can’t solve the problem unless you listen. Kevin also has a great analytic mind, and like me, he’s going to have a lot of great employees around him that help make his job a lot easier.”
Stewart, 38, is a graduate of Mount Ayr Community High School and Iowa State University. He is married to Julie and has three daughters — Samantha, Madalynn and Danielle. He resides in Maloy.
Other promotions
Also continuing on the ISSB board of directors with Driskell and Stewart are: Karl Knock, bank chief executive officer and board chairman, Jan Knock, Adam Snodgrass, Dr. John Charles “Chuck” Hoyt, McNichols and Robert Snodgrass.
Other promotions announced at the annual meeting include: Adam Snodgrass- chief financial officer, cashier and trust; Joann Moore – vice president, real estate and consumer lending; Linda Lamb, vice president, business banking manager and physical security officer; Theresa Huck – compliance, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Safe Act officer, identity theft program administrator; Robert Miller – agriculture loan officer; Logan Larsen – assistant agriculture loan officer and Trisha Riley – head customer service relationship (CSR).
ISSB is an employee owned, community bank with branches in Creston, Corning, Diagonal and Lenox.