Jeff Teague, who now lives in Fayetteville, spent 41 years as an automobile dealer in Walnut Ridge and El Dorado and was named the Time Ally National Dealer of the Year in 2014, the most prestigious award a new car dealer can receive. Citizens, based in Batesville, has 17 branches statewide.
Teague earned a bachelor’s in math from Ouachita Baptist University in 1978.
What attracted you to banking?
An automobile dealer by first love and career, I entered banking by accident. During the 2008-09 financial debacle, our family-owned bank, like others, faced asset quality challenges. The family asked me to join the board to help identify and correct those threats.
What are the biggest challenges facing bankers?
The challenges, or risks, as I would rather say, can be broken down into several groups including credit, operational, market and liquidity risk. Credit risk of course is when the borrower fails to meet their contractual obligations. It is our responsibility to mitigate those risks. Operationally, the biggest challenge facing the banking industry is cybersecurity issues, allowing hackers to steal customer information and money from the bank. Citizens Bank has invested in the latest technology to mitigate those risks. Market risks are those we have experienced recently involving volatility in interest rates that, if not properly positioned, can squeeze margins, making it difficult to achieve a reasonable return on investment. Liquidity risk is the bank’s ability to access cash to meet funding obligations usually caused by an overreliance on short-term sources of funding, leaving the balance sheet concentrated in illiquid assets. Also, the challenge of hiring and retaining quality associates, an ever-changing regulatory environment, and competition are additional challenges.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy watching our people grow in knowledge and maturity, in banking and relationships (with each other and our customers). I’m gratified to see our people fulfilling our mission statement, “People first.”
What is a mistake that helped shape your career?
I am a type A individual; therefore, when presented a problem, I can become hyperfocused in my approach. Many years ago, this issue occurred in the dealership. Someone took me aside and, in a very diplomatic way, painted a picture of what I was doing. Essentially, in solving one problem, I was creating more issues by ignoring customers and other employees in the process, offending others around me unknowingly. I was advised that if I didn’t change my ways, I would lose some really good folks. I changed my ways! Without a doubt that change has saved me a lot of grief through the years.
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