2017: Jon Lancaster

When Jon Lancaster went to Northern Iowa University on a football scholarship, the athletic ambitions were certain to dictate his next four years. Instead, a back injury ended his career prematurely, and a friend invited Lancaster to tag along selling cars. With no football practice, Lancaster figured he might as well. He had the spare time..The ensuing income led him to buy a car dealership directly out of college. Between sales and test drives, he did as he continues to do now: read everything relating to his business.."Anything that affected how my business ran, I tried to understand what it does," he said. "That really broadened my horizons a lot.".Real estate trends can be tied to car sales, as can interest rates and just about any other aspect of the economy. Lancaster consumed it all. In doing so, he was unwittingly preparing himself for his role on the board of directors at McFarland State Bank, located in McFarland, near Madison, Wis.."I've been fortunate to have him on our board these last four years," said bank President David Locke. "He's an excellent director and brings a skill set that is complementary to the rest of our board.".Lancaster brings that skill set and his vast learning to the board without fail. Since 2013, he has endured three back surgeries, two knee surgeries and two pulmonary embolisms.."I quit playing football because I [messed] up my back. I was also a runner for years," he said. "I sold the dealership and thought I was in good health. I wasn't exactly.".Despite surgery after surgery, hospital stay after hospital stay, crutch and brace, Lancaster missed a total of one bank board meeting.."Yeah, but I did that one by phone.".Locke confirms that correction, adding he tried to talk Lancaster into taking a step back. Missing a meeting or two, or even more, would be a happy price to pay if it brought improved health.."He's just that kind of guy," Locke said. "Directors come in all shapes and sizes. It's a function and fact of life: Some directors are more engaged than others. Jon, when he commits to something, he is all in.".Lancaster will not spend much time looking back on those injuries. Not necessarily because they are far from an uplifting conversation, but because he would rather look forward and toward people..His car dealerships may have enjoyed much success for close to four decades, but what Lancaster trumpets loudest — and what he advocates for strongest as director of Lancaster Investments — is "human capital management." He has brought this cause to McFarland State Bank with great veracity.."If we look at a balance sheet, we look at numbers," he said. "If we look at our business and the people who work for us, we have to manage those people as carefully as we manage a balance sheet. I tried very hard to do that while I was in business.."I could see we needed to make some moves at the bank. I was adamant. I didn't think we had enough awareness about how we managed our people.".This emphasis explains Lancaster's insistence on attending each board meeting. One cannot gauge the temperament of a staff if one does not actually interact with that staff. According to Locke, when Lancaster became a board member, he made a point to meet with each bank leader to learn the bank's operations and procedures.."I know how important culture is to him and in running a business," Locke said. "It affects everybody, including your customers.".In that sense, the jump from car dealer to bank board member was hardly a leap at all.."What I've really learned is a business is a business," he said. "If I look at a bank versus the car dealerships that I had, you have some of the same types of employees, except different titles… I could just about look at the whole thing and draw a correlation between my former business and this business and, remarkably, a lot of the same kind of personnel at both places."