2010 Rising Stars in Banking: Daniel Padilla

Daniel Padilla moved with his wife and three kids to the United States from Guatemala in 1993. He came with a business administration degree and an interest in the hotel/hospitality industry, but after a brief time working for an American hotel he took a job at First National Bank of Omaha, Neb. It was a propitious move for the new banker and his bank: Both were about to find themselves in the center of a swelling business opportunity..At the time First National was looking for a bilingual teller for its branch in South Omaha, an area where Latino immigrants were already concentrating. When he started, Padilla was the only employee who spoke Spanish. In time he branched out from his teller duties, serving as a translator in other areas of the bank. He was promoted to personal banker and learned to handle more complex transactions, including loans..At first "we didn't have enough business to have a specific Spanish-speaking mortgage lender, so our mortgage lender would ask me to translate for the customers," Padilla said. "It was the same thing with business loans and credit cards and the merchants; that's how I kind of became a subject matter expert in the bank.".About five years after he started Padilla became an assistant manager of the South Omaha branch. Then the local Latino population swelled dramatically, driven by job cuts in Texas and California at the same time jobs were opening in the meat packing, canning and food production businesses of Nebraska..To keep up with the growing population, First National opened another South Omaha branch, and Padilla moved there as a business development officer. Other branches soon followed, and by 2007 First National had five branches within a few miles of each other in South Omaha..Padilla became the regional manager for those five branches in 2007.."After starting as a Spanish-speaking staff of one, we added five or six Spanish speakers within three or four years," Padilla said. Today the five South Omaha branches employ about 60 people, "half of whom are Latino," he said..In May 2008 First National translated its name for the South Omaha branches, rebranding them "Primer Banco Nacional.".Padilla said winning over new Latino customers requires cultural relevance—and a little patience. To begin with, many immigrants distrust banks and the people who run them.."Mexico and Central America don't have anything like the FDIC, so if the bank closes tomorrow their savings are wiped out," Padilla said. "[They] come with a fear of banks…so we have to build that trust.".But once trust is established, Padilla said very close relationships develop—and almost always lead to additional business.."You become a counselor, a friend. You are their banker, and they expect you to have all the answers," he said. "By then you're the expert, and they like you…That's another cultural thing. If they trust you then they tell friends and family, and all of a sudden we have the whole clan here.".Besides building community through his banking activities, Padilla tries to build new support institutions for Latino residents and to influence existing institutions. He is the president of the Latino Center of the Midlands as well as the Midlands Mentoring Partnership. He served for several years in the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference. He is also on the boards of Goodwill and St. Mary's College. In 2008, he completed the Nebraska Bankers Association's leadership program, and he currently serves on the community development advisory council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He learns a lot, he said, about the integration of Latino communities from bankers on the latter council.."I see people from Oklahoma, Kansas City, Wyoming, Denver, and I learn how things are going. Omaha doesn't yet have that second generation like Denver or Chicago or Kansas City have," he said..Padilla mainly credits First National for stepping up to help Omaha's Latino community get established.."The best things I do come from corporate support, from my managers and superiors in upper levels of the organization," Padilla said. "That support has meant a lot to me and our customers and employees."Other 2010 Rising Stars in Banking include:Todd Means, MidWestOne Bank, Iowa City, IowaAndrew Sexton, Readlyn Savings Bank, Readlyn, IowaPatrick Artz, State Bank of Bottineau, N.D.Lesly Couper, Alpine Bank, Rockford, Ill.Bryan Bruns, Annandale State Bank, Annandale, Minn.Annette Russell, Security Federal Savings Bank, Logansport, Ind.