2024 Rising Stars in Banking: Brock Goggins

When Brock Goggins was 23, he was assigned to manage a "troubled" small branch for Huntington Bank. The trouble wasn't asset quality; it was a revolving door of managers and a long-time employee whose reputation for being challenging preceded her. As it turned out, Goggins and that employee got along well. "I just loved her," said Goggins, now SVP and chief retail banking officer at German American Bank in Jasper, Ind., and a 2024 BankBeat "Rising Star in Banking.".What Goggins learned from that experience, he said, was: "We can create our own story." It's a lesson in empathy that has served the self-described "competitor" well in a career that began in the heart of the Great Recession and far from community banking..A sociology major, Goggins had been a college football player at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind., who would have fared well in coaching had it been a different time. But in 2009, only two companies on campus recruited him: Enterprise, the rental car company, and Wells Fargo Financial..Goggins joined the latter at an office in Kokomo, Ind., where the pulse of the auto industry was barely registering a beat. "A lot of people had lost their jobs," Goggins said. "Being very competitive, I did anything I could to help." That included restructuring debt, consolidating debt, helping people avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy. ."I am curious by nature and was taking a look at lending specifically, and how debt impacts people's lives," he said. "It was really formative for me in that first year, having no finance background. I was able to focus on building relationships and asking good questions to understand what their needs were, and how I might help out.".His passion for banking sprouted during that year, and it didn't take him long to realize the finance company model was not in his customers' best interests. "There were leaderboards for everything, which fed into my athlete's competitiveness," he said. But he understood that a traditional bank would be a better fit, which was what led him to Huntington..Goggins' competitive drive wasn't solely honed on the gridiron. It is also rooted in childhood, he said. His parents didn't go to college, yet they inspired all three of their sons to become high achievers. "My parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet," Goggins said. "We were never poor or starving but we also didn't have a lot of excess. There were times that my parents struggled to prioritize which bills they would pay." Those struggles echoed for him in Kokomo. .Goggins joined German American Bank, which he called "community and growth oriented," in 2016. The $6 billion company operates 73 branches, and he oversees retail, mortgage and the customer experience. He's also responsible for deposits. "With the rapidly rising interest rate environment, it has been challenging for sure," Goggins said. "Yet, I remain optimistic.".Goggins' efforts to shape and inspire emerging leaders is an outgrowth of his drive for continuous improvement and his belief in the future. He always asks: "How can we do things better? How can we be better for our customers? Our communities? Our shareholders?" The answer, like in football, often comes back to the fundamentals.."At the end of the day, this is still a people business," Goggins said. "As long as we take care of the people, whether that's our employees or our customers, the people in our communities and the shareholders, then we're going to come out on top even in a challenging environment.".German American Bank was named to Forbes' America's Best Banks list, ranking 19th among 200 eligible banks. In addition, it earned accolades as a top community bank with a No. 15 ranking in the Raymond James Community Bankers Cup awards..When one is an innate competitor, such recognition is nourishment. "I remember one of my football coaches, at every practice, told us: 'We've got to get better because if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. There is no in between.'".Goggins has gotten better through self-study, night courses in finance in those early days, and also by earning a graduate degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He serves on the American Bankers Association's Emerging Leaders Council, and is past president of the Indiana Bankers Association's Future Leadership Division. He's a leader who mentors and believes in the future of his industry. .Goggins' "combination of financial services acumen and leadership skills makes him an asset to the Indiana banking community," said Evan Hoffmeyer, IBA vice president-communications..Despite the struggles that surrounded him during his formative years, Goggins exudes an optimism that he considers unshakable. His belief in the future, and in the goodness of people, he said, is rooted in his faith. The 37-year-old husband of Erin and father of Bryn (10) and Reegan (7), is unabashedly Christian. "I think about my parents. There were certainly challenging times but I never saw them lose hope. They never lost sight of why they were working so hard.".With no shortage of darkness and uncertainty in the world, Goggins chooses to be a light. "I try to make it the last thing I say to my girls every morning, whether I'm dropping them off at school or waving goodbye to them in the garage," he said. He tells his daughters: "Remember to be the light."Other 2024 Rising Stars in Banking include:Ben Udell, Lake Ridge Bank, Madison, Wis.Kevin Tiernan, Bankers Trust, Des Moines, IowaBrian Nelson, BankVista, Mankato, Minn.Connor Peterson, First Bank & Trust, Minden, Neb.Matt Vaillant, North Shore Bank of Commerce, Duluth, Minn.