President and CEO of BancFirst Gene Rainbolt spoke of his career as an entrepreneur at the Takin’ Care of Business meeting Tuesday afternoon in the Noble Research Center.
Rainbolt began his career between the years of 1971 and 1972, but it took an additional 25 years before they were a multilevel bank, United Community. On Aug. 1, 1989 they merged the banks and BancFirst began. By the time this occurred, they had acquired 45 banks and the banks were worth approximately $3 billion. This number was modest compared to the rest of the world, but in the state of Oklahoma it was a large amount.
The company has decided to stay within the state for the time being because they are very passionate about Oklahoma. Rainbolt is also very committed to building the state. If they obtained branches outside of the state, they would be transferring another headquarters outside of the state.
“The banking industry is very different than when I started,” Rainbolt said.
Since the 1970s there have been changes in tax rates, inflation and spending habits.
“I’m really not a banker,” Rainbolt said.
Rainbolt said he has also been involved in the world outside of the banking industry. He has recently completed an investment partnership for restoring the power grid in Afghanistan. He has made investments in the oil field, becoming involved in five or six different industries. At one time, he had insurance agencies in all communities in which he held banks, but because of marketing problems he pulled them all out. He is still involved in life insurance agencies and said he believes that at some point life insurance will be purchased in banks. He has been involved in the partnership that created the tempered glass processor and is linked to the creation of the four plants that followed. He is also invested in Sonic, which he believes is one of the best managed companies in Oklahoma.
“Play your strengths, cover your weaknesses, be generous in praise and sharing your success,” said Rainbolt about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Other comments Rainbolt made include: We won’t change Oklahoma unless we build companies here; Only when you take risks are you rewarded; Don’t be afraid of failure; Persistence is always successful; and The more you know about what you are doing, the more successful you will be.
The students who attended the meeting said they were pleased with the presentation Rainbolt gave.
“I think he delivered information crucial to anyone who wants to succeed in the business world,” said Amanda Gordon, economics sophomore.
“I found it to be an honor to actually hear the president of my bank speak,” said Lindsey Pinney, broadcast journalism sophomore. “Even though I’m not a business major, I found the information he spoke of to be very helpful when thinking about the future.”
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