By Matt Hawthorne
Dick Flegel will retire May 23, after three and a half decades as
manager of the Haines branch of First National Bank of Alaska.
"It’s the right time," said Flegel, whose retirement
coincides with that of wife Carol, longtime school counselor.
Flegel, who is 60, said he looks back on his career with fondness.
"I love this job and I love this community or I wouldn’t have done it this
long."
Flegel said his tenure in Haines has been rare in the banking industry.
Most national banks rotate branch managers regularly, in order to avoid personal
relationships with customers that could lead to unwise lending, he said.
But he thinks his longevity in Haines has been helpful. "It’s
not a liability, it’s an asset. You can act rapidly and accurately with their
(customers) requests because you know them."
Flegel’s job includes maintaining the bank building, staffing and
lending. In the latter, he said 20 percent of the time is making lending decisions while
the other 80 percent is spent hashing out plans, adjusting details and just talking with
clients.
"I’m going to miss my staff and I’m going to miss my
customers."
With a lending limit of $250,000, Flegel said sometimes time spent
working out the details means talking people out of a loan that "isn’t in the
best interest of the bank or the customer."
"I think the hardest part (of the job) was telling somebody you
knew very well, and was maybe a friend, that you couldn’t help them."
Early in his career, Flegel said much of the bank’s lending was
for consumer goods, such as boats, cars, mobile homes or vacations. With the popularity of
credit cards, those loans have decreased while real estate loans have increased.
One of the more unusual loans he made was to fund the purchase of 6,000
pounds of lead, to be used in the keel of a sailboat being built here. He made the loan,
with the lead as collateral, knowing that if the loan went bad he’d have to repossess
the lead, in ingots or melted and shaped into a keel. He said he was criticized internally
by the bank for the decision, but that the person paid the loan and he was happy he did
it.
"I think that person is, to this day, blown away that I made that
loan…but it worked out just fine."
Flegel, originally from Anchorage, studied general business at Arizona
State University, where he avoided classes in finance and banking because friends told him
not to take them. "They said they were obnoxiously hard and you couldn’t get
good grades in them."
But after graduation, Flegel moved back to Anchorage and worked for
First National Bank of Anchorage for a year-and-a-half before moving to Haines. "I
don’t know that I chose banking as a career or if it chose me."
During his career, Flegel said technology has drastically changed the
workings of the bank, from checking interest rates online to electronic transmission of
deposits, saving Haines customers money from late fees when deposits, made physically,
were delayed by weather.
After a decade in Haines, Flegel oversaw the construction of the
current bank building. Until the late 1980s, the bank was in the current Main Street
location of the Babbling Book.
Cramped in the small space, Flegel’s office was so small it would
heat up during meetings with clients, and he’d cool it off by flapping a towel in
front of the door between appointments.
During the move into the new bank, Flegel and employees moved the
contents of the bank’s vault by hand.
"We called the police, formed a parade and we all paraded down
Main Street with $500,000 worth of cash. And the cash from the main vault we had in brown
paper bags from the grocery store."
Robbery hasn’t been an issue. "It’s interesting. Where
would they go?"
A few other times, cash has been flown up to Haines to cover an
unexpected large payout.
Initially, the new bank was not liked by many in the community, Flegel
said, attributing that to the pink paintjob. But Flegel said a neutral bluish gray paint
color calmed critics of a building that he and staff like. In addition to the
spaciousness, it has an employee kitchen and lounge, workout room with shower and sauna
and a roof designed for thermal efficiency.
Flegel helped start the rotating display of local artwork adorning the
walls behind the tellers and is responsible for many of the plants in and outside the
bank. Known for his green thumb, Flegel has grown a pineapple in his office and said he
can "feel" when plants need water.
In his retirement, Flegel said he’ll spend more time gardening,
volunteer locally, fishing and traveling, and that he and his wife plan to stay in Haines.
