FirstBank City President Jim McKenzie likes to make to-do lists. It’s his way of appeasing his brain, which will keep him up all hours if he doesn’t jot down everything he needs to get done.
“The things I have to do at the bank are always buzzing around in my head,” he says. “But I try to turn off work before I sleep, and making a list helps. I can say, ‘Here’s my list. I’ve thought about these things enough. It’s time to sleep.’”
McKenzie is no ordinary list-maker, either, but has elevated the task to an art. He picks up two legal-size notepads from his desk. Both are nearly full.
“I have a customer list, a prospect list, and other to-do lists,” he says. “My brain likes categories, so if I can get something on one of my lists, I’ll get it done.”
McKenzie certainly has a lot on his plate, as he oversees operations at FirstBank’s two Chattanooga branches: one on Chestnut Street and another on Shallowford Road. A community bank with $2.2 billion in assets, FirstBank was founded in 1907 in Scotts Hill, Tenn. Owner Jim Ayers brought FirstBank to Chattanooga in 2006 with an eye on tapping into the city’s economic growth.
“Chattanooga used to be a dirty industrial town. Today, the city has turned 180 degrees. Chattanooga is now a clean city, a city for outdoor enthusiasts, and a city with a great quality of life,” McKenzie says. “People all over the country, and especially in the Southeast, are finding out about that.
“We also have a pro-business environment, so there’s a lot of investment coming into the city. Meanwhile, local companies are thinking about expanding. Anytime there’s construction and growth, there’s an opportunity for a bank to finance it.”
As city president, McKenzie is responsible for FirstBank’s growth locally. Pain is endemic to growth, though, and McKenzie regularly faces what he calls “tough nuts to crack.” When this happens, he glances at a sign sitting on a desk in his office that reads: “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” He says the saying reminds him of an important point.
“Bankers spend their days looking for ways to solve people’s problems. Those problems are really opportunities to create a happy customer. The sign is there to remind me to step back and look at the different possibilities for solving the problem.”
Born in Chattanooga, McKenzie attended Baylor School and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where in 1981 he graduated with a business administration degree. He immediately jumped into banking at American National Bank in Chattanooga, where he labored at a variety of tasks for four years. McKenzie moved to Dallas to continue working in banking, but quickly returned to Chattanooga when the economy took a turn for the worse and went to work for Kenco Logistics Management, where his father was chief operating officer. During his two decades with the company, McKenzie set up large, complex distribution centers across the U.S.
“I learned how to take care of a customer,” he says. “That job taught me how to turn an opportunity into a profitable business.”
In 2006, changes at Kenco spurred McKenzie’s return to banking. He worked for Cornerstone Bank for about a year, and then joined FirstBank, where he was charged with building the company’s commercial business portfolio. Five years later, the opportunity to move into his current position opened, and he “seized it.”
Rather than being overwhelmed by the task, McKenzie finds the responsibility stimulating. “I wake up excited about everything we want to do here, and about the possibilities for growing our brand in this market,” he says. “We’re a relative newcomer to the area, but we already have several good customers, and we’ve built a nice reputation. We want to continue to gather momentum and increase our scope.”
In addition to being a bank president, McKenzie is an active member of his community and a dedicated family man.
He recently came off the board of St. Peter’s Episcopal School, and is currently a member of the Baylor School Parent Alumni Board. McKenzie is also a “big supporter” of Emily’s Power for a Cure, a local foundation that raises funds to fight neuroblastoma, a cancer that commonly affects children five-years-old or younger.
McKenzie and his wife, Katie, have been married for over 30 years and have two sons. Their oldest, Jay, 28, is married, lives in Chattanooga, and works for the Hamilton County Department of Education. Their other son, Mac, 16, is a junior at Baylor. “Family is hugely important to me,” he says. “I’m very proud of my wife and kids.”
McKenzie likes to keep busy, so he looks for things to fill the gaps between family, work, and community service. He coached youth soccer for 20 years, including a U-14 team that won the Tennessee state championship in 1999. A ball from the game sits atop a shelf in his office along with a picture of the kids. When McKenzie quit coaching soccer, he took up running half-marathons. Dozens of completion medals hang from the same shelf as the soccer ball.
“I run only half marathons, so I tell people I’m only half crazy,” he says, laughing. “I’ve done about 20 in the last five or six years.”
McKenzie also enjoys going to the beach, taking walks with his wife, and, when given a moment to think about it, doing yard work. “I don’t like yard work, but I find myself doing a lot of it,” he says. “Actually, I do enjoy it. There’s something therapeutic about it.”
The windows of McKenzie’s office at FirstBank’s Chestnut Street location afford him a view of the intersection of Chestnut and 4th Street, one of the busiest intersections downtown. The amount of traffic and the construction McKenzie can see from the building are constant reminders of his responsibilities at the company. The view, and the reminders, could be overwhelming, but he finds comfort and encouragement in one more sign, which his wife brought from home and hung on the wall of his office.
The sign quotes Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
“It serves as a reminder that my purpose on Earth is connected to something bigger than myself,” he says, “That’s where I get my prompting to serve well and do the right thing.”
As a sponsor of the Chattanooga Bar Association, FirstBank is looking to establish mutually beneficial relationships with local attorneys. The bank offers interest on lawyer trust accounts, and a checking account that will allow a business to make up to 300 free transactions a month. FirstBank also offers an assortment of treasury products. The bank’s marquee consumer product is its First Rewards checking account, which is free, pays 1.5 percent interest on accounts up to $20,000, and comes with free use of any ATM nationwide. To learn more, call (423) 855-7276.