Beth Korth, the senior VP and director of treasury management services at First Business Bank, once considered becoming a writer (and still journals daily), and even thought about law school, “but I think I made a better choice,” she says now.
Korth, 54, graduated with an English degree from UW-Eau Claire before moving to Madison in 1980. Uncertain about her future, she found what she thought would be a short-term job at the (former) United Bank in downtown Madison. It was a decision that would change her life.
Days turned into months before Robert Halsey, Korth’s manager and soon-to-be mentor, opened the small-town woman’s eyes to potential pathways in the banking field, even allowing her to attend related courses at UW-Madison. “It was hard back then,” she explained, “because women in business weren’t very common, but he told me, ‘You can do this, you can do whatever you want to do!’”
Married at age 26, Korth planned carefully. “I always wanted a family, but I wanted to be a lender before having my first child,” which she accomplished. “If I had a child sooner, it might have altered the opportunity that was there, because it does get a lot harder,” she admitted.
Korth found banking interesting and challenging as her future came into focus. Thirty-two years later, her résumé includes 15 years at Associated Bank and about six years as COO for what is now Holt-Smith Advisors in Madison. Now approaching her fifth anniversary at First Business Bank, she’s seen the industry ebb and flow many times over. “The pace and level of competition has grown tremendously,” she said. “You have to be much more strategic about how you use your time and what’s going to have the most value.”
At the same time, regulatory changes have been burdensome, keeping compliance officers busy. “I think all these [regulations] could be streamlined,” she opined. “It seems like new regulations come in reaction to an event that went poorly, but there never is a time when it’s re-evaluated or given a fresh face. It just seems like there’s a layering-on, and things never get simplified.”
Korth’s newest area of oversight, treasury services, has seen a boom in activity in this post-recession economy. It includes the automated services that banks provide their clients – from banking and electronic payments to investment services and technology solutions that help them run their businesses. “[These days], people are very focused on quality investments and safety solutions,” Korth said.
Along with that comes a rise in cyber crimes, even organized cyber crime rings, which are an unwelcome consequence of advances in technology and the people using it. “Under times of financial duress, technology has allowed for certain types of fraud, or theft of funds electronically,” she noted. “People don’t realize the frequency. They know if a bank gets robbed, but they don’t realize how often attempts are made.”
So is our money safe? “There are definitely ways to protect your money,” she said. “Banks have a duty to inform clients about how to do that.”
The world of cyber crime and electronic banking is a far cry from Korth’s simple beginnings on her family’s registered black Angus farm in Green County, where she shared chores with her three siblings. The animals – especially the babies, she said – were beautiful. “Every animal could be your pet,” she admitted, adding she was often reminded not to get “too close.”
Now, in her spare time, Korth balances her corporate career with her love of the outdoors, hiking or biking at every opportunity, and her love of animals. With two grown sons successfully out of the home, Korth and her teacher-husband are currently training their vivacious, 6-month-old wire-haired pointing griffon puppy, Ella. They searched long and hard for what they consider the perfect breed, attending dog shows and conversing with numerous dog owners whom Korth said “were as entertaining as the dogs.”
And each Monday, as she heads off to work, Korth recalls the encouragement of her long-ago mentor. “[His words] had such an impact on me,” she said of Halsey, who now teaches at Babson College in Massachusetts, and she hopes she can provide career guidance to someone else who might be searching. “People just need some encouragement,” she said.
Korth is living proof.
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