MPrint | Small town bankers building success across the board
Buddy and Kent Mortimer have been helping finance students thrive at Mississippi State University by making extraordinary educational experiences possible. Through the Bank of Kilmichael Advancement Fund in Finance, administered by MSU’s Adkerson School of Accountancy, they have helped cover the kinds of expenses that go beyond standard academic budgets. Their gift gives innovative department heads and outstanding professors the discretion that helps deliver a transformational business education for their students. The fund is the creation of the Mortimers and their family bank, which has been helping small towns thrive since 1904.
The Bank of Kilmichael fund has allowed faculty to travel to international academic conferences, helped recruit the most engaging and knowledgeable industry practitioners to teach, and afforded opportunities for the most extraordinary students in finance to make connections that are making careers.
For Kathleen Thomas, it is a tool that makes a major difference. She is a professor of economics and head of the Department of Finance and Economics at Mississippi State.
“I know a lot of people who are passionate about Mississippi State and who believe our students can compete with the best of the best,” she said. “The Bank of Kilmichael fund helps facilitate hands-on, experiential learning with truly innovative programs, which put students into position to compete with the best nationwide.”
One exciting opportunity made possible by this fund is the annual New York City trip for students in the Tennessee Valley Authority Investment Challenge.
Mississippi State is one of 27 universities participating in the TVA Investment Challenge. The program was created by TVA in 1998 and allows student teams to manage a $13.5 million TVA trust through actual investment portfolios with the goal of outperforming the S&P 500 benchmark, something Mississippi State’s team has done in 7 of the past 11 years.
Part of the university’s participation in the challenge is a visit to different firms on Wall Street. This past March, the class met with investment professionals at BlackRock, visited the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, met with partners at JPMorgan, spent an afternoon with the private equity firm The Raine Group discussing investment philosophy, and visited MacKay Shields, a fixed income shop. They toured the Federal Reserve and witnessed the inner workings of the nation’s economic hub.
Brandon Cline leads MSU’s participation in the TVA program. He is the John “Nutie” and Edie Dowdle Professor of Finance and director of the Institute for Market Studies at MSU.
“More than half of the students had never been to New York,” he said. “They don’t have firms like this here. It’s a great educational experience to see what it means to do this kind of work—the exposure, the contacts. It opens a lot of doors.”
Some of the doors were opened by MSU alumni, former TVA Investment Challenge students now working on Wall Street. One, now at Bank of America, arranged an especially effective tour. The results speak for themselves. Students from MSU’s teams have landed positions at BlackRock, Bank of America and JPMorgan.
“Most SEC schools do not place students in those seats,” Cline said. “The TVA group has opened a door that was not previously open.”
None of this happens without support to help with the cost of hotel rooms, meals and subway passes in one of the most expensive cities in the world. That’s where the Bank of Kilmichael Advancement Fund in Finance comes in.
“There’s a loyalty built into the memory and mindset when a gift provides an opportunity others would not have provided,” Cline said.
Buddy Mortimer has watched MSU grow, just as his bank has grown. He is the third generation of Mortimers to lead the bank his grandfather and a group of businessmen started more than 120 years ago. It has remained a Mortimer family institution ever since. Buddy’s father ran the Bank of Kilmichael for 50 years, then his older brother, then Buddy himself. The bank is now in its fourth generation of family management, with Buddy’s nephew Kent as president and CEO. Today, Buddy is chairman of the board. They have offices in Kilmichael, Winona, Mathiston, Eupora, Ackerman and Starkville. Almost all, Buddy notes, are managed by Bulldogs.
The bank remains headquartered in Kilmichael and has been instrumental in the health and growth of Kilmichael and other small towns along the Highway 82 corridor.
“We’re a small-town bank,” Buddy said. “That’s where our roots are and where our grounding is. We’ve made investments here that are helping our community. We’re proud of helping revitalize Kilmichael and other small towns.”
That’s part of why the Mortimers enjoy supporting their university.
“We’ve always wanted to give back to Mississippi State,” Buddy said. “It’s just one of the ways our family and our bank can give back to the university.”
Students from Mississippi, most of whom had never even seen New York City before, walking into BlackRock and holding their own—that’s what it looks like when a small-town bank makes a big investment.