Dedication to community banking

Glacier Bank’s outgoing vice president John Johanson is retiring from a 37-year career in the banking industry and looking forward to more days spent outdoors. While George Mercer is comparatively young in his career and looking to take over as the new vice president and manager for the Libby branch.

At first the two men might seem quite different, but the reason they both enjoy their jobs is very similar.

“The interaction with the customers and the staff at the bank is a big part of every day,” Johanson said. “Being able to help people has kept me here.”

“I’ve always been a people person,” Mercer said. “The relationships I’ve made through the bank are great. There are a lot of times you do get to help them starting their business or buying a car or a house — to an extent those are all someone’s dreams coming true.”

Johanson is retiring Friday and come Monday, Mercer is taking over the reins. The pair has worked together as Johanson has mentored Mercer preparing him for the job. Both are much quicker to complement the other than to talk about their own accomplishments.

 “I have a lot of confidence that he is going to do quite well,” Johanson said. “We’ve been given branch of the year award for the last two years and we’re on pace to get there again this year. I’m sure George will do his best to get us there again.”

“He has 37 years of banking in Libby — helping businesses and individuals,” Mercer countered. “There are not a lot of people in the community that have not been helped by John because everywhere he has worked has been a community bank.”

Johanson has been with Glacier Bank almost seven years. He began his career with United Bank in Libby, which eventually merged to become First National Bank and later First Montana Bank. He has served as a loan officer and branch manager.

He first came to Libby from college with a communications degree in hand and worked at KLCB as a radio announcer. He took an opportunity for a training program at United Bank and decided to make a career switch so he could remain in Libby.

“I was going to stay here for six months to a year and then move on to a bigger market (in radio),” Johanson recalled. “But I made some good friends here and I didn’t want to move.”

Johanson, who primarily works with business loans, said he enjoys helping a new business owner get their start and then watching them grow.  

“I just got a note from someone, who has been my customer for over 30 years, thanking me for being there in the good times and the bad,” he said. “Just about the time when you think people don’t appreciate what you do, then you get something like that.”

Married to wife Lana, he has two daughters, a stepdaughter and a stepson.

Johanson has been a community volunteer. He is a member of the Libby Rotary Club and serves on the board for Provider Pals. He is a past board member for Head Start, the asbestos health care trust and Libby Area Chamber of Commerce.

George Mercer grew up in Libby and attended the University of Montana. He was walk-on defensive end for the Grizzlies football team and earned a finance degree.

“I wanted to work in finance because I knew there would always be banks,” he said. “Landing in Libby was the hard part.”

When he graduated in the spring of 2010 most banks weren’t hiring. He worked in bridge construction and at First Montana Bank in Missoula before applying for a position at Glacier Bank in Libby. In addition to training with Johanson, Mercer has completed the bank’s leadership training program and trained at other branches.

Mercer and his wife Amber have a 1-year-old daughter. He is on the board of directors for Cabinet View Golf Club and the foundation board for the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center.

 “I’m blessed to have the opportunity to come back to Libby,” he said. “I had a lot of good friends and people, who helped me along the way to grow up. I’d like to give back and I wanted to move back to be with those people that helped me.”

Johanson said he feels mixed emotions about leaving, but he is ready to turn over Libby’s Glacier Bank to Mercer. He expects to finish his last workweek Friday by completing one final loan closing.

“I’ll come back to help for the barbecue customer appreciation day,” he said.