People & Flashes

MidSouth's Latiolais honored

by Walter Pierce

A national banking publication has named local banker Kevin Latiolais one of its Top Lenders for 2014.

A national banking publication has named local banker Kevin Latiolais one of its Top Lenders for 2014. The honor was bestowed on MidSouth Bank's regional president by Independent Banker, a publication of the Independent Community Bankers of America, and appears in the pub's July issue.

A commercial loan officers with 25 years at MidSouth, Latiolais was among eight banking professionals Independent Banker calls "Main Street Sensations" nominated by their peers for professionalism, integrity and knowledge.

According to a press release issued by MidSouth touting the recognition:

When the Breaux Bridge native was named Regional President in Lafayette 2.5 years ago, the bank had $136 million in loans in his division. Since that time, loan productivity has improved 54 percent, boosting the division's portfolio of accounts to $209 million. Latiolais' own loan portfolio has increased from $40 million to $92 million since taking on the new responsibilities of a Regional President.

In the profile, Latiolais credits his success to his many colleagues, noting in particular the bank's President and CEO, Rusty Cloutier, and the late Jerry Reaux, whom he also calls a mentor. Latiolais says Reaux, the bank's Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the board who died unexpectedly in February, taught him much about the human side of community banking. "He was very passionate about his job and had a genuine concern for the well-being of our employees and customers," Latiolais says.

Latiolais' experience and number-crunching skills are key to his loan portfolio management, the story reveals: "He talks openly with customers and gets a feel for how they respond to questions about their business, their financials, the competition and the future of their businesses. Then he digs deeply through the numbers."