Some people might find the prospect of working full-time while studying for a master’s degree intimidating. Add in a pair of young children, and the prospect becomes even more daunting. Yet, less than a year into his employment with South Dakota’s Reliabank, Josh Hogue approached CEO David W. Johnson about pursuing a master’s degree in banking and financial services from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.
The proposition was an “easy sell” for Johnson, who is also board chair and an owner, because he sat on a banking advisory board for the college. He admired the dedication which Hogue’s request illustrated. “You watch someone who wants to improve themself, especially a parent of small children,” he said. “We understood his commitment to the industry and the Johnson family and Reliabank.”
Johnson recruited Hogue as a commercial lender in 2012 because “good bankers are hard to find,” and just over a decade later, that decision has borne abundant fruit for Estelline-based Reliabank.
For his leadership at the bank and beyond, Hogue is being honored by BankBeat magazine as a 2023 “Rising Star in Banking.”
After joining the $781 million bank, Hogue built up a portfolio of loans and attended the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His leadership potential was put to an early test when he helped the bank navigate some credit issues in 2018, but more was soon to come. Neither of Johnson’s two sons, who both work at Reliabank, wanted to become president, but they didn’t want to sell the bank either. Hogue was quickly tagged as a successor, officially taking on the presidential role in late 2019.
As the calendar turned, the most taxing task on his plate was finding replacements amid a series of high-profile retirements. Many of his skills would have a trial by fire over the next turbulent months and years as he helped build a PPP framework from scratch, deal with economic whiplash and shepherd Reliabank into the future of banking technology. “They don’t teach you how to manage through a pandemic in finance school,” he said. “We have a contingency plan, which had [at the time] about a paragraph on how to handle something like bird flu and that was it.”
Within that time frame, Hogue has gone from being one of the younger members of bank leadership to a seasoned veteran at the age of 42, the second-oldest member of the executive team. Hogue is poised to help guide the 10-branch bank into its next generation of success.
Hogue acquired a lot of textbook banking knowledge at a young age, but he also looks to Johnson’s practical decades of experience in leading his inexperienced yet dedicated cohort. Johnson praised Hogue’s ability to mentor and lead those around him, including his own sons. “Josh checks all the boxes — he’s bright, he’s just got a spark to him,” he added.
Hogue’s banking acumen has drawn the attention of industry organizations at the state and national levels. He’s currently the chair elect of the Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota, set to take on leadership of the group at its annual meeting this month. He was also named to the Rural America and Agricultural Committee at the Independent Community Bankers of America in April.
“He’s such a self-starter and is so good at motivating people around him,” said ICBSD President and CEO Megan Olson. “Community banking is fortunate to have people like Josh.”
The local community has also benefited from his contributions, including the Beacon Center in Watertown, S.D., which helps victims of domestic violence in a variety of ways. Since those grad school days, Hogue and his wife have added a third daughter and keep themselves busy with sporting events and outings to nearby Lake Kampeska. Part of what drew Hogue to banking initially was its potential for work-life balance, and he’s paired that balance with other kinds of equilibrium in his career.
“As it’s grown, our bank has attempted to be both high tech and high touch,” Johnson said. “Josh has the perfect skills to be both high touch and high tech.”