By Greg Miller

STAR Correspondent

Carter County Bank President Andrew McKeehan will celebrate his 25th year at the financial institution in April.

McKeehan began working for the bank, which is now a part of the Bank of Tennessee, as a part-time teller while he was pursuing his college degree. Following his time as a teller, “they put me through a loan officer training program for a year. Howard Matherly was getting ready to retire, and Howard took me under his wing and handed me his portfolio to manage. So I became a consumer lender in 1998 full time.”

McKeehan worked with mortgages, small commercial loans and larger commercial accounts until accepting his current position.

When he began his career with the bank, McKeehan rotated around various branches filling in as needed for other employees. “Then I went to Johnson City for about two years, after we merged with the Bank of Tennessee to work on some deals in Johnson City, as well as Elizabethton.” Most of his career has been at the Elk Avenue Branch in Elizabethton.

McKeehan says that although his career at the bank has “always been challenging,” he has been blessed with many good mentors who have helped him. “It’s been a lot of fun along the way,” he said. “I really enjoy what I do in trying to find solutions for people and their businesses.

“We always want to continue to enhance the customer experience, the ways we can access customers and the ways they can access us,” he said. “With the technology that’s coming on board today, you can make deposits by your phone, send money by your phone. It’s neat to see how far banking has come in the last 24 years that I’ve been here. And I can only imagine the next 20 years of my career the exciting changes that we’ll have and the ways we can reach and help customers along the way.”

To McKeehan, the personal touch is a very important part of the job. “When I’m dealing with somebody, I try to make them feel like their transaction is the most important transaction I’m going to do that day. Whether they’re putting 10 dollars in the bank or 100,000 dollars, it doesn’t matter, and it shouldn’t matter, because it is important to them, and that’s the way we try to treat everybody who comes in here. We want them to feel like they’re a part of our family.”

McKeehan’s responsibilities include oversight of six branches — five in Carter County, as well as Mountain Community Bank in North Carolina. He oversees approximately 35 employees.

According to McKeehan, the most rewarding part of his job is “being able to work with an employee to enhance their career, to make it to another level if that’s what they want to do from a management side. But also, I’m involved in some loans, and I do enjoy being able to take a business and create some more efficiency or profitability for a business and see them grow.”

McKeehan says he is “very competitive by nature and I want to succeed in whatever I do, so I do put in enough hours to hopefully make sure I’m successful, but also I’m grounded in the fact that I can make a very positive impact in the lives of my kids and working with my wife to do that.”

Time management, McKeehan believes, is the most challenging aspect of his job. “You’re pulled in so many different directions, with cell phones, I-pads and laptops,” he stated. “You’re inundated with information and requests for your time.”

A member of the Main Street Committee, McKeehan would like to see “a more vibrant downtown” area. He would also like to see the “continued growth” of Carter County Bank.

If McKeehan had not entered the banking field, he says he may have become a teacher. “My mother was a school teacher for 30 years,” he recalled. “I thought I might enjoy that.”

Math was his favorite subject in school, and he says he may have become a math teacher. “I really enjoyed math,” he said.

McKeehan estimates that he works at least 45 hours per week for the bank, but not all of his working hours are at the bank. Sometimes, he works from home. “It takes a lot of my time, but it’s a job that I enjoy,” he stated.

“I’m very cognizant of the fact that I’ve got small kids, and I make sure that I’m there for every event that they have, and if I have to, I’ll work from 10 o’clock until midnight after they go to bed. The most important things in my life are my family and my faith, and I’m not going to miss out on that.”

McKeehan notes that his family provides much support for him as he fulfills his responsibilities for the bank.

“I am very blessed to have the opportunity to be President of Carter County Bank,” McKeehan said. “My hope is that I can have a positive impact on those that I come into contact with on a daily basis.”

Even in his spare time, McKeehan stays active. “I’m involved in my son’s athletic activities,” he remarked, “helping coach teams at the Boys and Girls Club and his baseball team. I enjoy playing golf, being outdoors.”

McKeehan says he’s a “bogey” golfer. I’ll shoot 86-90 probably,” he said.

McKeehan, who has been in his current position for four years, describes his personality. “I feel like I’m pretty outgoing, pretty laid back,” he said. “I feel like I’m good with the customers. I came up with good parents, who taught me to treat people with respect. I’m pretty easy going.

“Our family likes to hike, and we like to get outside and do things together.”

The McKeehans are active in their church, where McKeehan is a deacon. He also teaches a boys and girls Sunday school class for grades 3-5. He also occasionally assists with first- and second-graders.