McCurry replaces Beck as head of banking group

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A Mitchell City Council member has replaced a former council member as the head of a state banking association.

Councilman Greg McCurry is replacing Geri Beck, who served a term on the council from 2008 to 2011, as the executive director of the Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota. The organization’s office is in Mitchell.

McCurry’s first day was Monday; Beck departed Friday. McCurry’s title will become president and CEO today.

Beck, who worked for the banking association for a year, will become the primary fundraiser for St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain. She will start there Aug. 20.

“I encouraged him to apply,” Beck said Monday during an interview at the ICBSD office in Mitchell. “I couldn’t think of someone who would be a better fit for the position.”

Beck, 43, said she had no plans to depart, but the position with the school was a dream job that she could not turn down. She plans to telecommute with some travel to the school.

McCurry, 32, worked in public relations and marketing for Santel Communications before taking the new position.

McCurry said his role will be to help banks grow and to serve as an advocate for the banks in Pierre and in Washington, D.C. “I want to be a voice for the independent community banks,” he said.

Beck said that’s needed, since independent banks have different needs and goals than larger institutions. She said new federal regulations enacted in the wake of the 2008 economic meltdown can be difficult for community banks to deal with at times.

“We at ICB need our own voice,” McCurry said.

He worked in Washington, D.C., as an intern for then-Congressman J.C. Watts, R-Okla., and while at Santel worked closely with the South Dakota Telecommunications Association.

McCurry said rumors that his career change will cause him to leave the council are not true. While he and his wife are considering moving, they would remain in Ward 4 and he would stay on the council, he said.

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