Around 2004, three community banks in Baton Rouge sold within just a year of each other. And it was then that John D’Angelo, now the president and CEO of Investar Bank, noticed a void in the Baton Rouge market and sought to fill it.
As Business Report details in its new Executive Spotlight feature on D’Angelo, Investar Bank has grown tremendously under his leadership. In June of 2006, the bank had five employees working from inside a trailer on Perkins Road. Today, the bank has 11 branch locations and 185 total employees, with its corporate headquarters on Coursey Boulevard.
Despite the growth, D’Angelo says Investar doesn’t set goals for physical growth or focus too heavily on market share.
“At Investar, we do not set size goals for ourselves. We do not have to beat our chest about how big we are or how much market share we own,” he says. “We are more focused on continuing to provide top-notch services and relationships to our customers. I have always felt the rest will take care of itself.”
D’Angleo joined Investar with 24 years of experience in the finance industry, including positions with KPMG, Hibernia National Bank and a national mortgage company. As president and CEO of Investar, he’s responsible for all phases of the bank’s operations. But since the bank’s initial public offering in 2014, D’Angelo says more of his time is spent with investor relations, strategy and supporting the bank’s employees.
Read the full Executive Spotlight Q&A with D’angelo. Here’s a sample of what you’ll find:
How did the business get its name?
“From the very beginning it was clear to me that we wanted to develop an organization that would ‘Invest’ in the communities in which we serve, our customers and our employees. We also knew that we wanted to be one of the top performing companies in our industry. The name Investar combined all of those objectives.”
