This nice guy finishes first as he takes reins at bank

Ask the story of Jim DeVolld, the new president of First Independent Bank of Nevada, and you'll be told he's a nice guy.

And he's been that way since well, forever.

They say he's smart, too, and one of the few bank presidents who's climbed to the top without passing through the halls of academia.No degrees, no alphabet-soup letters after his name.He's a high school grad.

And he runs a bank.

Makes a good story, but the rest of the story is that he's spent 27 years in banking, taken innumerable college and professional courses and been accepted to the prestigious Pacific Coast Banking School.

DeVolld, a Yerington boy, got the referral to his first job from John Prida, his high school golf coach.

Prida made a call to the branch manager of Yerington's Pioneer Citizen's Bank, Tom Grady, now an assemblyman but then a branch manager in need of a teller.

Devolld entered the world of banking as that teller.A humble beginning, he says, in a job that included watering the plants and changing light bulbs.

It was a beginning that serves him well today, as he walks through First Independent Bank, greeting each staff member by name, understanding their day-to-day jobs.

He's served in most of those jobs.He's operated a proof machine, validating check amounts, which was "kinda cool,"he says.He's worked in new accounts, community relations, private banking, and lending all during his 23 years at Pioneer Citizens Bank.

He's left the banking world just once.

It was the money that wooed him away.His first paycheck stub, a souvenir he keeps in his desk, is testament to the meager earnings of an entrylevel teller.

For two weeks work, in the mid- 1970s, he earned $215 before taxes.

It didn't seem like enough, so he took a job with Sierra Pacific,working for a year at its Valmy power plant.

On a 12-hour night shift.

With a new bride.

Living in a 12-foot trailer.

It was 3 a.m.

one night when he asked himself, "What the heck am I doing here?" He called Tom Grady, got back to the Pioneer Citizen's Bank, and was there in its Reno offices in 1999 when it was acquired by Nevada State Bank.

Instead of going with Nevada State Bank, he joined the folks starting up First Independent Bank of Nevada, coming in as executive vice president and chief credit officer.And the rest is recent history.

Ask DeVolld what it's going to take now to be president of the bank, and his answer is typically nice-guy.

"The key is to keep people motivated," he says."And growth.You can do more good things in a community when you are growing."

DeVolld's position as president and chief credit officer includes oversight of the bank's daily operations, including all business production departments and branch locations.He'll manage the day-to-day operations of bank systems, loan production, business development and branch functions.

Grant Markham, chief executive officer, and Lisa Milke, executive vice president and chief financial officer,will be taking on expanded roles in strategic planning.