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Investing More Than
Money
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By Pam Droog
Patricia Mercurio
President
Bank of America Missouri
When Patricia Mercurio attended college in the early ’70s, she says
she was “a free spirit, idealistic. I didn’t think I’d ever end
up in banking.”
But she did—though not directly. First, Mercurio earned a degree
in philosophy at Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville, “but
all you could do with that was talk,” she says. So she enrolled
at the University of Missouri–St. Louis to earn a master’s degree
in remedial reading and ultimately “teach all the children in the
world to read and write.”
In order to earn money while attending grad school, Mercurio worked
as a part-time drive-up teller at Mark Twain Bank. That sealed the
deal.
“Math was always one of my favorite subjects, so I enjoyed the job,”
she says. “I liked having to balance every day. I got to meet a
lot of people and all the managers were really great.”
Those managers recognized Mercurio’s potential to join their ranks.
So, from those humble beginnings as a teller, she moved into Mark
Twain’s renowned management training class.
“The bank was growing very fast and needed to promote people very
quickly into management jobs,” she says. “You either sank or swam
but it was the very best thing that could happen to a young person
starting out.”
At Mark Twain, Mercurio primarily worked in consumer banking but
also gained experience in commercial lending and retail operations.
Then, in 1984, she was lured to Boatmen’s Bank, which was acquired
by NationsBank, which was acquired by Bank of America.
At Bank of America, Mercurio has held a variety of management and
executive positions in human resources and operations, and consumer
and business banking. From 1994 to 1997, she was regional president
in St. Louis, responsible for consumer and commercial banking in
North County. Between 1997 and 2000 she was consumer banking market
executive in St. Louis, Illinois and Iowa. During this period she
was actively involved in the NationsBank-Bank of America merger.
“Our goal was to implement change as well as win the hearts and
minds of the acquired banks,” Mercurio says. “And that was on top
of managing the entire system conversion.”
Upon the successful completion of the transition, in 2000 she was
named president of Bank of America in St. Louis. One year later
she became president of Bank of America in Missouri, her present
position. She oversees the delivery of all products and services
for all lines of business in Missouri, including more than 445 banking
and non-banking center business units in Missouri, of which more
than 160 are in the City of St. Louis. She’s also the senior banking
executive for community and civic activities, and St. Louis region
market executive for the Consumer Bank.
Besides the mergers, the event that’s had the biggest impact on
Mercurio’s career was when federal law was changed in the early
1990s, allowing financial institutions to buy other banks across
state lines.
“That allowed everyone in the financial industry to become a national
bank like we are now,” she says. “The consumer part of the business
became much more important and operations became much more efficient,
because we could branch acquired banks.”
Technology also has had an impact on how Mercurio performs her job.
“It has allowed us to manage larger divisions,” she says, “and there’s
no way we could communicate with as many people as we do without
it,” namely, Bank of America’s 5,300-plus associates statewide.
Of those associates, 35 in St. Louis report directly to Mercurio,
who describes her management method as “goal oriented and results
driven.” She explains, “I like to monitor success. I believe you
get what you reward, so I do a lot of recognition. But if you don’t
monitor and set goals, you don’t know who’s winning.” And there’s
“no greater thrill than seeing the people who work for you grow
and succeed,” she says.
Another source of satisfaction for Mercurio is Bank of America’s
community involvement. “That’s part of our culture,” she says. “We
believe we need to invest in the communities where we want to prosper.”
On one level that means loaning money. On another, it means giving
time and leadership. That’s why Mercurio serves on the boards of
the Girl Scout Council of Greater St. Louis, the Urban League, Junior
Achievement, the Saint Louis Zoo and the University of Missouri
Chancellor’s Council. She is also a board member of the United Way
of Greater St. Louis, where she chairs the 2002 Women’s Leadership
Giving Initiative. Now in its seventh year, the initiative, called
“The Power of the Purse,” recognizes women who give $1,000 or more
to the United Way annual campaign. Last year it raised more than
$3.3 million.
“Because the United Way benefits so many women and children, I figure
that’s a good return on our investment,” Mercurio says.
Between the office and her volunteer activities, Mercurio says her
biggest challenge is “just finding the time. There was a coach who
said, ‘I didn’t lose the game, I just ran out of time.’”
She does find time, however, to play golf most weekends with her
husband, a commercial real estate broker.
Mercurio also takes time to look ahead, as a recently-elected member
of the Greater St. Louis Economic Development Council at the RCGA.
Among her priorities is downtown revitalization. She notes, in 1998,
Bank of America made a $350 billion, 10-year commitment to community
development lending and investment. Also, the bank has given $500,000
to Downtown Now! and owns Cupples Warehouse buildings, which it
plans to develop or sell for development.
“Our headquarters is downtown,” Mercurio says, “and we intend to
stay there.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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