Executive Profile - August 2000

U.S. BANK

U.S. Bank President Takes On Community Challenges

by Lynn Goya

Kenneth G. Ladd, President of U.S. Bank Nevada, is also the incoming chairman of the Nevada Development Authority (NDA), the first point of contact for businesses relocating or expanding to southern Nevada. In both positions, he faces challenges, but also sees tremendous growth potential.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is the nation’s 11^th largest financial holding company with $82 billion in assets and approximately 1,000 banking offices in the West and Midwest. The company is the largest provider of Visa corporate and purchasing cards in the world, and is one of the largest providers of corporate trust services in the nation. Its fiscal 1999 operating earnings reached $1.5 billion by offering a complete line of financial services.

Specialists in commercial lending have made U.S. Bank the largest lender to commercial real estate in Clark County with a presence known throughout the state. Although, historically, the bank has grown through acquisitions and operational efficiency, the corporate nature of the beast is now changing.

"We found that we were creating poor customer service through silly mistakes," explains Ladd, "that were taking enormous amounts of time. We are now fine tuning our company culture to become more concerned with meeting the needs of the customer."

Whether the customer is a newly married couple opening their first joint account or one of the "visionaries sitting down there on the Strip," the emphasis is the same. "We hold ourselves accountable for finding the solution for our customer needs," says Ladd. A small, yet significant sign of the times can be found in the new phonebooks that carry branch phone numbers with a real person attached. For those who prefer to do their business in the middle of the night, an 800 number is also listed.

Business here can only get better, says Ladd. A Nevada resident since 1982, he has been a part of the phenomenal growth the state has seen during the past few years. "Southern Nevada is at a crossroads," he says, "where gaming is still the primary economic driver," but industry is rapidly expanding. As incoming chairman of the NDA he has seen industry become more and more enamored with Las Vegas. In the 24 months before October of 1999 the NDA averaged 17 to 20 site visits per month from non-gaming companies interested in relocating to southern Nevada. (At a site visit, companies interested in relocating have narrowed their choices down to a small handful and request an escorted tour of the prospective areas.) Of those companies that request site visits, historically 55 – 60 percent move here. As of June of this year, the NDA has doubled their earlier rate and now averages 43 site visits per month.

"Southern Nevada is extraordinarily attractive to incoming business," says Ladd, because of several factors. Las Vegas is centrally located with good train, air and road arteries that connect to other major areas. Because the area has seen such rapid growth, the infrastructure including phone lines, fiber optic lines, wideband access and electronics are all underground and brand new. "We have also found that our labor force here is superb, and that is extraordinarily surprising. Because we don’t know where these people are coming from or where they are trained, we are conducting a labor force study so that we can see what we are doing right," says Ladd. The final attraction is that southern Nevada’s low cost of living makes commercial leasing and home ownership more affordable than many other high-profile locations.

Business – even gaming – is starting to recognize the darker side of living here. As a board member of United Way, Ladd is well aware of Nevada’s huge social needs. Our state has some of the highest teen pregnancy, dropout, and suicide rates in the country, among other social ills. "It is like the light bulb has come on," laughs Ladd. In 1998 United Way received $9 million from the community. "Last year, we received $11.2 million, almost all of the increase coming from the gaming community."

U.S. Bank is doing its share, both in Nevada and in other communities in which it does business. It contributed more than $46.5 million in community support in 1999, more than $21 million in cash grants in areas including affordable housing, economic development, K-12 education, artistic and cultural curriculum and United Way. Employees are encouraged to volunteer time or money to their own causes.

"Nevada is like a teenager," he explains. Yes, we have problems, yet "I believe the business community recognizes the community needs dealing with all of these issues. If the community doesn’t prosper, than my bank cannot prosper."