BB&T City Executive Toby Moreau takes the reins of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce in 2014, bringing with him decades of banking experience and a consensus-style leadership.
A third-generation banker, Moreau has witnessed the ups and downs of the U.S. economy up close, especially in recent years. He’s lived in Savannah since 1989 with his wife Karye, and raised three children, all adults now.
Originally from Naples, Fla., Moreau graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in finance and business administration. He went back to south Florida to work at Barnett Bank in 1980, but as the cost of living increased there, he left in ‘83 and went to work for Wachovia in North Carolina — transferring Savannah branch a few years later. After 18 years with Wachovia, he joined BB&T in May of 2002 as market president.
Diplomatically, Moreau added, “There are a lot of good banks in Savannah, and we’re one of them. I don’t think we’re short in the business community of finding good banks and good bankers.”
Moreau sits on the boards of the Memorial Health Foundation and United Way. He’s been a Chamber member for about seven years and had a leadership role there for the last three.
He sat down with the Savannah Morning News recently to talk about his background and vision for 207-year-old organization.
Q: What lead you to finance? Had you always wanted to go into banking?
A:“My grandfather was president of a bank in Watertown, Wis., and I jokingly call him the George Bailey of Watertown, Wis. His bank was one of the few banks that opened after Black Monday in October 1929. So he had stories about making sure everyone had enough money when there were runs on the bank. My father was a banker, too, and so I always knew I’d be a banker. I feel like I got the best job in the world being here in Savannah.”
Q: What is the biggest misconception about bankers?
A:“Banker’s hours. I don’t think you see very many bankers playing golf on Wednesday afternoons and Friday afternoons like it was 34 years ago when I started. … Another misconception is that not all banks created the issues that started the ball rolling in 2007 and 2008 [the mortgage and banking crisis]. Since that time, we are heavily regulated, more so probably than any industry out there.”
Q: What is your leadership style?
A:“Participatory. We grew up with management by objective, but that’s changing with millennials. So we’re changing our management, making sure there is a lot of communication and a lot of coaching. Hopefully, I lead by example. In early, out late. I don’t expect anything less than I would do or carry in my role.”
Q: What are your top priorities for the Chamber next year?
A:“One is supporting manufacturing. Companies like Gulfstream — five years ago they had something like 3,900 employees and now they have over 9,000. I mean those are just really key, and that’s an example of growth in our manufacturing sector. … The other key is the port, that’s a big driver. We want to make sure that goes in the right direction. Military, again, with the sequester right around the corner. We’ve got 26,000 troops here, and that’s about a $5.4-billion economic impact, and we want to make sure that’s something we protect. We’re hoping that if we have a reduction in force, which is pending, that we hold on to as many of those troops as we can. ... Tourism. As I said before, we have 12 million visitors to Savannah every year and that has a $2-billion economic impact.”
Q: What are some challenges facing the business community in the upcoming year?
A:“There’s still a lot of uncertainty out there, especially on the small business side, and that’s going to impact a lot of things. … We’re also getting materially impacted in our medical community with Medicare and Medicaid funding cuts. That’s going to have an effect on our safety-net hospitals like Memorial and St. Joseph’s/Candler. … And we’re also looking at other areas like the unified zoning ordinance, for example, making sure that’s easily read and easily interpreted and consistent and fair.”
Q: Eighty percent of your membership consists of small businesses, what sorts of incentives does the Chamber have for these members?
A:“We have more than 30 events a year that draw 7,000 to 8,000 people. The big events include the Business Expo in the fall, the Economic Outlook Luncheon coming up in January and Taste of Savannah held in May. Those are just three examples where we provide events where people can network. People do business with people they know and that’s very true on the small business side. So we’re creating those networking opportunities.”
Q: The economic recovery has been slow, but what advantages does Savannah have compared to other metro areas in your opinion?
A:“We’ve got a good diversity. We’ve got the port, we have the military, we have tourism, we have manufacturing. … I think in this general area, we have 50,000-plus college students — between Georgia Southern, Armstrong, Savannah State, SCAD and some others like Mercer — within an hour’s drive of here. We’ve got good, core small business. We’ve spent money on our roads, we’re improving our public education and we have world-class medical care. I think what’s making this place stronger is just our diversity.
“In the early ‘80s/early ‘90s, Atlanta really just skyrocketed, and what was it that worked there that is working here today? We have a good relationship between business and labor; we have a good relationship between business and government and a good relationship between business and the social support groups. If you want to see what is different between us and maybe other communities of our size — if they have two of those three things working for them that’s good, but to have all three is rare.”