Ken LaRoe of First Green Bank Aims to Expand Missionary Role in Lake County with New Global Alliance

MOUNT DORA, Fla. --- Terms like “environmental” and “global alliance” may raise the hackles of many conservatives, but for Kenneth LaRoe, the founder of First Green Bank of Mount Dora, the bedrock ideals behind those words have a universal appeal that is steadily winning over Lake County consumers.

First Green Bank recently celebrated the opening of its award-winning Mount Dora headquarters facility by announcing its ranking as the second privately constructed building in Florida to qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum certification for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

LaRoe admits he worried that the bank’s avowed role as a “local bank with a global mission” might turn off conservative Lake County consumers.

He worried even more last week when he announced that First Green Bank was about to join the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, an international group that ranks as the leading independent network of banks that openly embrace sustainable banking practices.

Recently, LaRoe attended the network’s annual conference in Vancouver. With 15 member banks in 12 countries worldwide, combined assets of more than $26 billion and banking operations in some 24 countries, the Global Alliance for Banking on Values is hardly more than an upstart.

“We haven’t anywhere near the resources of a Bank of America or a Bear Stearns,” LaRoe conceded.

“But we have an unshakable commitment to our communities. And we have a firm conviction that values-based business decisions will create profits that supersede quarterly gains and share prices,” he said.

Values appeal to even the most ardent conservatives, LaRoe said.

“Environmental stewardship, the exercise of moral values, building our communities on sound foundations, these are all fundamental tenets of the conservative movement in America and always have been,” LaRoe said.

LaRoe sees them as building blocks. And so do his customers. The bank’s accounts, deposits, reserves and loans are up substantially over last year.

“The banking industry is evolving from a hunter-gatherer model to a more settled agrarian way of life that applies resources wisely to create surplus and wealth... and hunting seasons,” LaRoe said.

“The economy is recovering, and banking’s role is to power that growth, build communities, and nurture commerce,” he said.