Between the Headlines: Columbus
Between the Headlines dives deep into the stories shaping Columbus and Lowndes County, Mississippi. Hosted by The Commercial Dispatch managing editor Zack Plair and local businessman and commentator David Chism, this show goes beyond the front page to bring you the real conversations behind local politics, policies and people. Zack’s journalistic expertise and David’s insight deliver in-depth analysis, spirited debate, and behind-the-scenes context you won’t get anywhere else. It's honest discussion on what matters.
Between the Headlines: Columbus
No More Naked Interviews PLUS We Talk With BankFirst's CEO
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Brand-new Mississippi State sports reporter Jake McMahon moves to Starkville, checks a score while unloading a U-Haul, and suddenly ends up on a midnight roadtrip to Oklahoma City to cover the Women’s College World Series. That’s where we start, because it says a lot about college athletics right now: chaos, speed, and the kind of joy that still breaks through when a team catches fire.
Zack is on vacation this week so Dispatch columnist Slim Smith joins David and Jake to discuss how sports journalism has changed as access gets tighter and why the best work still comes from writers who avoid the herd, show up early, and paint a scene.
David and Slim then turn to a local headline that surprised us: a Bitcoin mining operation in Columbus, running thousands of machines and drawing megawatts of power, raising real questions about the grid, rates, and what crypto “value” even means.
We close with Moak Griffin, CEO of BankFirst, on what community banking looks like after 138 years, why their Columbus headquarters and training campus matter, and how to protect yourself from fraud.
Welcome And Guest Lineup
SPEAKER_05I don't know what he has come up with today to talk about.
SPEAKER_06I'm not asking you to hide anything. Yeah. You know, put it out there. Let the people see it.
SPEAKER_05I've never not worked in a hospital working environment.
SPEAKER_06You can't argue with anybody when they're putting facts in your face.
SPEAKER_01Zach, that's a hard question. I have no answer for it. From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch. This is Between the Headlines.
SPEAKER_02This week on a special edition of Between the Headlines, we have in the studio Mr. Slim Smith, Mr. Jake McMahon, new reporter for the dispatch covering Mississippi State sports and athletics in general, and a special conversation with Mr. Moe Griffin, CEO of Bank First. But first. Retirement looks different for everyone, so your plan should be built around you. For over 40 years, Financial Concepts has helped people create retirement strategies that fit their lives. Our team in Columbus takes the time to understand your goals and build a plan that works for you. Wherever you are in your journey, we're ready to help. We plan retirement. Financial Concepts is a registered investment advisor. This episode of Between the Headlines is brought to you by Bank First, a bank headquartered right here in Columbus, Mississippi. That means your banking decisions aren't made hundreds of miles away by someone who doesn't know you. They're made here locally by bankers who know your name and care about the community. At Bank First, we're more than bankers. We're your neighbors. Whether we're cheering in the stands, catching up at a local pancake breakfast, or celebrating milestones across our community, we're part of the moments that matter most. Stop by your local Bank First branch or visit BankFirstFS.com to learn more. Bank First is a member FDIC and Equal Housing lender, Bank NMLS 454063. Here we are in Catfish Alley Studio in historic downtown Columbus for a special edition of Between the Headlines here in the studio this morning. We are pleased to have two of the biggest names in sports writing you will ever put your eyes upon. That is Mr. Slim Smith, who joins us via the Josh Gillis phone line. And here in person, Mr. Jake McMahon, who is brand new. He is the MSU Sports Reporter, a native of Louisville, Kentucky. Welcome to both of you gentlemen, and thanks for being here today. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_06Thank you. Glad to be here. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_02Yes, sir.
Jake’s Softball Trip Starts Fast
SPEAKER_02Let's start with a new guy, Mr. Jake. Okay. As I hear it, uh, you basically came from Louisville, got off the plane, and then all of a dead gum sudden, the women win that game, the softball game, and make it to the women's college world series. And so, like, you don't even get your bags unpacked and off to Oklahoma City you go. Is that right?
SPEAKER_04That's 100% right. I uh so I load all my stuff up in a U-Haul and came down with my parents uh on a Friday, and I checked the score of the game when I'm moving stuff in, and they're down four, and I'm like, okay, you know, I'm not covering it. I need to focus on moving stuff in and just getting everything out of this truck. I wouldn't didn't want to see the truck anymore.
SPEAKER_02Most people turn the TV off.
SPEAKER_04And they're playing Oklahoma, who is the softball giant. And I was like, you know, it's it's whatever. However, however, they come back and win that game. Um, and so uh Philip Poe, our sports editor, text me, he's like, hey, if if they pull this out in one of the next two games, we're sending you to OKC. So I've I've I I'm still not settled. I don't think I I've barely seen any of Starkful. Um but yeah, so I started, I covered the Sunday game where they clinched their trip to the uh Women's College World Series. Uh worked Monday, worked Tuesday, left at midnight, um, and got to Devon Field in Oklahoma City at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, worked all day there, and then spent my week in Oklahoma City covering uh Bulldog softball, which was just like the best way to start this job. It was so much fun.
SPEAKER_06And if you if you ever wanted to know why sports writing is a young man's game, that's that's it right there.
SPEAKER_02It looks like a very unpredictable world, especially uh for Mississippi State
Mississippi State Football And NIL Reality
SPEAKER_02as it is. Um, I'm sure you've read up we have such a long and um tumultuous history. I want to ask a serious question about to both of you guys about Mississippi State. You know, we've experienced some very sad things as as Bulldog fans. Not all of our all of our listeners are Bulldog fans, but I am. The death of a coach, okay, and then all of these different things that have compacted that. Is our football program just cursed or is there light at the end of the tunnel?
SPEAKER_04Well, let me say this. I grew up in in Louisville, Kentucky, um, but my whole family is University of Kentucky fans. And I've always sort of felt on the same level with Mississippi State football in the sense that they've kind of been in the same spot in the SEC for a long, long time. Um maybe.
SPEAKER_02So that's like a lower to mid-tier, not quite Vanderbilt, but lower totem pole.
SPEAKER_04Well, Vanderbilt's great now. I mean, they were they were unbelievable last year. Um, but yeah, all my life I feel like Kentucky and Mississippi State football have been sort of in the same level. Mississippi State has had more success than Kentucky. Um so I I feel uh what a lot of Mississippi State fans have felt um with their football program.
SPEAKER_02Yes, so Slim, we we usually look at our our schedule for the season and we're like, okay, Kentucky. All right, that's our SEC win this year, right?
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Both teams feel like that's their win uh if if they're playing at home. So and that's really been the case for years now. Uh no nobody can seem to win on the road. You know, uh the whole thing, the whole NIL and transfer portal caught Mississippi State at the absolute worst time because they were really trying to rebuild after uh uh uh the death of the coach, and uh you know, they were just in a state of ca chaos. And so that had a terrible time. And so they're still trying to bail out from that. My question really be is uh do they have the money and the commitment to compete uh uh in the state of you know in IL? Uh that'll be the that'll be the question. Because it's it's it's the wild west out there now.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, it is. And oh it's not my world, but just looking at it as a spectator, it feels like if they had the money, they put
Baseball Buzz At Dudy Noble
SPEAKER_02it all in baseball. They're looking at Brian O'Connor, who has, as I understand it, changed the mood in Starkville and as his first year has done some, I would say, pretty exciting things. What's the state of baseball? And it it it is are we becoming a baseball school over there?
SPEAKER_04I mean, I think Mississippi State is already maybe not already a baseball school, because I don't I don't think I I don't think it it matters how good your baseball program is. Football will always be the king uh monetarily, uh fan-wise, especially in the SEC. That's just the way sports work, especially college sports work in this country. Um but I mean baseball has surpassed basketball, which I think you look down the line of other teams in the SEC, and there's not a lot of other teams, maybe Vandy, um, that baseball is like truly, truly surpassed their basketball program. Um so I mean, yeah, I mean I I think baseball school could be a fair point um if you acknowledge the fact that that football will will forever be the king.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Our stadium though. Oh, all right.
SPEAKER_04Man, the dude. I oh I so I I I I the Women's College World Series was the coolest experience ever. The one downside was I missed covering a regional and the dude. Um but I went to a presser um on the concourses stadium uh that that week. I mean, it is like triple A minor league baseball nice. It's gorgeous. It's an unbelievable stadium for a college baseball program.
SPEAKER_02I think it is. Slim, you've been around. How would you compare what lies there now compared to what was there in the days of old when you had people roasting all manner of food in lifts?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, the old dude had its charms, right? Because uh it was like uh you know, people would back up trucks and have all sorts of contraptions and seating arrangements and things. So uh it was kind of a really a kind of a uh a ground uh uh you know grassroot phenomenon. Uh now it's a little more corporate, a little more, but still a lot of fun. And uh, you know, as far as the stadium goes, gosh, you know, I lived in Arizona in the in the Phoenix area for for 15 years, and they started building all those great ballparks for spring training. Uh that that that you miss do the do would fit in with any of those. It's it's every bit as good as any of those. Yeah, they spent a lot of money in Arizona. So um it's it's you know, if they can't make it, it won't because they don't have the right facility, I'll put it that way.
Writing Sports With Voice And Scene
SPEAKER_02So and one of your goals as the new writer is to talk about these things and write about these things in a way that that just makes it fun, even for those who aren't, you know, tuned in to SportsCenter all the time, keeping up with the player numbers and the names and the rosters and all that kind of stuff. What what what do you describe as your style and your goal as a writer?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, I aim to be very voicey in the stuff that I do and paint a picture and put our readers wherever um I'm writing the story. I think right now in sports media that's lost. Um in a lot of a lot of outlets, um, a lot of sports has really gone into just getting the story out as quick as possible, kind of avoiding like these like really long-form features and profiles and and focusing on you know just just quick, quick uh quantity over quality type stories. Um and I think with the commercial dispatch being primarily print, I have that ability to fill that void and write those feature profile, voicey, scene-filled stories that you know sports journalism needs. And I mean I think I think sports journalism has sort of lost the fun of what it's supposed to be. I mean, I'm getting paid to write about sports, you know. You gotta have fun.
SPEAKER_02So sports is supposed to be fun. It's an escape. You know, it's it's oh for sure. Yeah. And and when I listen to sports on the radio, I I kind of get turned off if I'm listening to a commentator who's just super serious about it. I want to hear the color guy tell tell me about the weather and and the mud out there and and how so-and-so has a cut on their left cheek and those details that create an artistic representation of of what these guys are dealing with and and just the the whole journey of it. So I can certainly appreciate that. Mr. Slim, do you have any advice for this?
SPEAKER_04Please, please.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, let me say this. I uh you know, I've it's I've been in a journalism for 45 years now and counting. About 20 of that, 25, 20 to 25 of that was in sports. So uh uh I've got a that was my first love, and that's what brought me into the session. It's a lot more difficult for sports writers now than it was when I got in it because we could go, we had access to all the players, we could go in the locker room. Uh now you get to talk to the players that the team decides they want you to talk to. So the access is very limited now. Uh, you know, uh what's happened to the to the newspaper industry in general uh has uh you know certainly made it difficult. But you know, uh I just say the advice I have is, you know, uh uh get there early. Don't let yourself fall into a crowd. You know, I uh the best the best sports writers reporters are the guys that you don't see with the guy crowd because you can have almost a herd mentality if you're not careful and you find out you're you know, when you do that, you're writing about the same things and putting the same importance on the same thing. So the the really good ones are the ones that kind of skulk around uh uh outside of that that that bubble. So uh that's important. But uh, you know, uh it's just a tough job now. I mean, it really is.
SPEAKER_02What
Traditions That Make College Sports
SPEAKER_02part of the game itself, the game day experience really tugs at your heart strings the most?
SPEAKER_04Um for me, um it's it's always been college sports, and the region has always just been the tradition. The tradition.
SPEAKER_02So when you say tradition, like the fan base, the stadium, the fan fair, the flyover.
SPEAKER_04All that, all that. I mean, the the fight song, the the food that they cook at the tailgates that they've been doing for generations, like all this stuff that I think is like can only be compared to like the soccer culture in Europe.
SPEAKER_02I think that's what like college sports in America is, and it's just that David Attenborough came over here, he actually went to Auburn. Do you remember this? And he did a documentary on this thing called the Iron Bowl, and the whole world was amazed by it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I it's just the the pageantry that surrounds college sports has always like just just pulled me into to to loving every bit of it. Um I think that's like the reason I I I wanted to get into the college sports journalism and you know the reason why college sports take up so much of my time. It's just it's it's that.
SPEAKER_06You know, I I knew it was time for me to get out of sports variety when the the people on in the stands were more interesting than the people on the field.
SPEAKER_02Uh well they still are.
SPEAKER_06You can get the point where it's it all seems you I've been here before, I've heard this before. And uh, like I say, back then back when I was starting out, uh, you could go to the locker room and talk to anybody, and uh somebody asked me why I got out of sports. I said I got tired of interviewing naked people. So uh so you know, uh but I loved it for a long time and really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_02So to that end, uh my closing question to both of you um, which do you think which fan base consumes more alcohol? Would that be LSU or Ole Miss?
SPEAKER_06I would I think by sheer volume we'd have to say LSU. I mean, you know, uh if if there's a night game at LSU, they start drinking about 10 in the morning. That's then that's true.
SPEAKER_02They are well educated. But by someone, what about per capita? Yeah. You said by volume, but what about per capita? Does Ole Miss hold the edge on that one?
SPEAKER_06I would say any way you want to measure it, I'd I'd put my money on LSU.
SPEAKER_04I think I think LSU is like the easy, quick answer, but then you look at pictures of the grove for Ole Miss football tailgates and it becomes a little bit closer. I'll still go LSU with Slim, but I think it's closer than what you might think uh initially here in the question.
SPEAKER_02That's great. I want to thank both of you guys. I want to end um by bringing up a little memory here. Okay. Um I hope that if you stick with us long enough that you'll be able to come up with a piece of history akin to what I'm about to read. Right here, it says, and I quote, in the beginning, Dan Mullen created the playbook, and the schedule was void of wins, and there was no preseason ranking for the Bulldogs. And Mullen said, let Dak Prescott pass for four touchdowns and catch a pass for another, and lo, the Bulldogs did smite the Eagles, et cetera, et cetera, after which they were deservedly number one in the nation. And we haven't seen anything like that since. Do you want to reflect on that for a minute?
SPEAKER_06That was just a crazy year. You know, and and really, uh, I don't think people understand the full impact of Dak Prescott. Because I'm obviously he gave he raised the profile of all the athletic programs tremendously, but he was a big economic driver for Star Wall. I mean, they they brought people in, they bought jerseys. Uh uh only now we begin to see, you know, what a what a dynamic force he was. So uh, but it was just a lot of fun, you know, uh uh to see them in a you know a place where you in a place you you'd never expect to see them. So uh it was it was a very uh probably the biggest moment uh in Mississippi State sports history, I'm thinking.
SPEAKER_02So and hopefully many more big moments to come. We just don't know what size, shape, or venue they will take. Well, thanks for coming in today.
A Bitcoin Mine In Columbus
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna switch gears and talk to Mr. Slim about a story that just captivated me when I dug into it. So, Slim, I was looking at the salute to industry portion of the paper, which is one of the inserts, and I came across this story. Uh the headline is Bitcoin Mining Operation Eyes Expansion in Columbus. And I'm like, oh Emma, come on, why are we gonna write about what some 20-year-olds are doing in their mother's basement? Okay. But then I got to reading this story, and and I just got absolutely glued to it. Um LM Funding America Incorporated owns this thing. They've been operating since September, and they have quote, thousands of these computers, according to Todd Liebel, who is the um vice president. They don't have screens, they're not your standard computers, they're boxes with fans on them, and most of the day the guys are in there keeping these computers online and working. And I'm sitting there reading it, getting pulled into it, like, what are these guys actually doing? And then I get to this key detail of the story that this facility runs at roughly 7.5 megawatts, hoping to get up to eleven megawatts. Slim, that's more juice than the entire city of Caledonia pulls. Yeah. What is this? You know, did you know that was in the friendly city?
SPEAKER_06No, I had no idea. And I to this day I don't know where it is.
SPEAKER_02Uh uh, I don't know where it is. I see the picture here. I I think it's somewhere off of um Yorkville Road, but I'm looking at it, looks like three to four to five shipping containers with water coolers and air conditioners and um awning, and the technicians are standing on top.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Well, I would say this. Uh, I think, you know, in terms of concerns or what how it might affect the community, uh, is the I think it depends on how much uh how how much access the local uh utility company has to power. Uh if they've got plenty to uh more than enough to serve that customer, that's great. Because I think story did say talk about, you know, they in in non-peak times they can they can uh draw that that power so that helps them. There are places where they've had to uh uh the prices, uh rate rates have gone up because they've uh they've the utilities come in and go buy extra power power at a higher cost. So I don't know we're there yet or how close we would be there, but that's a potential problem.
SPEAKER_02And so that right there was one of the key aspects of this story. It it's not like they're sitting there running this thing full time. Uh the guy says that um they operate between um 7 p.m. throughout the night and then back to 1 p.m. the next day. All right. Kind of like my oldest son does, to be honest with you. But but basically they have an agreement with the power company that if it's peak time, they're gonna shut down. If there's an emergency, they're gonna shut down. And so that they're only using those those extra hours, if you those extra watt hours, if you will, which is really interesting to me. I'm I'm sitting there thinking, okay, there's this guy sitting at the Caledonia combined um plant, and he's like, oh, why did turbine number four just kick on? Well, it's because these guys are are at the hamster wheel doing what they're doing. Yeah. Right? And so I didn't realize, well, I knew in California you could have like a graduated meter, but here in the friendly city and out where I live in the county, um, Brian Clark does not care what time of day I dry my clothes. But these guys get a cheaper rate because they use the non-peak hours, right?
SPEAKER_06Well, that's true. Uh, you know, and I the the important thing is that they do have that agreement where if it's uh you know severe weather that uh people are gonna draw weather, you don't you don't risk uh crashing the uh the grid. So uh again, I guess it depends really on how strong a grid is, how much you can accommodate in your grid. And I assume that the Columbus Light and Water is, you know, they've they've done their homework on that and are comfortable with with what they're uh uh gonna be drawing. So but I you know the and uh you know the Bitcoin thing, I you know it's a funny thing. Uh in most things, as you grow older, you learn more, and that's called wisdom. But with technology, the older you get, the less you know.
SPEAKER_02Well, I know very little about this. It just seems to me all right, first off, the computers, they're sitting there managing these computers, this whole system is based on what is called a blockchain. And a blockchain is basically a big fancy ledger to make sure that all right, Slim Smith did in fact buy his Bitcoin. He still has it, but he sold half of his Bitcoin, and he didn't sell it twice, he only sold it once, and therefore here's his pro but here's here's the here's a neat little tidbit. It says that um uh and and this is the same gentleman speaking, Mr. This is the same gentleman speaking, Mr. Liebel. He says, Uh, we keep the whole thing functioning and in return we are giving we are giving drumroll please a reward of bitcoin for doing it. And so it's like, Well, what is this whole thing built on? It's like Bitcoin was just created ex nahilo out of nothing.
SPEAKER_06What's underneath it, Slim? It's hard for me to understand it. You know, like I say, uh you know, you get to a point where you're kind of uh technology fearful. And and uh I've never understood Bitcoin uh uh Bitcoin. I I know basically, you know, it's like to me the whole process of the Bitcoin mining is kind of like a SRO. You know, these these you want to get that transition before somebody else does, and that's why you get super fast computers. But I I don't, you know, I I just know so little of it, and it it's such it's such a foreign concept to me that I have a hard time grasping it. But I will say I said the same same thing about the internet in about 1991, you know. Yeah, just didn't understand what it could do.
SPEAKER_02So well, those who believe in it are are quite serious about it, and they will tell you that the US dollar at this point likewise is built ex nahilo. You know, the Fed just basically creates it and destroys it at will.
SPEAKER_06So Well, I mean, the the concept is almost like uh a stock, you know, you can only have a certain amount of shares, you know, forever.
SPEAKER_02But a stock, a stock is an investment in an actual company that does something.
SPEAKER_06Well, provides a service, for instance. Right. I yeah, I get that. I guess what I was saying is in the con in in context of uh you know, the Fed. The Fed can't go in and raise Bitcoin, you know, they can't go in and create more big bitcoins.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, nor can they regulate it. Not really. And I tell you this, I'll close with this about the Bitcoin deal. I mean, uh it's just fascinating to me that we've we've had this since September going on here in the friendly city, and nobody knew about it, but just Bitcoin in general, to me, and I'd love to hear our listeners opine about this, but to me, you've got a guy sitting on a sidewalk and there's there's a hole against the wall, and an orange rolls out of his pocket into that hole, and he looks back, two oranges roll back out at him. He picks it up and smiles. He he reaches in his other pocket, he throws a couple of apples in that hole. Out come four apples. Hey, that's a profit. Okay, not to be outdone. He takes off his Rolex, he takes off his Ray Bans, grabs his cell phone and wallet, puts it in the hole and waits. Out comes a hand, waves at him, ha ha, and then the hole closes, and that's it. To me, that's Bitcoin, but what do I know? I'm buying gold. Oh, you're buying gold for Australia's capital.
SPEAKER_06I guess I guess the you know the thing that's funny to me is a Bitcoin miner. What an odd uh what odd name for that. Like you know, it's just a uh you get a vision of people going into the bowels of the earth and coming out in black. And I think Lil Red Alyn's uh dad was a uh a Bitcoin miner, wasn't he?
SPEAKER_02Something to that effect. I don't know. I tell you what though, unless they start accepting it at Taco Bell, you won't see me involved.
Bank First Roots And Columbus HQ
SPEAKER_02At this time, you'll hear an interview between me, Zach, and the CEO of Bank First. This was recorded last week before Zach decided to go on vacation. Enjoy. We are pleased to have in the studio today Mr. Moe Griffin, who is the CEO of Bank First, which has been around a while. And uh nice to meet you, sir. Thanks for coming in today. 138 years, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Monday will be our 138th birthday, June 1st, 1888. Yes. That's when the bank started.
SPEAKER_02You you don't look like you were around at that time. No, only the last half. Yeah, well, very good. Thanks for being in here today. What's on our agenda, man?
SPEAKER_05Well, tell us a little bit about the just just the the history of this uh institution and and really kind of the move to Columbus that y'all have made.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's pretty neat. Uh it's great being part of something that old that's been around, survived, you know, all the Great Depressions and Great Recessions and all those things. Uh the bank was started down in Macon as merchants and farmers of Macon back June 1st, 1888. Uh actually came to Columbus as a bank in '94 and then West Point Starville in the late 90s and then changed our name in 1999 to Bank First from Merchants and Farmers of Macon, but always been the same bank. And just, you know, community banking is a pretty neat industry. You get to be so involved in your communities, very rewarding. You know, get to see your customers succeed, communities succeed. So it's a it's a great career, uh, great industry, and bank first is just kind of, you know, if you looked it up in the Webster's dictionary as a community bank, we would kind of fit that definition, right? We've got about 45 branches across Mississippi and Alabama, but just focused on got to get a little bit bigger in today's world to be able to afford everything, to battle fraud and all those things that are out there in the industry. But at the same time, you've got to be small enough that your bankers know your name and know what's going on in your community.
SPEAKER_02But then you've got those like my dad, hey pop, he's gonna go in the bank, it doesn't matter what it is. He wants to shake somebody's hand and you know have the the paper and all that stuff. So what which um like if you're on this side or that side, or is it just a a good mix of it? You've got to be good at both, right?
SPEAKER_03Especially think about your small business customers. It's a it's a deep relationship because there's good times and bad times in everybody's business, right? So community banks got to be there when it's good and bad. At the same time, you gotta have the money to invest in technology for the first type of customer that you mentioned who doesn't want to see a person, but they expect us to have the same technology as a national bank. And that's okay. We should meet that expectation. So and yeah, my father-in-law was the quintessential guy. I think he went to three or four banks daily for the free coffee, right? So we have those the coffee drinkers as well. So and but it makes it a great place to hear and talk and see people every day. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_05My favorite thing when I was visiting my grandfather. I'm from a town of about 6,000 people. So I was visiting my grandfather, and he would sometimes take me to the bank and he would make his deposit or whatever. And of course, he was one of those uh uh work in the public farmer on the side types that had to shake everybody's hand in the bank and introduce you. And I was there for the uh for the uh for the sucker, you know, those rectangle on the end of the stick things.
SPEAKER_03It's an important part of banking.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. You'll have those?
SPEAKER_03There's always candy, right? You gotta keep the young kids happy when they're in there. That's right. But yeah, you know, it's so neat. Um, old enough to remember my my uncle was a banker here in town and remember opening up that first savings account. This will blow people's mind. Of course, you go in and when you make a deposit, you'd hand them the little passbook. Oh, yeah. It would print it in there and you'd have that balance. You have to put that thing back in your pocket after mowing a couple yards or something. Man, it was the best feeling in the world. Now, you know, we don't have those anymore. Uh, but it's just kind of a nostalgic, you know, community banking is because it's been around so long and different generations have had different experiences, but hopefully it's good for all generations.
SPEAKER_05Well, we'll talk about moving the headquarters to Columbus, kind of how that worked, why uh why do that, and kind of what that's meant for you guys. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we're really excited. We act technically we moved our headquarters here about 10, 12 years ago.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03But we just recently made a big investment. What we found is we grew, um, training has become more and more and more important. And so over the course of the last 10 years, we've the bank's grown a lot. And so we had the opportunity here in Columbus to buy a building on the block. So now we've got uh we've called it our little campus down on the 900 block of Main Street. And so with this new building, it's about 16,000, 17,000 square feet. Half of that is just for training only. We've got a couple of training rooms. Now we're bringing all new employees to Columbus. All of our training could be lenders, the bank presidents, doesn't matter what the topic is, all that training happens in Columbus, and it's been fantastic. Just started this year because we get to see everybody. Everybody gets to come to Columbus, know where our flag is planted. They've been to the headquarters. It's really culturally created a really fun atmosphere.
SPEAKER_02Well, I tell you, it was fun to watch because uh that building just had so many different ins and outs, like you cut bricks here and you redid the roof there. Like I was amazed at at what you were able to do to that thing without just pushing it over. Right.
SPEAKER_03Well, we had a couple people ask, why didn't you just tear down and start for the beginning? And of course the answer is always money. You know, we could have. Yeah. But uh yeah, tried to remodel what was.
SPEAKER_02Well, did you save like a hundred bucks by doing it that way?
SPEAKER_03Probably at the end of the day, that was probably about it.
SPEAKER_02Hey, did you um I gotta know, did you turn the the morgue part into like the vault where you keep the cash?
SPEAKER_03We turn it into the electronics room, so none of us have to go in there, right? Because none of us can do anything with on the IT section, we turn that behind a keypad, and that way I know I'll never have to go in there.
SPEAKER_02So if you have computer gremlins, we know.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_05Well, I I do have a question though, and uh you brothers don't want me to ask it, but I might get fired if I don't. Um I mean, have there been any stories?
SPEAKER_03Well, we just moved in in March, you know. So between March and daylight savings time, so far, you know, if you work late, you're leaving during the daylight. So I don't know. I'm kind of uh I may have to change my schedule and get in early and leave early. But uh so far, so good. How about that? So far, so good.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Well, I mean, but how much I guess of the character of the old facility uh was preserved?
SPEAKER_03Well, unfortunately, not a whole lot. I mean, it's really neat. You know, the the family that ran the funeral home forever had an apartment upstairs, which was really, really neat. Um the but just in the changes you have to make, the rewiring, moving things around. And then we added on about uh six or seven thousand square feet to the the old building, uh especially for some of the updated training rooms. But but we're real one thing we do have in there that's pretty neat is we do have a history wall of the bank, you know, starting in 1888 in the history, in the culture, who we are, very important, you know, to the bank and I think to the people that we hire. So not necessarily, you know, history about that specific building, but just about the bank.
SPEAKER_02You have like shadow boxes and and like things like relics.
SPEAKER_03Well, we do have we have these glass panels. It was a really cool idea. So it's our history wall, and on that it has the names of the banks we've bought, different events during the court, kind of the story written out on these and really neat glass panels. We talked a lot about the shadow box. That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_05Well, you had talked a little bit uh earlier, you'd mentioned uh the civic involvement uh piece of the community banking. Yeah. And the big sign out on 82 is kind of y'all's more uh noticeable version of that at Bank First Yards at the sportsplex.
SPEAKER_03Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right. I think that was a need that we had in Columbus with the with the new baseball facilities. And so some of our bankers uh that are involved in the park just came to us and said, hey, we want to go out, you know, and do this. Would we be willing to sponsor? And of course we said, Yeah, that's that's right up our alley. We've done a couple of more ballparks in other places now since we did the original one here in Columbus. But you know, it's pretty neat. I mean, we have about on any given day, 60 to 70 employees here in Columbus. You know, so then when you start multiplying that by family members and relatives and all of those, I mean, we're just like all community banks, we're just this is our home. Uh Columbus is it. And I'll say the Golden Triangle, and we kind of have a weird saying that bank first, it's kind of the the golden uh diamond because we throw Knoxby County in there since that's where our bank was originally started. But this, these, this four counties, you know, the Golden Triangle and Knoxby, this is this is our home base, right? We've invested the money not just in the facilities, but 60 to 60, 65 to 70 employees. And then on any given day, there could be another 40 or 50 bank first employees from two states here in Columbus. So I tried to get, you know, it's just important. I think it's um our customers, restaurants, hotels. I think we'll have probably six or seven hotel room nights, you know, for people staying from out of town, probably 1,500 to 2,000 meals a year that we're eating out with those training sessions and meetings. It's a big deal for, you know, for Columbus and for Starville. We do some of our meetings over at the Mill and Mississippi State. So just, man, this is just this is who we are, where we're from, we're proud of it. And this way we get to show it off to our employees and keep people invested in our communities.
Modern Fraud And Simple Safety Rules
SPEAKER_02When you talk about community involvement, what comes to my mind is kind of an unsaid responsibility of banks to protect people who are vulnerable. You had mentioned fraud and things like that. I want to ask you about that. I mean, what what is the state of things today and and you know what what have you seen and and what do do people need to be uh cognizant of about uh with devices and things of that sort? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_03No, great question. You know, back in the day it originally um check fraud was a big deal. Yeah. And if y'all remember, probably 10 years ago or so, debit cards, of course, became the hot item 15 years ago. And uh we had a lot of debit card fraud. The chips and the debit cards helped um curb some of that fraud, but we're kind of back in a time the last couple of years we're back to good old-fashioned check fraud, believe it or not. Now the printers and what we call a process called whitewashing, um the sending mail through the postal service, think about how many hands touch it from the time you drop it in the the mailbox until it's delivered. There are just people that touch it, see it. And so a lot of the fraud now is back to kind of good old fashioned, but with a lot better technology check fraud. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was thinking that AI would be the deal where you get these phishing websites and you get these texts from things that look really legit compared to how they used to. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_03Well, let me say because that you hit the nail on the head. The next part is this. I mean, uh your bank, our bank or any other bank is never gonna send you a text or an email and say, Hey, I need your social security number, birth date, account number bank.
SPEAKER_02It's usually the fresh prints of uh over there. Exactly. He was asking me some stuff one time and and I w I was in a mood, okay, and I said, I just texted him back, I said, Hey, uh, how do you cook macaroni and cheese? All right. And and you know, he he texted back, he said, you put it in water and boil it, you dumbass. Right. Bingo, you got it. And you know, I didn't hear back from that one. Right, right. But I feel like he probably sold my number to all of his other cronies out there. So should we probably just ignore that stuff?
SPEAKER_03Ignore it. If you get anything from any bank asking you for information over the phone or through a text or email, don't respond. Call your banker. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Anything you want to add?
SPEAKER_03No, look, I just appreciate enjoying the podcast, and of course, the dispatch and all it's done for the many years in Columbus as well. But think this is really good. It's a great, great forum, you know, to visit and talk and hear people. So really appreciate you guys for doing it. Thank you for letting me be here today.
SPEAKER_02Thanks. Thanks for coming. We enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_03Take care.
SPEAKER_02And as always, thank you for listening and thank you for being involved in your community.
Three Local Headlines And Sign Off
SPEAKER_02We leave you with three things to know from the commercial dispatch. Number one, in the wake of recent shootings in the Columbus City In the wake of recent shootings in the city of Columbus Okay, I see what I mean. Number one, in the wake of recent shootings, the City of Columbus Council this week approved the purchase of fifteen additional security cameras, more than doubling the number of cameras in the city. The cameras will be purchased from New Orleans-based Project NOLA, a camera provider and security camera monitoring nonprofit. Second, engineering firm Neil Schaefer has been selected as the consulting engineer to put together a plan for a new kayak launch on the banks of the Lux Palaila Creek at Probst Park. The kayak launch is part of a broader plan to revitalize the east end of the park where the fossil park will be. After nearly 70 years of educating East Columbus, Fairview Elementary has closed its doors. The school, which opened in 1957, is the second and final school to close as part of Columbus Munici as part of Columbus Municipal School District's plan to consolidate school facilities. Franklin Academy was closed last year. Robert Smith Sr., president of CMSD's Board of Trustees, says the district is exploring options for both facilities. At this time, you'll hear an interview between me, Zach, and the CEO of Bank First. This was recorded last week before Zack decided to go on vacation. Enjoy. Is that okay? Reach out to us, tips at cdispatch.com. You can also follow me on Facebook or X at the Chisholm Double Zero and leave a public comment. Keeping it real here in Catfish Alley Studio and Historic Downtown Columbus, your host has been Zach Player, and I am David Chisholm. Y'all stay friendly out there.
SPEAKER_01I'm just a simple old country boy, but um I think that makes sense.
SPEAKER_06I've stepped out and I've said what I had to say.
SPEAKER_02You've been listening to Between the Headlines with Zach and David. That's what old people do.
SPEAKER_00That is Peter Rimes, publisher of The Dispatch. One of our hosts of Between the Headlines is the managing editor of our newsroom. Typically, we try to keep news and opinion separate, but reporters have a unique insight into the workings of local government, and their analysis can be helpful for readers and listeners. The Dispatch remains committed to journalistic integrity, and our reporting will always reflect that.
