Pat Phalen has always enjoyed exploring new opportunities and building his knowledge.

After his parents built a home on 150 acres when Pat was five years old, his world opened to years of hunting, fishing in the nearby pond and other outdoor adventures.

In college, Pat was a two-sport athlete and dual major. After graduating from Jacksonville High School, he attended MacMurray College, where he majored in business administration and marketing while also playing for the school’s baseball and football teams.

Pat’s first official job after graduating college took an unusual route for a business major: he became a nanny for a family with three young kids. When that summer gig was up, he moved to Springfield and took a brief stint selling shoes at Foot Locker. While neither job was what he had expected with his college degrees, the experiences were priceless.

When a position at the original INB opened up, Pat became a collector for the bank. One year later saw him in a job as a bank examiner for the state of Illinois. After two years of experience in the examination world, he rejoined the bank as a trust officer.

In April 1999, the new INB opened its doors, with Pat as senior vice president. “It was great to be part of something that was very small and very new and was the ‘talk of the town.’ Being involved with something that you knew would be successful was thrilling,” Pat recalls. “Then and now, having a seat at the table is very important.”

Pat is passionate not only about his work with customers and co-workers, but also the work in the community. Over the years, Pat has been involved in a volunteer capacity with many nonprofit organizations in the Springfield area. Today, he serves on the Sparc Endowment Board, the Sacred Heart-Griffin School Board and finance committee, and the Friend-in-Deed Board; he is also co-chair of Friend-In-Deed’s annual golf outing and is an ambassador for the Hope Institute for Children and Families. “Those have been some of my greatest experiences – not only impacting nonprofits and the clients they serve, but working on boards with like-minded people who also want to give back and better our community,” Pat says. “Surrounding yourself with good people has a lasting, significant impact of the rest of your life.”

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