“It’s nice to receive recognition and awards, but our main focus is to build relationships in our communities.”

The value of hard work, being held to a high ethical standard, and always conducting himself in a reputable way are key points Josh Hanley remembers from his childhood. Having been raised on a farm and attending a small liberal arts college, he has held these values his whole life.

Josh, through his work with local organizations, practices what he preaches. He has served as the President of the local Chamber of Commerce, YMCA, United Way and as President of the Children’s Therapy School, just to name a few of the leadership positions he’s held in the community. But Josh’s involvement isn’t limited to sitting on boards. He also coaches youth sports teams including Optimist Football, YMCA Basketball and Youth Wrestling.

All of Josh’s hard work has not gone unnoticed. He was recently honored by The Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce with the Stribling Community Service Award—which honors the best of Central Missouri who continue to make it a better place to live and work. We spoke with Business Banking Relationship Manager Josh Hanley to find out more about his community involvement and how he balances service with work life.


Our Market Manager Ron Hopkins has been supportive of my involvement in the community since I started at the bank 10 years ago. As bankers, we have a great responsibility as stewards of our communities. They are very good to us and its incumbent on us to reciprocate.


For me while growing up, giving back and community service were important. The big takeaways from my parents were to be fair and to treat everyone with respect and dignity.


My wife. She is the mother of our two children. She is a certified public accountant, while also being highly involved in the community. To see her juggling all these things, performing her multiple jobs at a high level, is motivational. I get to live with an all-star at home and work with all-stars at the bank. It makes me want to be my best.


Commerce Bank sponsors a fish fry fundraiser at the local historical society annually. We get in there with our aprons on and serve hundreds of people, many of which are customers. For us, it isn’t just about the fundraiser. It’s about working together, looking our customers in the eyes and serving them in a different way than we typically do. For an afternoon, it’s a lot of work but it’s also a lot of fun; and it really helps the organization.


I absolutely love driving around my community and seeing our commercial customers at their places of business. Seeing the delivery trucks, customer cars parked outside, their employees and knowing that we are a small part of that, in addition to creating jobs in our community, is rewarding. I value the relationships we have with our customers. We see them at all levels of life; it’s a privilege to serve them here.

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