The Liberty Bell: A Day in the Life

Bob Bloomingburg, Loan Officer in Paducah

Spring 2025 Edition

My day typically begins by being awakened by one of our four cats. My wife and I will both pretend to not hear it until one of us gives in. Don’t ask me how we ended up with so many cats, but we are both animal lovers and it shows at our house. Once I’m up and I’ve fed the cats, I go out back to feed the local bird and squirrel population before going through my usual routine to get ready for work.

Once I’m in the office, I head straight to the coffee machine (I’m not exactly a morning person). After settling in with some caffeine, the first thing I do is check my emails. In my line of work, it is not unusual to have quite a few overnight or early morning emails from customers. Most of my customers are small business owners, and they definitely don’t have a 9-5 lifestyle. I don’t have a typical day as a commercial lender.

Today for instance I will be attending the Bank’s luncheon for our high school scholarship winners. This is the 4th or 5th year I have been on our committee to help select our local winners. It is one of my favorite volunteer activities each year.

I am always amazed at how many students combine great grades with so many extracurricular and volunteer activities. It’s never an easy task to only select a few recipients, but we review each application and try to narrow down the finalist list.

A big part of my job is arranging new loans for existing and new business customers. At any one time, I might have three or four loans I am working on. The process usually begins with a meeting with the customer to better understand their borrowing needs. If it is a brand new customer, it’s important for me to take the time to really listen and understand the history of the business and where they want to go. I have a degree in accounting, and that definitely comes in handy when preparing an analysis of the customer’s financial statements and tax returns. A typical loan proposal involves me preparing a 3-4 page loan summary, which includes information on income, collateral, business history, etc. Once we are ready to close the loan, I get to work with our great document preparation department in Owensboro. They are very efficient and really know all the ins and out of proper documentation.

This morning when I got in I had received an email from a customer who was referred to me. He lives out of town and is wanting to purchase some rental property in Paducah.

I told him I would drive over and look at the properties, take some pictures and then do a quick analysis of the rental income. If it all looks good, I will begin the process of gathering his financial information to assist him in a timely purchase.

As the loan officer, I handle contacting the appraiser and engaging an attorney for the loan closing. If I have time later today I hope to be able to finish up a presentation I do for another volunteer area that I really enjoy.

About once a month, I facilitate a class on personal credit repair and other basic financial literacy for a local domestic violence center.

I have served on their board for seven years, and I’ve even seen success with my own eyes as I recently heard a story from a previous client who used some of the ideas from class and was recently able to purchase her first home. Knowing these lessons are paying off makes me glad I’ve had the ability to stay involved for so long.

After work, I have a meeting with the finance committee at my church. I have served on the Board for a few years and we meet monthly. Before the meeting, I will review the monthly financial statements and the minutes from the last meeting. I hope to be home by 6:30 tonight and wind down by sitting outside and reading. I just started a new book on the history of the Revolutionary War, and am finishing up a novel I am really enjoying.

All in all, my days all look different, but I find it’s important to get involved in interesting areas in my community. While working at a bank allows me to support my community monetarily, my time is also well spent with others trying to make an impact.