[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E290-E291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOSEPH MEYER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 4, 1998

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
Northwest Indiana business pioneer and the founder of Bank Calumet, 
Joseph Meyer. Joseph was born in Wisconsin in 1878. As a youth, 
whenever he could, he traveled with his father who was a professional 
photographer. His father was particularly interested in photographing 
various aspects of nature and often took his son into fields and 
forests. The young Joseph soon learned a great deal about plants and 
nature in general. But this happy arrangement lasted only a few years 
because the father died when his son was not yet a teenager. As a 
result of the family's financial difficulties, Joseph was sent to an 
orphanage, where he received a technical-vocational education.
  Upon graduation from high school, Joseph had to leave the orphanage. 
He went to Milwaukee where he lived with a grandmother, who provided 
room and board which enabled young Joseph to take a low paying job in 
the printing industry. he recognized that he needed practical 
experience before he could go out on his own.
  Eventually, he felt he had enough experience, so with a small loan 
from his grandmother, he set up his own print shop in her basement. 
Slowly he accumulated enough savings to open his own print shop on East 
Water Street. He was a good printer, but not yet a good financial 
manager and he did not know how to locate a financial advisor. 
Moreover, Milwaukee was suffering from a recession at that time. 
Finally, he was out of money and had to close his shop. His first 
business venture, therefore, was a failure.
  Joseph Meyer then moved to Chicago, where printers were in demand, 
and obtained a job with a large industrial printer until it was shut 
down by a long and violent strike. Next he took a job in the print 
department of The Hammond Times.
  But the desire to have his own business was strong. By saving 
everything he could from his job at the paper and with a small bank 
loan, he was able to afford an old printing press which had to share 
space in his modest home with his wife and young family. Joseph soon 
heard about crooked gaming devices and learned how these machines were 
tampered with to cheat the public. So in 1908, he wrote a short book 
exposing this scheme and printed it himself--two pages at a time.
  This literary effort was well received and very profitable. His 
initial thought was to expand his printing business, but he remembered 
his failed print shop back in Milwaukee. He realized that his next 
business would have to be guided by a plan and that he would need help 
with the financial side.
  In thinking about his skills, he knew he had two strengths. He knew a 
lot about printing; after all, that's what he had been doing for 
several years. But he also knew a great deal about nature and plants. 
Over the years, he had built on the basic knowledge he had gained from 
those early field trips with his father. He became interested in the 
curative power of native plants and the advantages of natural 
substances as dietary supplements. For his life's work, he decided it 
made sense to combine both these talents--his knowledge of printing and 
his love of nature.
  He grew and harvested plants in the vacant land around his Hammond 
house, on land that no one seemed to care about at the time. Marketing 
of these health foods and medical items would be through a catalog. 
Since he would print the catalog himself, his profit would be enhanced. 
He mobilized his eight children and taught them to distinguish the 
valuable plants from ordinary weeds and had them help in the 
harvesting.
  His children were also put to work in the family dining room, 
assembly-line fashion, to fold and bind the catalog. Eventually, he was 
able to purchase fertile land to grow the plants he needed and in 1925 
construct a handsome Tudor style building to process and manufacture 
his products. That building still stands among the Borman Expressway 
near Calumet Avenue. In a few years, this business, then and now known 
as the Indiana Botanic Gardens, grew larger and his catalog was sent 
first throughout the Midwest and later all over the country. Today, 
Indiana Botanic Gardens, which is now located in Hobart, continues to 
thrive under the direction of a Joseph Meyer descendant.
  By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the country had slipped into a 
very severe economic downturn. Many businesses closed. But this time, 
Joe Meyer's business did not fail. In fact, the Botanic Gardens 
continued to expand. It turned out that the herb and health food 
business was largely recession proof. His direct-from-the-manufacturer 
mail order business provided products at a lower price than his 
competitors, and his home remedies were cheaper and more readily 
available than regular medical doctors.
  But he did have one serious problem. The economic downturn was so 
severe that he couldn't find a sound yet convenient financial

[[Page E291]]

institution to hold his deposits. In fact, in the year 1933, Joseph 
Meyer was faced particular dilemma in that all of Hammond's banks had 
failed. He had no local place to deposit the dimes and quarters and 
dollars that were arriving in cash every day at his plant.
  A group of Hammond community leaders with a financial background 
approached Joseph Meyer about starting his own bank, but this was a big 
step. He would have to risk everything he had achieved and he did not 
know anything about banking. However, over the years he had learned a 
lot about running a business, the need for expert assistance and how to 
find that talent, the vital necessity of having a business plan, 
focusing on your objective, assembling the right team, and making sure 
that new income grew when sales grew. This time, he had the capital, 
but he had to decide whether all the other things could be put in 
place.

  With careful reflection, and attention to detail, he assembled his 
team and opened the Calumet State Bank on March 4, 1933. The rest, as 
they say, is history. Today, Bank Calumet is still largely owned by 
Joseph Meyer's family. It is the largest locally owned bank in Lake 
County, with 16 offices and nearly $800,000,000 in assets, a book value 
of over $78,000,000, and a multi-year string of record profits.
  From the very beginning, Joseph Meyer infused his personality into 
the new bank. If you look at the early ledger book, you will see that 
the first day deposits totaled around $73,000. Almost that entire 
amount came from Joseph--either from his personal funds or from 
businesses he owned.
  But Joseph Meyer wanted to reach out to the broader Hammond 
community. He knew people had lost much of their savings when Hammond's 
banks failed. That loss had produced a deep distrust of banking, yet he 
also knew people's money really would be safer in his well-run bank 
than at home in a jar or under the mattress. So he hit on an idea that 
would reassure the general public. He took some of his own government 
bonds and put them up as collateral to back the bank's deposits. Now 
people could be certain that even if the bank failed, there would be 
something to stand behind and guarantee their deposits.
  Calvin Bellamy, current President and Chief Executive Officer, tells 
me that the same commitment to customers and community guides the 
present management of Bank Calumet. Before returning to that subject, 
let me first say something about the Bank's Main Office, which at nine 
stories is still the tallest building in Hammond.
  The 100,000 square foot structure at 5231 Hohman Avenue was begun in 
1924 to house the First Trust and Savings Bank which failed in the 
Great Depression. The building's steel frame is covered by Indiana 
limestone and at the base by polished Minnesota granite. The main lobby 
has its same original and magnificent chandeliers. The American walnut 
ceiling--at least 35 feet from floor level--is decorated with painted 
and inlaid designs. The original marble floors and columns still grace 
the lobby.
  In 1934, the bank moved from its original location at 5444 Calumet 
Avenue to the present Hohman location. The transfer of the bank's 
assets and cash required a heavily armored motorcade. Fayette Street 
was guarded every few feet by machine gun toting marksmen perched on 
roof tops along the route. $650,000 traveled down the street that day, 
a very attractive target in those Depression plagued times. 
Fortunately, all went well.
  Today, the bank continues to serve as an outstanding corporate 
citizen and partner with the people of Hammond. I want to briefly 
highlight the bank's particular commitment to Hammond's neighborhoods 
and the education of the city's children.
  Hammond is a city of neighborhoods. And its future will be determined 
by the strength of those neighborhoods. In 1989, the bank's management 
began wondering what they should be doing to strengthen Hammond's 
neighborhoods. They began with five separate focus groups, each drawn 
from a different part of the city. As they dialogued, it became clear 
that Hammond's housing stock, though still mostly in moderate to good 
condition, needed attention.
  So beginning later that year, the bank announced its Neighborhood 
Investment Program (NIP). Through NIP, the bank began offering home 
improvement financing to residents of Hammond at one percent below its 
normal rate and on terms more flexible than its usual underwriting 
standards.
  This program has been offered every year since 1989. Each year the 
bank sends a brochure to all homeowners in Hammond. Now in its eighth 
year, the bank has made over 800 NIP loans. From antidotal evidence, 
bank officials have strong reason to believe that without this extra 
effort, much of the home improvements financed by NIP loans would not 
have occurred. They can say for certain whatever home improvement 
financing that would have occurred anyway would have been at higher 
cost to the homeowner. If nothing else, the NIP discount has made 
rehabilitation of Hammond homes a more affordable proposition.
  Besides the Bank's commitment to rehabilitation and remodeling 
Hammond homes through its Neighborhood Investment Program and various 
credit counseling activities, they also give a great deal of attention 
to the Hammond public schools. For about a decade the bank has had a 
formal partnership with Wallace Elementary School. Some of the 
partnership's key elements include an active Student of the Month 
Program, banking curriculum taught at the school, and student tours and 
job shadowing at the bank. Aside from these specific details, the 
partnership boils down to this: several bank officers have a great deal 
of personal contact with these students, providing a mentoring 
experience for these eager young learners from a diverse, moderate 
income neighborhood.
  In 1997, Calumet Bank felt the need to expand its involvement with 
the Hammond schools. More and more, its loan officers are seeing credit 
reports on young people only out of high school a few years already 
developing credit problems. Excess use of credit cards slow payment of 
bills and careless management of their checking accounts, these and 
other problems are causing people in their twenties and thirties to 
have difficulties obtaining affordable home, auto and other financing.
  Given these challenges, the bank wanted to be part of the solution. 
So in the spring of 1997, they proposed to Hammond School 
Superintendent Dr. David Dickson a program they call MONEY MATTER$. 
What they are offering to do is go to all four Hammond high schools and 
have contact with every senior. MONEY MATTER$ would consist of a three 
part series--first on the history of money and the role of banks in the 
economy, next on the proper use of credit and understanding the role 
played by each individual's personal credit report, and finally a 
session on how to manage a checking account, including the proper use 
of ATM cards.
  Calumet Bank has also formed a President's Council whereby four 
students from each high school meet with senior bank officers over 
lunch for more in-depth discussion of banking issues and also career 
opportunities in banking. This group will meet for the third time on 
March 5, 1998. The bank's goal is to stimulate dialog since they 
recognize that businesses also need to learn more about what youth are 
thinking.
  As you can imagine, these school-based activities represent a very 
significant time commitment. There are also some dollars involved, but 
the bank feels this extra effort and expense are important to the 
future of Hammond and Northwest Indiana. As a community bank, Bank 
Calumet's leaders realize their future depends on the community's 
future.
  Since Joseph Meyer founded his bank 65 years ago it has undergone 
several name changes. But whatever the name, its commitment remains 
true to Joseph Meyer's original philosophy of service to their 
customers and their community.
  As bank President Bellamy expresses it, ``If the people of Hammond--
individuals, government, and businesses--continue to work together as 
partners, our city's future will be at least as exciting as our past. 
Those of us in leadership positions today have benefitted from the 
experiences of our predecessors and it is no less our duty to continue 
the work of building for an even better future.''
  Mr. Speaker, Joseph Meyer was not instantly successful. In fact, he 
suffered a business failure before he found his stride. Yet, despite 
personal and business setbacks, he eventually made a success of 
himself, and provided an invaluable asset to the people of Hammond as 
well as the rest of Northwest Indiana.

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