Each year, the Corridor Business Journal shines a spotlight on young professionals who have made a meaningful impact on the region early in their careers. We are proud to introduce you to the 20th class of Forty Under 40 honorees, chosen by a committee of past honorees. Zach Bohannon Market President | First Interstate Bank […]
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Residence: Marion, Iowa
Hometown: Marion, Iowa
Education: University of Wisconsin Madison — Bachelor in Economics, Master of Science in Political Communication, Master of Business Administration in Finance
What was your first job?
Engineering Intern, Rockwell Collins
Best advice you ever received?
Playing off of Charles Darwin's survival of the fittest quote: "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Companies and organizations are living beings, and if they do not evolve or adapt to change, then they will not survive and will cease to exist.
Who do you consider your local mentors? The older I get, the more I realize how incredibly blessed I have been to have had the two parents (Gordy and Brenda Bohannon) that I have had. Whether it was my mom who sacrificed her entire professional career to raise four competitive boys who all played college basketball, or my dad who solely focused his entire four decades career on building Bohannon Financial into what it is today, I hope I can provide half of the opportunities to my future kids that my parents have provided me.What would most people be surprised to learn about you?
I completed a full IRONMAN triathlon in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2014, which included a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.22-mile marathon run, without formally training for it.
What do you consider your "big break" in your career, so far? My "big break" was when Bob Carlson, president and CEO of the YMCA of the Cedar Rapids Metro Area, hired me in 2016 with no experience and only a can-do attitude to be the project manager of the Marion YMCA project. Over the course of three years, I was able to help turn around a failing project and build a brand new, $21 million YMCA a mile from where I grew up. Over the course of those three years, I negotiated two real estate deals (the YMCA and the award-winning Marion Fire Station HQ), fundraised, overlooked design and construction, and put together the final bank financing package. This opportunity provided me a skill set for my next job at Estes Construction, which then ultimately propelled me to become the Market President at First Interstate Bank.What’s the biggest issue facing the Corridor, and why?
Given that Iowa is one of the worst states in the country at keeping its college graduates within its borders, the "brain drain migration" of losing our top talent and intellectual capacity to other states is the biggest issue facing the Corridor from my perspective.
If you had $1 million to give, what causes would you support?
I believe in education having the power to change the world. Thus, if I had a million dollars, I would invest in providing education to impoverished areas throughout the world to raise our intellectual capacity to levels never seen before in human history.
What’s something people should know about your generation in the workplace?
While our generation may be known as not being loyal to our employers, after growing up with the global financial crisis, along with dealing with the pandemic early in our careers, our generation understands time is finite and we simply want to make a difference in each of our respective communities through our employment opportunities.
What do you want to accomplish by the time you are 50?
By the time I am 50 I would like to have achieved my Ph.D. in International Relations.
