Helping people is what fuels the fire of Purcell Banker Jason Bean.

Bean, who has worked at First United Bank for the past 10 years, is the Market President at the Purcell Branch.

He’s a 1993 graduate of Wynnewood High School and earned his undergraduate degree from East Central University.

He earned his Masters of Business Administration degree from Oklahoma Christian University and studied two years at SMU’s Southwest Graduate School of Banking.

Helping someone purchase their dream car, buy a house, start a business or growing a business is the most gratifying and interesting part of his job.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur,” Bean said in a recent interview. “I’ve run and owned several businesses so if someone comes in and says they want to buy a food truck I know exactly what they need.”

Bean was referring to once owning a snowcone food truck that made its way around the area for a couple of years.

“When you can help people out if makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something,” he confirmed.

On the flip side is when people that are direly in need but don’t qualify for loans.

“That can put you in a bad situation sometimes,” Bean conceded.

He was hired by Susan Tarp when the banks merged.

“They were looking for a person that would get involved in the community to go the Lions Club meetings, the Rotary Club meetings, ball games and the livestock shows,” Bean said. “They said they could teach me banking.”

“Our bank is deeply rooted in the community and we spend a lot of money each year trying to do just that,” he said.

For instance, First United pays for the Dave Ramsey financial literacy program for area schools, donate to athletic programs and put together a non-profit program to unite the horse industry.

“We think Purcell’s growth is important for us and the community,” Bean continued. “Another area is with the Ministerial Alliance. We feed them and allow them to fellowship to help grow the Christian community.

“That’s the fun part,” Bean said. “We like being a partner with the community, like purchasing the sign at the high school.”

Bean started his career with the Norman Police Department but quickly decided that was not his cup of tea. He worked in supplying music, movies and books to Walmarts, where he oversaw 212 employees that covered 200 Walmart stores in six states.

The Beans lived in Amarillo, Texas where he would have to fly to Tennessee to work with his team.

“It wasn’t very conducive for a family,” Bean said of his 13-year stint before they moved back to Oklahoma in 2008.

That job, managing the profit and loss statements for a $685 million a year company, gave Bean the financial experience along with his MBA to be hired by Mrs. Tarp at the bank.

Bean reports his day usually starts off with a meeting to go over deadlines for that day and to review what hurdles they would have to maneuver around.

“On the loan side we will have anywhere from 30-60 active files.

“You are constantly juggling all these balls making sure deadlines are not missed. Plus, you are constantly stopping what you are doing to manage current customers and addressing real-time needs.

“You never know what your going to get but that’s what makes it exciting,” he confirmed.

Bean and his wife, Marci, a Lexington native, have two children. Jason and Marci met while attending East Central. Mrs. Bean is the principal at Lexington Middle School.

First United has 75 locations, including 35 in Oklahoma.