2024 Difference Maker: Robbie Guard's commitment to community and service

(Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer)

The race for president of the sixth grade lit a fire in young Robbie Guard.

Guard’s friendship with a younger student with special needs reminded him to reach out to the potentially less fortunate. That friendship, coupled with an impassioned speech highlighting Guard’s desire to connect, resulted in a presidential win. For Guard, years later, the win is an afterthought.

“Everybody loved the speech,” Guard reminisced. “But what that told me was that when it's genuine and from the heart, you can make a difference.”

Years later, Guard is senior vice president and market vice president at MRV Banks, a former member of the Cape Girardeau City Council and is active through numerous organizations.

As a fifth-generation native of Cape Girardeau, Guard is fiercely devoted to the town. He’s been raised here, raised his family here, and looks forward to his children graduating from Cape Girardeau Public Schools. The one time he tried to leave, it didn’t work out.

“I went to a small school in the middle of Missouri, called Westminster College. I was up there, and I was playing football, and it was fun,” Guard said. “And I was extremely homesick. I’m just a Cape guy.”

Following prayer and family emergencies, Guard decided to move back home. Guard, a self-described “doer”, enrolled at Southeast Missouri State University and hit the ground running. While in college, he worked at the Royal New Orleans, eventually falling into ownership of the Bel Air Grill. Around the same time, Guard joined the Chamber of Commerce and his family’s foam fabrication company. Guard’s precarious juggling of every role spawned a vital lesson about healthy work-life balance.

“It was the worst 17 months of my life,” Guard said. “So I knew (current MRV Banks CEO Doug Watson) and said, ‘Doug, I just need to have a career. And not just a job. I was like, ‘Man, I'll go into whatever.’”

Guard’s degree in public relations and minors in math and political science from SEMO became assets as a mortgage officer working off 100% commission. Guard found the combination of the numbers, relationships and people to be exactly what he was looking for, or as he said, like a “fish to water”. In 2008, he transitioned into commercial lending, barely dodging a direct hit from the housing crisis. Come 2012, a new journey began.

“Doug brings me on board (to MRV Banks) in 2012. We had an office for two of us, it was about a quarter of the size of the office (I’m in now),” Guard recalled. “And we started with zero in loans and zero in deposits.”

Twelve years later, the $70 million bank Guard joined is worth $750 million. Guard attributed his growth and drive to a simple creed shared by a past member of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees, Matt Hollis: “All we can do is leave something better than we found it.” With inspiration and motivation abundant, Guard joined numerous community organizations, such as: SEMO Alumni Association, Cape Noon Lions Club, MAGNET Board (Economic Development) and Transamerica Corridor Board of Directors. He was also elected as the Ward 4 councilman on the Cape Girardeau City Council, a position he held until earlier this year.

“I want to help Cape Girardeau be better. I want to help my bank be better,” Guard said. “I want to help my children to be better, my family. I mean, everything.”

Guard acknowledged there are areas to improve in the Cape Girardeau community. His constant attention towards public affairs stems from firsthand experience gained from the aforementioned boards and councils. Crime rates, community spending and university programs are only a fraction of hot-button issues in the local community, but Guard believes there is nothing to fear.

“We have a strong tradition of service organizations in this community,” Guard affirmed. “Whenever you get yourself out of your comfort zone, you join the Chamber and you start to meet people, opportunities will come up.”

Guard knows that limited experience can hinder people’s ability to work with community organizations. In his eyes, it’s as simple as finding a local organization that piques one’s interest and diving right in. Upon reflection, Guard remembered many times where life threw curveballs and he felt out of his depth.

“God puts us through what he puts us through, and when we come out the other end, we're much better for it,” Guard said. “I would just say to people, get up, dust yourself off and keep going.”

At the end of the day, Guard attributed the healthy maintenance of his drive to succeed to faith and family – from the way he was raised, to the yin-to-his-yang relationship with his wife and the continually expanding professional connections. With a stable support system and an unquenchable thirst for eliciting local growth, Guard’s impact on Cape Girardeau has no end in sight.