Chief Lending Officer Steve Mitchem to Retire from Great Southern Bank

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., March 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than 27 years of dedicated service, Steve Mitchem, the chief lending officer for Great Southern Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC), announced his retirement. He will retire effective April 7, 2017. Mitchem is a Drury University graduate with degrees in Business Administration and Economics. After graduation, Mitchem worked for the FDIC as a senior bank examiner for more than 16 years.

He joined Great Southern Bank in 1990 and became the chief lending officer in 1999. As chief lending officer, Mitchem was responsible for the Bank's lending activities. During Mitchem's tenure, the Company's loan portfolio grew from $360 million, with lending operations primarily in the southwest Missouri region, to $3.8 billion with lending operations in nine states.

"Great Southern appreciates Steve's commitment and leadership throughout his career," said President and CEO Joseph W. Turner, "His contributions will have a lasting effect on our Company. Steve will be greatly missed and we wish him a healthy and enjoyable retirement."

To ensure a smooth management transition, Mitchem and management began planning for his retirement in early 2016. At that time, the Company restructured the lending division to better reflect the Company's size and scope. The lending division now has two separate areas of responsibility – loan production led by John Bugh and credit administration led by Kevin Baker.  Bugh and Baker are long-term Great Southern lenders, who each have more than 27 years of banking experience.  

Great Southern Bank operates 108 offices in nine states, including 104 retail banking centers in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska, three commercial loan offices in Dallas, Texas, Tulsa, Okla., and Chicago, Ill., and one home loan office in Springfield, Mo. With $4.6 billion in total assets and a mission to build winning relationships with its customers, associates, shareholders and communities, Great Southern is headquartered in Springfield, Mo. Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. is a public company and its common stock (ticker: GSBC) is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select stock exchange.

Forward-Looking Statements

When used in this press release and documents filed or furnished by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in the Company's other press releases or other public or stockholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, (i) non-interest expense reductions from Great Southern's banking center consolidations might be less than anticipated and the costs of the consolidation and impairment of the value of the affected premises might be greater than expected; (ii) expected revenues, cost savings, earnings accretion, synergies and other benefits from the Fifth Third Bank branch acquisition and the Company's other merger and acquisition activities might not be realized within the anticipated time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected; (iii) changes in economic conditions, either nationally or in the Company's market areas; (iv) fluctuations in interest rates; (v) the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; (vi) the possibility of other-than-temporary impairments of securities held in the Company's securities portfolio; (vii) the Company's ability to access cost-effective funding; (viii) fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; (ix) demand for loans and deposits in the Company's market areas; (x) the ability to adapt successfully to technological changes to meet customers' needs and developments in the marketplace; (xi) the possibility that security measures implemented might not be sufficient to mitigate the risk of a cyber attack or cyber theft, and that such security measures might not protect against systems failures or interruptions; (xii) legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect the Company's business, including, without limitation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and its implementing regulations, and the overdraft protection regulations and customers' responses thereto; (xiii) changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; (xiv) monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry; (xv) results of examinations of the Company and the Bank by their regulators, including the possibility that the regulators may, among other things, require the Company to increase its allowance for loan losses or to write-down assets; (xvi) costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments; and (xvii) competition. The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above and other risks described from time to time in documents filed or furnished by the Company with the SEC could affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements.

The Company does not undertake-and specifically declines any obligation- to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

www.GreatSouthernBank.com

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SOURCE Great Southern Bancorp, Inc.