News

Who's who: Mickey Brown, through Katrina and back

Mickey Brown shares his story about rebuilding life and business after Katrina.

May 11, 2006

The writer is a free-lancer for ATMmarketplace. If you would like to comment on this story, pleasee-mail the editor.

J. Michael Brown

It's clear from the get-go that J. Michael Brown, better known as simply "Mickey," a New Orleans resident and the newly appointed president of First Bank and Trust, is the kind of guy everybody wants to know.

He's the kind of guy who gets attention, said Lana Harmelink, international operations director for theATM Industry Association. Beyond his fine threads, Brown was "instrumental" in helping the industry push legislation for surcharging transactions made by foreign tourists to the United States.

"He has been instrumental in getting legislation passed in California and soon Florida, authorizing the owner of an automated teller machine to charge an access fee or surcharge for transactions using accounts from certain financial institutions located outside of the United States," she said. "There are now 15 states that have passed this type of legislation, with Florida soon to be the 16th. Mickey led this fight for both California and Florida."

Brown's determination is evident, and it's revealed itself through some of the most unlikely circumstances.

Last year, days before Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, Brown readied his family for evacuation and dispersed them to various locations outside the city. He then, as the president and chief executive ofInnovus Inc., sent his entire Innovus team to a backup site in Dallas.

Aug. 29, Brown braced himself for the worst as he watched the city of New Orleans overflow. Floodwaters surged from a levee system overcome by Hurricane Katrina. Everything he had floated down the streets of New Orleans in a flood of oil, debris and carnage.

"When I came into the city, what I saw coming up the river was incredible," he said. "There were ships laying on their side that had washed in through the levee; people wading through the water with their belongings; and buildings on fire. … It was what one would imagine the end of the world would be."

Growing a business

Brown nurtured Innovus (formerly Momentum Cash Systems LLC) from a small ATM company to a leading U.S. full-service ATM provider. After Katrina, everything he had worked to build appeared to be gone.

Brown stayed behind to protect his family, who were afraid to leave the city. He was stranded there for four days until a neighbor came to the rescue in a motorboat.

"Many of the events that occurred during and after the storm are too painful to remember," Brown said. "I have learned that, deep down inside, there are instincts of survival that are built-in and are called into action when the human spirit faces its toughest moments. I was amazed at what could be done in the face of such overwhelming destruction and desolation, knowing that at any minute your life could end."

He put his in-laws on a bus to Houston before hitchhiking 225 miles to his mother's home to rest, eventually joining the Innovus team in Dallas, where Innovus is now based.

"I dealt with the events of Aug. 29th and the days thereafter by focusing," Brown said. "Success, whether it be in surviving or accomplishing business goals, is all about focus. My family was safe, and I was safe. And by focusing on the company and the people around me, I was able to allow myself to begin a healing process."

'Turning clients into friends'

"If you're a friend of Mickey's, there's nothing he won't do for you," said David Bender, Innovus' executive vice president of sales who's known Brown for 14 years. "His success in the business world comes from his ability to turn clients into friends."

As president and CEO, Brown made Innovus one of the nation's top 10 privately held full-service providers of ATM and EFT services. Innovus now has more than 18,000 ATMs and processes more than 6 million transactions a month.

"He's the kind of guy who gets in at 7 a.m. and punches out at 7 at night," Bender said. "He's willing to go to any city or country at a moment's notice to close the deal and get things done."

Brown's daughter, Shelley, says her dad is a hard-working, positive guy.

"He's very smart and always positive," Brown, a T.V. news reporter in Toledo, Ohio, said. "My Dad has this very serious side to him when it comes to work, but he also has this other side that's really friendly."

Brown plans to use that positive attitude and work ethic at First Bank and Trust, a community bank with $650 million in assets that Brown joined in January.

"Mickey's a hard-working guy," said James E. Livingston, a minority Innovus owner and member of the company's board of directors. "He's very focused and commanding, and he knows how to get things done. He understands how to deal with and encourage people, and at the end of the day, he understands the bottom line.

"He lost his home in Katrina and suffered a serious personal setback ¼but he worked hard and got himself out of it. That's strength about Mickey that carries over into his work."

Brown plans to use his industry experience to re-organize, grow and diversify First Bank and Trust.

"I want to grow the business in a way so that we won't be concentrated in just one area of the country; so that if we ever have another storm like (Katrina) it won't hurt us," he said. "In the ATM industry, we focused on corporate entities while going after major corporate relationships."

"My prior bank experience helped me get in the door, and that has allowed me to sharpen my banking and management skills," he added.

A restless spirit

Brown continues pushing legislation that allows ATM deployers to surcharge non-domestic cardholders. He promoted passage of a surcharge bill in California, with Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Calif.), and he's working on similar legislation in Florida.

"It's all about the small businesses," Brown said. "Somebody needs to stand up and fight for these guys."