The story of your business is filled with challenges and triumphs. Where every chapter brings with it a new adventure.
Through it all, Golden Belt Bank is proud to be your financial partner, shining a light on every page you turn. We created this page to share the business stories within our communities. May they provide you valuable insights as you continue to write your own business story.
Business owners living their dream.
Mario and Karen Gutierrez are dreamers, they always have been. When Mario was 18 years old, going to school and working in a restaurant at night, he started to share his dream of owning his own restaurant.
It’s a calling that paired well with Mario’s passion for cooking and creating and Karen’s strong skills of organizing and leading people. Mario and Karen both grew up working with Mario’s siblings in his mother’s restaurant in Russell. Mario’s mother started working in a Tex-Mex café in Russell in 1969. Less than a year later, she had the opportunity to put in her own recipes and buy the café. This is where the legacy of Gutierrez Mexican Restaurants began. Karen was hired when she turned 16 and Mario and Karen worked together and learned the business together. It became obvious, after only a couple years, that they were planning a future together.
In 1984, Mario and Karen brought their family to Hays and started, Gutierrez Mexican Restaurant. They’ve owned it since and have watched the enjoyment of Mexican food grow in the community. This could never have been achieved without the skills and traditions of great service, fresh and flavorful food and the ability to train and maintain staff.
For many years, Mario worked in the restaurant with Karen in the background as the children were being raised and she stepped out into other opportunities. In 2013, they came back to working together to create a new restaurant. That’s when Trio came to life, an American cuisine establishment with top Quality Craft Beers and a variable cocktail menu. Today, they manage a staff of 50 employees to run both restaurants. One of the greatest privileges they have enjoyed is working with their daughter and now two grandchildren to lead the way into the future of their restaurants.
Built on family values
The couple has instilled strong family values and work ethic into their four children. Traits they also teach to the young employees under their tutelage. They value making their employees feel appreciated with random meals and desserts for all. More importantly they work side by side their employees, and not just as their boss. “We care for our staff and their well-being,” said Mario.
When the couple was looking for a bank, they wanted someone to partner with. They found it in Golden Belt Bank, where the same level of caring they deliver to their staff is practiced. (The bank’s location across the street was the added bonus.) “We just appreciate the service, the relationship, the fact that they are willing to work with us,” Karen says. “We’ve always been taken care of and had good service from everybody there.” “We love the people,” Mario says. “Golden Belt Bank is about relationships. We know that they value us as individuals and not just as a number or account. That’s how we treat our employees, and we’ve seen that through all our bankers at Golden Belt Bank.”
“We appreciate the service, the relationship, and the fact that they are willing to work with us and are always there,” Karen says. “We’ve always been taken care of and had good service from everyone there.”
Dream Big
Mario and Karen are grateful to be able to live their dream—to see it come to fruition. They credit the support of Golden Belt Bank for helping them achieve business success. Also, for helping their children go after theirs. From leading a large boat company, Tige Boats, to college dreams, to Broadway, their sons have experienced the beauty and understanding of partnering well with a bank. Their daughter working with them locally knows, Golden Belt Bank is always there just across the street.
“One of the things I hear from all our kids is, “Will Golden Belt Bank… or, Do you think Golden Belt Bank will?” Mario says. “We look at the dreams that have come true. All I can tell you is it continues generationally.”
The business owners understand that relationship doesn’t mean anything if it isn’t followed up with service.
Have a business story to share?
Getting a business off the ground—or growing one—takes courage, commitment and vision.
Your story might inspire other business owners (or emerging entrepreneurs) to realize their dream. If you want to be featured on this page, contact us.
Tools to support your business
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To help your business story grow brighter with time, we offer the following:
