About Utah: Meet a banker not in it for the money

"I'm happy I'm here," he says, "it just makes you feel good to think you're doing something meaningful for the world."

His travels as company CEO, where he has seen the depths of poverty firsthand, have only reinforced that thinking.

"In many of the places where we function our clients literally cannot get in the front door of the bank," he says. "There's an armed guard standing there and if you don't have the proper credentials you can't even enter the building to talk to someone about borrowing money. They have no chance."

At Mentors, it's just the opposite. Being poor is the only way you can get in the door.

"What we offer is dignity," Petersen says. "In the end that's what people thank us for; allowing them to take care of themselves."

Lee Benson's About Utah column runs Monday and Friday.