FFB&T Newsroom

Scholarship Announcement from Ivy Tech Community College-Kokomo Region

Please see the following link concerning a scholarship for current high school seniors. Please note of several changes to this scholarship:

• It is open to ALL high school seniors, not just FFA members
• There are 9 $1000 scholarships left to award for the 2009-2010 academic year
• You must be applying to Ivy Tech Community College-Kokomo Region (offers a two year transfer degree to Purdue University for an Ag major)
• Scholarship application deadline has been EXTENDED to May 15th
• Contact and other information is located in the link
• All needed material is also linked

Download Ivy Tech CC Scholarship

Local FFBT Employee Speaks to Ag Community

On Tuesday, March 24th, Cary Mawbey, Senior Commercial Lender out of our Kokomo South office, spoke to a group of approximately 30 farmers at a Spray Clinic held at Waitt Equipment Sales in Cicero. He joined a few other speakers at the event and spoke about financing availability for farmers and the rural lending environment.

Cary has also spoken at a variety of other events within the past year. In August, he spoke about Commercial Lending to the Women in Accounting Group at Indiana University-Kokomo. In September, he spoke about funding options for small businesses at the Small Business Development Center and at Purdue University for a Farm Management class. So far this year, Cary has spoken at the Purdue Cooperative Extension of Howard County, Ivy Tech Community College, and at the Indiana Farm Managers and Rural Appraiser’s annual meeting.

“I enjoy speaking because I want to give back to the agricultural community. This is one small way that allows me to do that” says Cary.

Several Employees Complete Education Courses through the IBA

In 2008, several First Farmers employees participated in and completed educational series and schools provided by the Indiana Bankers Association. These courses include management, compliance, commercial lending, and many others. Brian Bragg, Branch Manager at our Sheridan office, and Julie Cain, Assistant Director of Operations in Converse, completed the High-Performance Leadership Series from the IBA. This series taught students how to be leaders, how to coach team members, how to communicate and provide feedback, and how to create change within the organization. It was scheduled over six days between January and November.

The IBA’s Branch Management Series was attended by Kathy Kerr, Assistant Branch Manager of our Tipton Branch, and Christy Williams, Security Officer and Assistant Branch Manager at our Peru River branch. In this series, students learned about sales and service and how to schedule in today’s environment through the use of lecture, open discussion, and role playing.

Vicky Pickering, Compliance Specialist, attended both the Community Bankers for Compliance School and the Community Bankers for Compliance Series. This school is a 5-day compliance program designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the major regulatory compliance regulations for the banking industry. Discussion and case studies were used so that participants could discuss issues and exchange ideas with other community bankers.

Two newcomers to FFBT took part in the IBA’s Midwest Agricultural Banking School. Michael Murphy, Loan Operations Specialist in Converse, and Jeff Rodibaugh, Commercial Account Officer in Tipton, attended the school between November and December. This school teaches about structuring agricultural loans, discusses the Farm Service Agency, and discusses crop insurance, along with many other topics. Like other schools and series through the IBA, they use small classroom and small group settings, with a lot of hands-on activities and discussion. The classes are taught by experienced bankers and consultants. Not only do employees take part in these educational offerings, our board of directors does as well. Dr. Freddie Barnard, a professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University and a member of our board, serves as director of this school.

First Farmers highly values continuing education and finds it crucial in the development of the bank. We congratulate these employees on their achievements!

FFBT Earns Highest Rating in the IBA’s Five Star Member Program

First Farmers Bank & Trust earned a five star rating in the Indiana Bankers Association’s Five Star Member Program. To earn five stars, the institution must exemplify outstanding commitment in the following five areas: Political Awareness, Issue Advocacy, Life-long Learning, Volunteerism, and Community Involvement.

Gene Miles, President and CEO of FFBT, will accept the award for First Farmers at the 2009 IBA Mega Conference on April 28th.

2009 Ag Client Seminar