FFB&T Newsroom

First Farmers Bank & Trust Receives Miami Mike Award

On Friday, May 15th, First Farmers Bank & Trust received the Miami Mike Award from the Miami Mike Committee. The Miami Mike Award is awarded to a Miami County business that invests into their location. Recently, First Farmers remodeled their drive-up and back offices, allowing for greater access to their facilities. Accepting the award were Norman Lavengood, Senior Vice President and Director of Commercial and Agricultural Lending, and Mark Jones, Senior Vice President.

First Farmers Bank & Trust Opens 18th Branch Location in Marion

First Farmer's 18th branch office officially opened its doors at 830 N Baldwin in Marion on Thursday, May 14th.  The location represents the second Executive Branch for FFBT to be located in a retail shopping development and will anchor the new 'Baldwin Place' along with Moe's Southwest Grill.

Michael Belcher, Vice President and Commercial Account Officer, will serve as Branch Manager and Lanita Ferre will serve as Assistant Branch Manager as other staffing at the branch is being finalized.  The full service office offers complete drive-up services and 24 hour ATM access in addition to traditional lobby hours.

Please check back in the near future for more information.

Greentown Holds Walk for Relay

Earlier this month, the staff at our Greentown location held a Walk for Relay to benefit Relay for Life of Howard County.  Approximately 60 people (and 2 dogs!) participated in the event and raised a little over $2700.  In addition, they have been selling homemade Mother's Day cards with all proceeds being donated to the organization as well.

In late May, they will be holding their annual Ride for Relay.  The proceeds from this event, as well as the card sales and the Walk for Relay, will be donated together to Relay for Life.  For information about the Ride for Relay, to sign up to ride, or to donate, please contact Jodi Cecil at (765) 628-3309.

FFBT wins Five Star Bank and Marketing & Advertising Excellence Awards from Indiana Bankers Association

First Farmers Bank & Trust (FFBT) was presented with two separate and prestigious awards at the MEGA conference of the Indiana Bankers Association (IBA) on April 27-29 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

The Five Star Bank Award was presented to FFBT President and CEO Gene Miles in recognition of excellence in five separate categories of bank performance. To receive an award, institutions must show outstanding commitment in the areas of Political Awareness, Issue Advocacy, Life-Long Learning, Volunteerism, and Community Involvement. It is the first time that First Farmers Bank & Trust has been awarded the distinction.

“We’re pleased to be recognized for the efforts and hard work of a number of our employees and directors,” said Miles. “Our organization is very proud of the commitment that we make to the communities that we serve and we are certainly appreciative to the IBA for the recognition of those efforts.”

The Bank also received a Marketing & Advertising Excellence Award (Maxi) from the IBA for its efforts in integrated electronic communication. This is the second year in a row that the Bank received the Maxi award – its 5th overall Maxi.
Maxis are awarded according to an institution’s asset size, and categories include campaign, series, electronic, and direct mail. FFBT’s winning entry recognized the innovative application of automated E-News broadcasts and interactive social media applications to complement traditional Internet banking platforms and website-based information models.

The Bank utilizes web-based applications such as Facebook and YouTube to broaden informational reach and provide more depth to product and service communication efforts.

“We’ve received the award several times over the past five or six years, but this one is particularly special because it showcases our attention to new communication models and the dynamic nature of new media applications,’ said Tade J. Powell, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations. “We’ve been ahead of the curve in these efforts and to be cited as innovative in this medium is very rewarding.”

First Farmers Bank & Trust Follows Record 2008 with Record 1st Quarter of 2009

Converse-based First Farmers Financial Corporation, the parent company of First Farmers Bank & Trust, recently distributed its 2008 annual report and audited financial statements to shareholders, also making copies available to the general public throughout its 17 branch locations in North Central Indiana.

“The dramatic and unprecedented economic and regulatory developments during 2008 presented a significant challenge to much of the banking industry,” said Gene Miles, President and CEO. “We were proud of the fact that First Farmers determined it could serve the credit needs of our communities without public assistance. The Company evaluated the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and saw no benefit in accepting bailout funds. We were confident that we had the earnings base and ample capital to support our lending activities and capitalize on growth opportunities.”

The Company’s assets grew 8.5% for the year to $658 million, while loan balances increased 12.1% and record earnings of $7.3 million were reported. Shareholder dividends increased for the 18th consecutive year as total dividends of $1.11 per share were declared in 2009. The Bank’s equity ended the year at $72 million, a level that significantly exceeded the FDIC’s guidelines to qualify as “well capitalized.”

Most recently, the Company reported its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. The quarter was notable for a surge in mortgage lending volumes with origination activity nearly tripling the first quarter of 2008. A stable net interest margin, disciplined operating expense management and the growth in mortgage banking revenues were sufficient to overcome higher credit costs and a slight decline in various non-interest revenue sources. Overall earnings improved 13.4%, to $1.9 million, for the quarter and dividends of $0.28 per share were declared. The Company’s lending activities continue to benefit from a favorable marketplace with portfolio loans having grown 13.8% over the past 12 months.

“Our responsiveness and hands-on approach to lending has provided the opportunity to attract many quality clients that have been disenfranchised in recent months by policies and practices being instituted at other organizations,” said Miles.

“We have many reasons to be optimistic about the future,” he continued. “That confidence in the future is grounded in our past performance. Our investment philosophy emphasizes liquidity, simplicity, and safety rather than stretching for excess earnings; these principles served us well in a very challenging period for the industry. In addition, prudent management and lending standards have paid exceptional dividends, while our adherence to the old-fashioned standards of traditional community banking in our area of expertise has produced uncommon results.“

First Farmers Bank & Trust Company is a $663 million community bank headquartered in Converse, Indiana with 17 branches serving Cass, Hamilton, Howard, Huntington, Madison, Marshall, Miami, Starke, Tipton, and Wabash counties, with its newest branch scheduled to open in May in Marion, Indiana. First Farmers also conducts trust, investment and brokerage activities through First Farmers Wealth Management Division and leasing activities through SCI Leasing Group.

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