FFB&T Newsroom

Marion Branch of FFBT Participates in Sand Sculpting Contest to Benefit CASA of Grant County

On Saturday, July 18th, FFBT sponsored and participated in the First Annual Sand Sculpting Contest to benefit CASA of Grant County. The event was created and led by FFBT employee Michael Belcher’s 11 year old son, Bradley, and 7 year old daughter, Lauren. Bradley Belcher has been involved in several fundraisers in the area and especially enjoys helping organizations that benefit kids. The Community Foundation of Grant County previously recognized his work by naming him Youth Philanthropist of the Year. After discussing the organizations that needed help, Bradley and Lauren chose CASA and decided on a sand sculpture contest. This event was held in memory of Pastor Andy Schramm, who dedicated many years to CASA and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The event was held at The Splash House in Marion. Along with First Farmers, Paddock View Residential Center and Westminster Presbyterian Church also served as sponsors. All three organizations and 10 additional teams participated in the event as well. Teams could contain up to four members and they had from 1:00-6:00 to build their creation. They had an 8’ x 12’ area to work in and IMI donated over 63 tons of sand for the event. The sand was delivered courtesy of Thompson Trucking, and the city of Marion has agreed to store the 63 tons of sand for use next year.

The First Farmers team consisted of Lanita Ferre’, Katie Smock, and James Norris, all of our Marion branch. They build a turtle (picture shown below). Michael Belcher teamed up with Dawn Darga to create Frosty the Sandman (also pictured below). At the end of the contest, several awards were given out. The first was the Schramm Family Award, which was voted on by the Schramm family. The winner of this award was Carey Services. The second award was the People’s Choice Award and was given to the group that collected the most money. This award went to Westminster Presbyterian, who had spent a lot of time collecting money in memory of Pastor Schramm. The final award was the Golden Pail Award, given to the group with the best spirit and who had the most fun. This award went to Paddock View Residential Center.

First Farmers Bank & Trust was very excited to participate in this event and looks forward to participating again next year. It’s great to see employees, and employees’ families, doing so  much for their community. 

  

First Farmers Financial Corporation Welcomes New Board Member

John O’Donnell has been added to the Board of Directors of First Farmers Financial Corporation, the parent company of First Farmers Bank & Trust. O’Donnell resides in Kokomo and is the owner of Reality Investors. John has an extensive background in the financial industry. He began his banking career in 1973 with Union Bank (now Key Bank) and worked there for 11 years as head of trust investments. After moving to American Fletcher Bank (now Chase Bank) in Indianapolis to work in the investment area, John returned to Kokomo with First National Bank in Kokomo as Vice President. During that time, he also formed First National Investments and served as President of the organization. In 2004, he became President and board member of First National Bank and Regional President for Harris Bank in 2006.

John is the current chairman of the Kokomo Howard County Chamber of Commerce, a Vice President of Finance of the Sagamore Council Boy Scouts of America, a board member of the Kokomo Family YMCA, and a member of the Elder Board at Fairview Baptist Church. He currently spends his time working on real estate investments and has been a client of First Farmers Bank & Trust for over 20 years.

John earned his degree from Indiana University’s School of Business and currently resides in Kokomo with his wife Patti. They have 3 children: Ann Cleary, who resides in Leesburg, VA with her husband, David and son, Will, Laura Misinec, who is currently serving as a J.A.G. Officer in Iraq with the U.S. Army with husband, Marcus, who is also a J.A.G. Officer currently serving in Iraq, and Matthew O’Donnell, who resides in Kokomo with his wife, Meagan.

FFBT Welcomes New Employees

Deborah Key will be working at our Amboy branch as a part-time card processor. She has worked as a receptionist and legal secretary in the Marion area for many years. Deborah is anxious to learn more about FFBT.

 

 

 

Melissa Scales has worked for FFBT previously through our school to work program. She is currently attending Ball State University. Melissa will be working at Converse temporarily doing scanning on a part-time basis. We are glad to have her back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pamela Lindley joins FFBT from Central Bank. She has been in bookkeeping and proof operations at Central Bank for 12 years. Pam is familiar with the Kokomo community and will be working at our Kokomo South branch as a teller and back-up CSR on a full time basis.

 

 

 

Kortni Beachy recently returned to Swayzee after working in management and sales in Florida. She previously worked as a substitute teacher at Oak Hill Schools and will be working as a teller at First Farmers’ Greentown location. Kortni enjoys one on one client relationships and looks forward to growing her career in the financial industry.

 

 

 

 

 

Patricia Garvin is a native of Miami County and recently joined FFBT as a receptionist at the Converse location. Previous employment includes Director of Inside Sales with FDL/OFG Kokomo and Receptionist/Sales Secretary with Kofabco in Peru. She looks forward to learning more about banking operations.

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy Dietrich is a native of the North Judson region and recently joined FFBT as a part time teller at the North Judson location. Nancy has several years of experience in the financial industry, most recently with Bank of Indiana. She hopes to have the opportunity to provide old fashioned customer service to FFBT customers.

 

 

 

 

 

Melody Scalf is a native of Howard County and recently joined First Farmers as Consumer Lender/Mortgage Loan Underwriter in the mortgage department at Converse. She has spent the previous nine years as the office manager/mortgage processor at Mortgage City, Inc in Kokomo and is looking forward to learning more about consumer loans and the banking aspects of mortgages.

 

 

Cody Reaves is participating in the bank's School-to-Work Program. He is currently a senior at Oak Hill High School and will be working at our Converse office as a part time teller.

 

 

 

 

Jill Armstrong will be working out of our Converse office as a commercial loan processor. She has 15 years of experience in the banking and mortgage industries, acting as a mortgage processor for 9 of those years. She is eager to learn more about FFBT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teri Butler was also was previously employeed by FFBT as a teller at our Peru River branch, and has recently been working in the accounting department at Ace Hardware in Peru. After realizing that she missed the customers and atmosphere at FFBT, she decided to come back, working as a full time teller at the Peru River branch.

FFBT Welcomes Several Summer Interns

Every summer, First Farmers provides internships for college students and recent high school graduates in the various departments of the bank.  This year, we are happy to welcome four new interns and four returning interns. 

Jacqueline Collins joined First Farmers Bank & Trust this summer as a receptionist and clerical assistant in the loan department at the Peru Square location. She is a recent Lewis Cass graduate and plans to attend Northern Kentucky University in the fall.

 

 

 

 

 

Courtney Comer joined First Farmers Bank & Trust’s operations department as a teller in the South Central area. She is from the Tipton area and is attending Indiana Wesleyan University. She plans to graduate in 2012 and is studying Accounting and Finance.

 

 

Molly Naphew joined First Farmers Bank & Trust at the Peru River location, where she will serve as a teller. She is from the Walton area and is attending Indiana University in Bloomington. She plans to graduate in 2012 and is studying business.

 

 

Katie Smock joined First Farmers Bank & Trust’s newest branch location in Marion where she will work as a teller. She is from the Marion area and is attending Indiana Wesleyan University. She plans to graduate in 2010 with a degree in Finance.

Amy McKinney returned after working as a teller last summer and over school breaks. This year, she will be located at the Sheridan location. She is from Tipton and is attending Purdue University. Amy plans to graduate in 2011 and is majoring in selling and sales management and minoring in organizational leadership and supervision.

 

 

Daniel Wyant returned after working as a teller last summer. This year, he will be located in the North Central branches, including Converse, Amboy, and Peru. He is from Bunker Hill and is attending Manchester College. He plans to graduate in 2011 and is studying Accounting.

James Norris returned after working as a teller last summer. This year, he will be located at our newest branch location in Marion. He is from Swayzee and is attending Purdue University. He plans to graduate in 2011 and is majoring in accounting and management and minoring in finance.

 

Andrew Norris returned after working as a teller last summer. This year, he is located at our Greentown location. He is from Swayzee and is attending Purdue University. He plans to graduate in Winter 2010 majoring in Actuarial Science and minoring in management and statistics.

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.

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.

FFBT Welcomes Travis Hueston

At the beginning of the year, First Farmers Bank & Trust welcomed a new addition to the Trust/Finance Departments in Converse: Travis Hueston. Travis will serve as a Trust Officer and Assistant Controller at the Converse office. Previous work experiences include 6 years as a Trust and Accounting Officer with First National Bank & Trust and Harris N.A. He graduated from Indiana University-Kokomo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

Ken Perkins Receives ISA’s Beyond the Fence Award

On December 18th, Ken Perkins, Senior Commercial Lender at First Farmers Bank & Trust, was presented with the Beyond the Fence Award for Outstanding Industry Support during the Livestock Forum at Lucas Oil Stadium.

This award is presented to individuals and organizations that go ‘beyond the fence’ to support Indiana’s livestock industry. According to the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA), Ken has been a voice of reason for and has served to support the livestock industry at many county meetings throughout the state. Feel free to give Ken a call or stop by the Peru Square branch to help First Farmers congratulate Ken on this achievement.

Jeffrey Cole Bennett, son of Greentown’s Tammy Bennett Graduates from Basic Training

Jeffrey Cole Bennett, son of Jeff and Tammy Bennett, recently graduated from the Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, IL. Bennett was instructed in Naval history, Naval protocol, shipboard damage control, firefighting, physical training, and firearms during his eight weeks of basic training. During his training, Bennett also qualified as a sharpshooter and will spend 11 weeks studying information technology at Pensacola Naval Base.

Bennett is a 2008 graduate of Eastern High School, and his mother, Tammy, works at the Greentown branch of First Farmers Bank & Trust.

New Officer Additions

In November, First Farmers Bank & Trust welcomed a new addition to the Loan Department in Converse: Michael Murphy. Michael will serve as a Loan Operations Specialist and Assistant Vice President of Commercial and Agricultural Lending at the Converse office. Before coming to the bank, Michael spent 7 months deployed in Iraq, serving in the Marine Corps Reserve. He is currently attending Indiana University-Kokomo, majoring in Finance, and expects to graduate within the next year. He is excited to be a part of the First Farmers Lending Team and looks forward to learning as much as possible. He grew up in Greentown, and currently resides in Kempton with his wife Sara.

Also in November, First Farmers Bank & Trust welcomed Jeff Rodibaugh to the Lending Team in Converse. Jeff will serve as Commercial Account Officer and Assistant Vice President. His previous work experience includes seven years as an Agricultural Engineer and Environmental Consultant with Livestock Engineering Solutions, Inc. where he served as a consultant and current environmental issues specialist to livestock producers and local lawmakers in every region in Indiana. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Purdue University, specializing in Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering. Jeff grew up on a diversified grain and purebred swine operation in Rensselaer, and currently resides in Tipton with his wife Amber and their two young children.