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20 FORTY UNDER On the move: Meet the next generation of bank leaders By Bill Streeter, editor & publisher, and Steve Cocheo, executive editor

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14 BANKING EXCHANGE June 2018

20 forty

under

On the move: Meet the next generation of bank leaders

By Bill Streeter, editor & publisher, and Steve Cocheo, executive editor

June 2018 BANKING EXCHANGE 15

W elcome to Banking Exchange magazine’s inaugural 20 Under 40 Awards. “Under 40” listings are not unusual. In fact, sev-eral of the bankers on the following pages

have been named to such lists at the state or local level. But no under 40 list existed in banking nationally.

Now one does, and it seems appropriate for a publica-tion with the tagline “The Voice of The Next Generation of Banking” to have it.

Over the next few pages, you will find profiles of 20 up-and-coming bankers. All have already made an impact not only in their respective institutions, but also in their communities, and often in their states. A few made it onto the national stage—prior to this contest.

BroAd sCopE ANd rEACHCollectively, these indiv iduals—11 men and nine women—will help banking thrive in the next decade. Going by this first group of winners, the industry will have a bright future. These young bankers are push-ing for changes and already have brought about change despite the relatively early stage of their careers.

The group is quite diverse in terms of type and size of institution. Several came from institutions under $300 million in assets (and one under $100 million), while three came from institutions over $100 billion. The range of titles and functions also is quite broad. Two of the winners are already bank chief executives.

THE judGING pANElEvery effort was made to make the selections fair and the judging rigorous. Each entry was reviewed and scored by at least two judges. In a few instances, judges recused themselves from a particular entry where there was a close connection.

Here are the four individuals who served as judges for the 2018 Banking Exchange 20 Under 40 Awards:

Kirby Davidson, president and CEO, Graduate School of Banking, Madison, Wis.

Laurie Stewart, president and CEO, Sound Commu-nity Bank, Seattle, Wash.

Bill Streeter, Editor & Publisher, Banking Exchange, New York, N.Y.

H. McCall Wilson, Jr., president and CEO, The Bank of Fayette County, Rossville, Tenn.

The judging criteria statement used by the judges in reviewing the entries is as follows:

“We are seeking nominees who display leadership; can demonstrate that they have made a difference to their organization, including to the community in which the organization operates or to the industry; have a vision for the future of their institution, for banking, or for the particular department/unit within which they currently work; and generally could be viewed as ‘an up-and-comer’ in the field.”

Please join us in congratulating the winners. We have endeavored to capture something of their personalities, views, and noteworthy qualities in the following profiles.

The profiles, starting on page 16, are not presented in any order. All 20 are Next Generation of Banking Leaders.Sh

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16 BANKING EXCHANGE June 2018

/ 20 UNDER 40 /

Tammy Kelley, 34 Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, Table Rock Community Bank, Kimberling City, Mo.

Tammy Kelley doesn’t seek the spot-light, but the spotlight seems to find her. In addition to being selected for Banking Exchange’s 20 Under 40 list,

Kelley made the 40 Under 40 list put together by the Spring-field Business Journal earlier this spring.

This isn’t too surprising for someone who has a hard time saying no when asked to lead some project or task force. Of this propensity, she says, “If I was asked to be in the first seat of a rocket, I’d say, ‘Yes.’”

Recently, she said, “Yes,” to the CFO job at $85 million-assets Table Rock Community Bank, becoming one of three new senior leaders. She had helped her previous bank grow from under $100 million to $380 million, and the plan is to grow Table Rock in a like manner. “I’m used to the idea,” she says.

Before joining Table Rock, Kelley had caught the attention of the Missouri Bankers Association, which tapped her to lead its Young Bankers Leadership Board. She grew the program to nearly 1,000 members, in part by creating networking events in her region including “legislative lunches.”

Kelley’s work for MBA was noticed at the national level, and she was asked to serve on the Emerging Leaders Advisory Board of the American Bankers Association.

Kenneth Meyer, 35 Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Consumer Banking, SunTrust Banks, Inc., Atlanta

One of his mentors at Accenture told Ken Meyer that some people are really good at g iv ing adv ice, others are good at making decisions. Working at

the consultancy was great experience, but Meyer realized he wanted to make decisions, and so he left to join SunTrust.

Five years later, Meyer has quickly moved up the ranks to be CTO of consumer banking, having come up through wholesale operations, where one of his signature innovations was “Meyer Minutes.” These unscripted, no-agenda meetings are an oppor-tunity for anyone to meet with the boss in small groups—with no managers present—and ask any questions they want.

“I’ve gotten some interesting questions,” says Meyer, “even personal ones, because they wanted to get to know me.” It’s also an opportunity for him to learn about what they do.

Meyer says leaders tend to be in so many meetings that “if we’re not careful, we lose touch” with the people doing the work.

Meyer has been a driver for cloud-based computing. Several years ago, he overcame resistance at the $165 billion-assets bank to using a (then) little-known small company called nCino. It took almost nine months to overcome the objections, he says, but the cloud-based platform has proven to be a big advantage. So has the use of Amazon Web Services, which Meyer helped lead the big regional bank to use.

Joel Foxworth, 39 Regional President, Third Coast Bank, SSB, Beaumont, Tex.

Joel Foxworth has been named an under 40 winner in local newspapers, and that was before his exploits during Hurricane Harvey. How he handled himself last August during the cata-

strophic storm flooding only adds to his reputation.As regional president for Third Coast Bank, Foxworth went out

during the worst of the storm to check on bank properties. Pass-ing a rescue staging area, he joined two men from Arkansas with a boat, acting as a guide as the men navigated flooded neighbor-hoods he knew. Subsequently, his own home was flooded forcing him, his pregnant wife, and their two boys to leave it. As if that wasn’t enough trouble, the couple’s daughter was born with a badly turned foot requiring many doctor visits. Financial sup-port from trade groups, bankers, and others was a big help, he says, and the little girl is now almost back to normal.

In his nine years at Third Coast Bank, Foxworth has helped lead the bank’s growth from $80 million to nearly $800 mil-lion, managing its largest book of business for much of that time and maintaining a large book of business himself.

Foxworth is regularly called on to give bank employees his “Plan C” speech. “Everybody talks about Plan A and Plan B,” he says, “but in lending, things are not always black and white.” Plan C, he says, is to find a way to structure the credit, not just to get to a “yes,” but also to “set the customer up for success.”

Michael Levine, 33 Senior Vice-President, Private Banking Department Manager, First Liberty Bank, Oklahoma City

“I can’t tell you how many times, on my first call to a prospect, they don’t know who their banker is,” says Michael Levine. Once a prospect becomes a cli-

ent, however, they know Levine is their banker.Levine spent eight years at a regional bank before joining

$385 million-assets First Liberty Bank. He prefers the commu-nity bank atmosphere and culture because it lets you “service clients in a holistic way versus siloed.”

After a stint as a commercial lender, bank President Joey Root promoted Levine and tasked him with growing the bank’s Private Banking Department. At the time, it had a loan portfo-lio of less than $10 million. Within three years, Levine grew the portfolio to over $60 million. It now has a staff of three people.

To ensure that clients always know who their banker is, Levine calls on them regularly—at least quarterly and often monthly. He also schedules a team lunch once a quarter to help maintain camaraderie.

A self-described “sports fanatic,” Levine says sports is where he developed his competitiveness and sense of teamwork.

This influence is evident in how he describes his department. “The team has a sense of urgency,” he says, “not to cut corners, but to service a client properly and as quickly as we can.”

June 2018 BANKING EXCHANGE 17

Kimberly Moyers, 37 Market President, First United Bank & Trust, Morgantown, W.Va.

A self-described “people person” who gets no greater satisfaction than using her position to help people find their own path for advancement, Kim Moy-ers, nevertheless, is a competitive

leader. In her nearly 13 years with the bank, Moyers has moved from corporate marketing to commercial lending to branch manager and now market president.

Her region led the way in piloting a universal banker plat-form for $1.3 billion-assets First United Bank & Trust, based in Maryland.

The new approach involves leasing versus building office space, usually about 1,500 square feet. New branches typically have three employees—a relationship advisor, a.k.a., universal banker, a commercial lender, and a wealth advisor.

Although not technically a millennial herself, Moyers under-stands the impact of digital, describing its adoption as “critical to remain relevant with multigenerational customers.” Yet she differs with those who dismiss physical presence altogether.

“Everyday transactions in branches are declining,” she acknowledges, but conversely, face-to-face advisory is growing. “Younger generations value that just as much, if not more,” than older generations, she says, adding that “our bank’s personal-ized approach sets us apart.”

Sandra Starnes, 30 Vice-President, Emerging Products and Services, The Citizens Bank, Batesville, Ark.

“I wanted to be a teacher,” says Sandra “Sandy” Starnes, “but a few class trips with my niece talked me out of that!”

Working for The Citizens Bank has allowed her to teach, in a way. As she says, “people development is, hands down, my passion.”

As she worked in different areas at the $773 million-assets bank, Starnes felt that training and development was where she could help most. Given the green light, she developed a train-ing program including a “boot camp” for new employees and the Leadership’s EDGE development program. These helped address a talent gap at the bank.

Later, to help the bank gain insights from younger people, she created a Student Board of Directors in 2015. It is still func-tioning and has led to several former “board” members being hired after they finished school.

Known in the bank as the “pioneer project lady” for hav-ing led many initiatives in her ten years at the bank, Starnes recently took on a new project: leading a business model rede-sign team. The team is empowered to reconsider processes, structure, technology—anything to “make life easier” for cus-tomers and to “expand our focus beyond competing with the bank down the street to include companies like Amazon and Apple,” she explains.

Melissa Ballard, 34 Vice-President, First Iowa State Bank, Albia, Iowa

When President Trump signed S. 2155, the Regulatory Relief Act, Melissa Ballard felt she had a piece of that vic-tory. “A very small piece,” she points out with modesty.

Indeed, bankers across the nation helped that legislation over several years to reach signing. Ballard played her part by serv-ing on the Iowa Bankers Association’s Legislative Committee.

Ballard believes in action in the face of unfavorable cir-cumstances. “Instead of complaining,” she says, “you can do something to change the direction.”

Since 2016, Ballard—whose bank job includes compliance and risk management—has served on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Community Bank Advisory Council.

“Sometimes, it definitely felt like hitting your head against the wall,” says Ballard. But she persevered because the meet-ings represented a way to put an industry viewpoint in front of bureau staff. She found the bureau’s people intelligent and open to discussion, “but they had a job to do, and we had a job to do.”

Beyond a busy job and extensive industry volunteer work, Ballard and her husband, the manager of a feedlot operation, live on a hobby farm with their three children.

Ballard maintains that her guiding principle comes from a quote from Muhammad Ali: “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”

Corey LeBlanc, 36 Chief Technology Officer, Origin Bank, Ruston, La.

Six years in the Air Force left Corey LeBlanc with skills and insights that have proven valuable in his career in banking. As he says, “I went from work-ing for the Department of Defense to

the banking industry—both highly regulated!” On top of that, LeBlanc says that in the military, there’s a lot

of on-the-job training. They want you to “just get at it,” which, he says, has been very helpful working for a fast-growing bank.

Origin Bank has grown from just over $600 million in assets and 11 locations in 2007 when LeBlanc joined the company to its current $4.1 billion and 53 locations.

LeBlanc’s experience in the service as a network engineer and threat prevention analyst also helped develop his speaking abil-ities and his ability to work with different groups and teams. Both skills have been used to good effect at the bank.

“Speaking helps take collaboration a step further because of the relationships you build,” he maintains, adding: “You can’t do it all yourself.”

This ability to communicate bridges the gaps between differ-ent bank functions. It also has enabled IT to “take a different seat at the table,” says LeBlanc—moving from a support depart-ment to one that is now routinely engaged in business decisions. LeBlanc often meets with prospects to help to win new business.

18 BANKING EXCHANGE June 2018

/ 20 UNDER 40 /

Jenn Payne, 39 President of Compliance, FirstBank, Lakewood, Colo.

Not many people in the bank compli-ance fraternity carry the title president of compliance. Jenn Payne plays it down, though, saying it’s how $18 bil-lion-assets FirstBank is structured.

Payne spent eight years as a loan officer—consumer and com-mercial—and another seven years in loan operations. Moving from loan operations to compliance wasn’t a stretch, she says.

“To be honest, I’ve always enjoyed the compliance part of loan operations,” such as the rollout of RESPA regulations.

Now that she oversees all compliance, Payne hasn’t changed her mind.

“Compliance is much bigger than simply applying the rules,” says Payne. “It’s about what the right thing is for the customer.”

As compliance president, Payne has pushed for her team to get involved earlier in the process, particularly as FirstBank, and as other banks are doing, seeks to innovate with new digital products and partnerships. “We need to understand the busi-ness line and be on the front end of tech improvements,” she says, “and not just be the bad guys at the end.”

The banker notes that technology is changing not only bank-ing, but also the regulatory landscape. She is strongly in favor of a “regulatory sandbox”—a means by which banks and fintech companies can experiment without fear of regulatory backlash.

Wally Mlynarski, 35 Chief Product Officer, Elavon, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank

In the tech space, agility is a given. Six years ago, however, when Wally Mlynarski joined Elavon, the U.S. Bank merchant payment subsidiary, agility hadn’t yet permeated the orga-

nization. He helped embed it, starting with his first assignment. Mlynarski was brought in as a “team of one” to launch the

payment company’s mobile practice, which included hiring a team of about 80 people. He hired 30 engineers within 30 days!

Mlynarski’s group evolved into Elavon’s innovation center, called The Grove, tasked with developing the company’s mobil-ity and omnichannel commerce strategy. Along the way, it established the kind of agile software development process now used by Elavon and, increasingly, by other parts of the bank.

Mlynarski and his colleagues have created a culture of “respon-sible disruption” within Elavon. He describes this as having a sense of urgency and willingness to challenge the status quo, but in a way that leads to “assimilation—bringing people together.”

The organization overall is very “f lat layered,” he says. Any-one can challenge an idea or assumption.

One of Mlynarski’s goals is to help eliminate the use of account numbers on cards, to be replaced by a one-time dynamic payment instruction.

In the United States, this has been hindered by market eco-nomics, Mlynarski says. He is doing what he can to change that.

Mark Thompson, 30 Deposit Operations Manager, Ephrata National Bank, Ephrata, Pa.

It’s not often that a department man-ager at a billion-dollar bank would seek out a member of the board of directors to have lunch. Nor would every bank embrace the practice. But

Mark Thompson does it whenever he can, with the blessing of the bank’s CEO Aaron Groff.

“Aaron encourages these kind of things to help the younger generation to grow,” says Thompson, who says he benefits from the exposure to board members’ experience. They benefit, too, he says: “They don’t know the ins and outs of what I do.”

Thompson also reaches below him in building relationships. In one case, he has been encouraging a high school graduate to work part time for the bank remotely as he works his way through college.

As Thompson wrote in his entry submission, “Leadership is influencing others to meet their goals and aspirations.”

In his role as deposit operations manager, Thompson is always looking to bridge the gap between “what is” and “what could be.”

“There is a strong connection between customer experience and back-end performance,” he says. “There are a lot of options out there for customers.” Related to that, Thompson sits on the bank’s Fintech Committee. It researches companies that could impact the bank and makes recommendations to management.

Jeremy Balkin, 35 Head of Innovation, HSBC Bank USA, N.A., New York City

“Just after Lehman Brothers collapsed” is not the way most people would refer-ence the date of a major life event. But then Jeremy Balkin has always been interested in f inancial services and

markets. He used a bar mitzvah gift from his grandmother to buy his first shares of stock.

But back to life-changing events. Balkin used to engage in mil-itary-level physical training with friends. One day, as he clung to the end of a rope over a cliff, his left arm snapped. He hung on with his other arm, and blacked out. He awoke two days later in a hospital. Restoring his injured arm required eight metal rods and 14 screws. With his body repaired, Balkin resolved to be a better human being, given a second chance, and, in the midst of the financial crisis, he decided to do everything he could to be a role model that “finance is a force for good in the world.”

Balkin got a taste for innovation while working for Austra-lia’s Macquarie Bank. He was part of a small group of young bankers that the CEO gathered off-hours to stimulate creative thinking. In time, Balkin became chairman of the group, learn-ing “a ton” about working inside a big organization.

Today, as head of innovation at HSBC Bank USA, he describes his role there as being an “intrepreneur.” He defines innovation as “doing something different that creates value.”

20 BANKING EXCHANGE June 2018

/ 20 UNDER 40 /

Sarah Courtney, 37 Senior Vice-President, Information Services, Coastway Community Bank, Warwick, R.I.

Here’s how you make your way up the ladder. After a stint as a teller, Sarah Courtney became Coastway Community Bank’s first call center representative.

She created manuals and training guides and even found a new and faster currency transaction reporting system and imple-mented it. That gave her a taste for technology, and she hasn’t looked back, on the way to becoming the $780 million-assets sav-ings bank’s senior vice-president of information services.

Technology even now is not the usual route to the top in a bank, but Courtney may prove to be an exception. As she wrote in her submission: “The CEO, Bill White, asked me where I would like to be professionally one day. Without hesitating, I answered, ‘I would like to be sitting in your chair one day!’” He responded, “I hope that you do!”

Coastway, a former credit union, agreed in March to be acquired by HarborOne Bancorp of Massachusetts. Whatever her situation is after the merger, Courtney says she believes a technology background is the wave of the future in banking.

She also believes banking will become less transactional. “I see what Amazon is doing with banking,” she says. “Banks need a great online presence, plus people behind it.” In other words, the technology plus the trust and relationship to back it up.

Jennifer Mott, 38 Senior Vice-President, Retail Banking Executive, WesBanco Bank, Cincinnati

Jen Mott credits her 14 years at Fifth Third Bank as helping her “grow up in retail.” There came a time, however, when she realized that her ability to inf luence things was “diluted” at such

a large institution, and she took the position of retail banking director at First Financial Bank, also in Cincinnati.

There she implemented a consultative selling program. It’s something she feels very strongly about, not only as a differen-tiating factor for a bank, but also as the right way to approach sales. “So many people focus on product features and forget to learn about customer goals,” says Mott. They need to ask ques-tions and listen, she says, and then “sell the problem you’re solving, not the product.” This approach helped set the bank apart from the competition, says Mott. She does add that “we ask for the order, of course.”

Mott recently moved to her current position at Wesbanco Bank, headquartered in Wheeling, W.Va. The bank is on its way to being about $11 billion in assets once an acquisition is con-cluded later this year.

Mott is excited by the opportunity to inf luence the bank’s retail culture. As she says, “My job is to help my team remove obstacles that hold them back—they’re the experts.” Using a golf analogy, Mott says she is the equivalent of Tiger Woods’ caddie. “I just need to be sure he has the right club.”

Brian Brooking, 38 Vice-President, Consumer & Residential Lending, Woodlands Bank, Williamsport, Pa.

“Everyone is moving in six dif fer-ent directions these days,” says Brian Brooking. People want things as fast and as quickly as they can, he says, but

also are looking for experts to help them get their banking done. Brooking feels that’s community banks’ niche—a place where clients come for answers and assistance. It’s about trust as well.

“People realize we are not going to take advantage of their situation and put them into an ARM they don’t understand,” says Brooking, who oversees mortgage and consumer lending at the $405 million-assets Woodlands Bank.

At the same time, Brooking—who has been there 15 years, rising from a teller—is well aware of the need to stay abreast of technology. On the deposit side, which he oversees, he says the bank is moving toward digital account opening. “If you’re not looking at these things, you will miss segments of your market,” says Brooking.

As part of transforming Woodlands into the “go-to bank for mortgages,” Brooking partnered with another Pennsylvania community bank to be able to offer FHA, USDA, and VA mort-gages. “We don’t have the luxury of being underwriter for every type of loan,” he says. Woodlands handles origination and ser-vicing, the other bank does the underwriting. “It’s worked really well, and we’re building volume,” says Brooking.

David Saber, 38 Chairman and CEO, Park Financial Group, Minneapolis, and President, Park State Bank, Duluth, Minn.

About six months into the turnaround at a small bank where he was the new president—having been a bank consul-tant before that—David Saber looked

in the mirror and asked himself, “Did I make the right call?”Now, a year and one-half later, the face in the mirror is smil-

ing—with good reason. Saber has orchestrated the turnaround of a troubled $33 million bank into a profitable, much larger bank that was ranked No. 37 in the United States for banks under $1 billion by S&P Global. After a recent acquisition, the bank will be at $140 million in assets.

Saber jumped into banking from a consulting job at Wiscon-sin-based Wipfli, where he worked with banks up to $10 billion. After some initial soul searching, Saber took the plunge into banking, with capital from a Minneapolis-based investor.

With the exception of about four new people, Saber worked with the existing team at the bank. “I had to earn their respect,” he says. He does allow that having not been a banker and hav-ing seen many banks as a consultant was an advantage. He also worked hard to bring new energy to the bank and to change the culture to that of a top-tier bank and a fun place to work.

Saber compliments not only his team but an engaged and supportive board and owner.

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22 BANKING EXCHANGE June 2018

/ 20 UNDER 40 /

Brooke Clouse, 30 Senior Vice-President, Director of Retail Services, Lead Bank, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

“I’m one of those people who, if they don’t have a challenge, it’s not interesting.”

That’s a curious comment from a person who originally wanted to be a

librarian. But it’s quite fitting for where Brooke Clouse is today. In addition to retail, she has oversight of compliance, audit, oper-ations, and HR at the $250 million-assets bank serving three distinct markets in Missouri.

Clouse faced a challenge in 2008: Six months after she joined the bank as a teller, the bank was placed under a cease and desist order. But Clouse survived and was part of the rebuilding process led by new management. One of her signature projects was implement-ing the bank’s first open-concept branch in downtown Kansas City, Mo. There is no teller line, and the office uses what Clouse describes as “farm tables”—long tables where clients can be assisted by bank-ers or do work on their own. “Start-ups like it,” she says.

Of her compliance, audit, and operations work, Clouse says, “Detail is really my thing.” With compliance, for example, she enjoys working on the right balance between what’s required and what’s easy to understand in a disclosure.

R. Jason Burns, 39 President, Bank of Eufaula, Okla.

Jason Burns learned that life can change quickly.

Burns joined the Bank of Eufaula in 2005, gradually moving up to vice-president, handling multiple types of lending as well as compliance at the

small bank, now with $102 million in assets.Then in January 2016, an escapee from a Texas prison

entered the bank, shot and killed President Randy Peterson, and demanded money. He wounded another bank employee and took a hostage, who was shot multiple times in an ensuing gun battle, in which the convict was killed.

The board asked Burns to step into the presidency. “Within a moment, a significant and valued leader had been taken from us,” says Burns. “From the outset, I set the goal to demonstrate stability and resilience.”

Burns says the bank’s staff supported him in this leadership challenge. “I’m proud to say that despite the tragic event, we had no attrition. Our staff remained, came back to work, and excelled at their jobs.”

Bit by bit, Burns has delegated duties and hired additional staff. He is looking forward to growth and improvements in efficiency.

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June 2018 BANKING EXCHANGE 23

Jeffrey Craig Buse, 39 Senior Executive Vice-President & Chief Loan Officer/COO, Springs Valley Bank & Trust, Jasper, Ind.

When Craig Buse started out in bank-ing, he was an “IT guy.” He’d completed a masters in information security, and if he’d remained in IT, that would have

made for a traditional career path. End of story.But, in Buse’s own words, “I’m not your average tech guy.” For

one thing, he has the ability to speak about IT issues in normal language to C-level people. For another, Buse [pronounced Boo-zee] just won’t stay in the IT silo.

Case in point: In 2012, the $384 million-assets bank’s chief loan officer and its only credit analyst left simultaneously, leav-ing the bank bereft. Buse headed up the effort to find and develop internal talent to fill the analyst job, and he got up to speed to become chief loan officer himself later on.

On the strength of such experience, he began developing plans for improvement of other parts of the bank. This was on top of having developed procedures to support a bankwide quality man-agement system. He was named COO in 2012.

So the “IT guy” has evolved. “I’ve told people that I am a career banker,” says Buse. “It’s who I am now.”

Kelci Werner, 28 Vice-President, First National Bank & Trust, Elk City, Okla.

Kelci Werner strongly believes in the role of community banks, but knows that to remain relevant, they must find that happy medium between the latest tech-nology and their traditional roots. “We

have to bring in technology so that millennials and other younger generations will be attracted to the bank,” says Werner. That’s one reason why she’s helping the bank move into social media.

Banking was not Werner’s first choice. Her mother, Sandy Werner, is CEO of the $316 million-assets bank, and not surpris-ingly, Kelci wanted to walk her own path. She pursued a career in public accounting with a big-four firm in Oklahoma City, but soon realized the work environment left no time for the commu-nity-related work important to her. An IT job opened up at the bank, and she welcomed the chance for a fresh start.

Werner, who is studying for her CPA, now handles loan reviews, call reports, trust accounting, funding settlements, tax returns, and helps out with marketing. Plus, she has been able to represent the bank in the community, including delivering Meals on Wheels and leading a youth group at her church, proving that sometimes you can come home again.

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