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June 18, 2004
 

Organizational Meetings Next Week
More than 200 bankers from across the state serve in a volunteer capacity with GBA.  An annual tradition dating back more than 60 years brings these bankers together in the Organizational Meetings.  “These meetings are the one time during the year when all our volunteers, the GBA elected officers and senior staff get together to plan the year ahead,” said GBA President Joe Brannen.  These meetings will be held the week of June 23 at the Cloister on Sea Island.  In a joint session of all volunteers, newly installed GBA Chairman Dan Blanton, President of Georgia Bank and Trust Company of Augusta, will share his goals for the year and the staff will give a brief update on GBA activities.  Steve Powell of Steve H. Powell & Company in Statesboro will share the trends his firm is seeing as they work with dozens of community banks in the state in the area of asset quality.   Also, the standing committees will begin planning their annual conferences and the other boards, Group Officers and Public Affairs Committee will hear from longtime Georgia State Senators Terrell Starr (D-Forest Park) and Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) about the upcoming elections and major banking issues.  Political pundit, Jeff Dickerson, will moderate this bipartisan panel and share his views on the new political reality in Georgia.

Leadership GBA Deserves Your Support
The future leaders of the banking industry are active in Leadership GBA.  These bankers are committed to the industry and devote much of their time, talent and energy to it.  Their dedication merits and deserves our support.  GBA Chairman Dan Blanton said, “Supporting Leadership GBA and its members is vital to the future of our industry.  This group of people is the best and brightest in banking.”  The current Leadership GBA President is D. Copeland, Senior Vice President at Columbus Bank and Trust Company.  He is joined by three other officers and a board consisting of a banker from each of GBA’s 10 Groups as well as four At Large members representing the state as a whole.  In addition to their education activities through the Personal Economics Program and PAC fundraising, they host the annual Leadership Conference which will be held this year from July 18-21 at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort on Hilton Head Island. Headlining the conference is Synovus CEO, Jimmy Blanchard, who will share his views on the REAL definition of success and how you can succeed and make a meaningful contribution to society.  Several events have been planned to allow bankers to meet and share ideas with their fellow bankers.  The GBA’s room block for the conference expires June 20.  If you have not already done so, please reserve your room as soon as possible by contacting the hotel directly at (800) 845-8001.  With questions, please call GBA’s Susie McGehee at (404) 420-2010.  See you at the conference!

GBA BankPAC Update
Since our last report, Melton Tyson, CEO, The Morris State Bank, Dublin, has participated by contributing to the GBA StatePAC.  Thank you for your support. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Elizabeth Chandler at (404) 420-2027.

DBF on Credit Unions
We reported recently on an Attorney General ruling that affected fields of membership of certain state-chartered credit unions.  The credit unions had asked to take advantage of the broad field of membership powers existing in state law prior to 1975 that granted their board of directors the ability to determine their field of membership.  Even though many of these credit unions had specific companies defined as their field of membership, they were now asking to use the broader powers.  The AG’s ruling seemingly gave the credit unions some relief when he said a more restrictive law passed in 1975 did not take away their previous powers.  However, the Banking Department has interpreted the ruling to say the credit unions must stick with their stated fields of membership and will not be able to take advantage of a broader field of membership just because they had the right to do so at that time.

Credit Union Effort – Georgia Update
As of May 28, bankers from Georgia have sent a total of 208 letters to Members of Congress opposing H.R. 3579, the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, via ABA’s website.  Additionally, so far 13 bankers from Georgia have turned in commitment forms to join Operation Credit Unions–the joint ABA/state bankers association effort to address the credit union competitive threat. When the delegation from GBA was in Washington last month visiting our members of Congress, we discussed the problems with this legislation and how it expanded credit unions’ commercial lending ability while at the same reduced their capital requirements. A recent General Accounting Office report showed how the credit union industry has evolved into two distinct groups: one, the traditional credit union serving consumers in a defined membership and the other, the large, expansionist-oriented credit unions going after more and more bank-like services. GBA Chairman-elect, Tom Wiley, who also serves as chairman of GBA’s Public Affairs Committee said, “No one really has a beef with the traditional credit unions. However, for those credit unions who want to be just like banks, they ought to have our same regulatory treatment, capital standards and pay the same taxes we do.”

Graduate School of Banking at LSU
Congratulations to the Georgia bankers who completed the three-year course of study at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.  Since the school’s founding, 1,371 Georgia bankers have completed the rigorous program. This year, Georgia had the third largest number of participants with 68 students – more than 10 percent of the entire student body representing 23 states and foreign countries. Special recognition goes to Shannon Fortson, Vice President of Pinnacle Bank in Elberton. Shannon piled up 33 A’s in home study assignments and joins only 86 other students in the school’s 55 year history with a clean sweep of making a perfect score on the home studies. Also, the President of the Class of 2005 is Beth Lee Garner, Controller/VP of ABC Bancorp in Moultrie. GBA’s Marybeth Jones hosted a “Georgia Night” reception the last week of the session to recognize the Georgia bankers who were attending the school in Baton Rouge. Contact Marybeth at (404) 420-2032 with questions about the school.

Executive Management Academy
The sixth session of the Executive Management Academy originally scheduled for June 14 will now be held on June 28th at the 1842 Inn in Macon.  This session will focus on Human Resources Management with Steven S. Green, founding partner with Matthews & Greene in Atlanta, facilitating. Discussion will include employment law compliance, managing human resources functions such as recruiting, training and policy, and employee retention. The Executive Management Academy is designed in a peer-to-peer roundtable format and addresses issues of importance to executive management. You may attend all six sessions or select individual sessions based on the content. For more information, call GBA’s Susie McGehee at (404) 420-2010.

AIB Instructors Needed
GBA is already planning our Fall 2004 AIB course schedule.  AIB has been the industry standard for banking education for over a century and it is our dedicated banker instructors who continue to make the AIB program a success.  We are seeking qualified applicants to help educate and train bankers throughout the state.  Call GBA’s Edie Canales at (404) 420-2034 for an application or additional information.

New Rules for Defined Benefit Pension Plans
New rules have been issued requiring sponsors to communicate the relative value of various benefit payment options to participants upon terminating or retiring.  Please contact your actuary to make sure all notice requirements are met.  Certain notices must be updated by July 1, 2004 if your plan sends out election forms and notices 90 days in advance of participant distributions.  Otherwise, all other plans must make this change effective for any distributions processed on or after October 1, 2004.  Retirement plans help to ensure employee morale and superior performance.  The programs offered through the GBA Master Trust provide flexibility to meet the needs of any bank or associate member who may be looking at adding or changing their qualified 401(k) Plan, Profit Sharing Plan, or Defined Benefit Pension Plan.  Please contact Mandy Richards at (404) 420-2025 for information on how GBA Retirement Services can help design a retirement plan for your bank.

Welcome New Associate Members
Congratulations to the following companies for being approved for Associate Membership at the May 23, 2004 Board Meeting:

·         The Carson Medlin Company, Tampa, Florida, Paula Johannsen, Managing Director
·         Dixon Hughes, PLLC, Atlanta, Eddie Sams, Executive Member
·         GA Resource Capital, Inc., Gainesville, Nancy Musselwhite, President & CEO
·         John M. Floyd & Associates, Inc., Baytown, Texas, John M. Floyd, CEO
·         New Rock Management, Inc., Conyers, William Woodrum, Jr., CEO
·         PrideRock Holding Company, Snellville, Mark Peterson, President & CEO
·         S1 Corporation, Atlanta, Jamie Ellerston, CEO
·         Street Security, Atlanta, Thad Wilson, President

Associate Members have played an important part of the GBA during most of our 111 years.  Today, more than 150 businesses are enjoying increased visibility and expanded marketing opportunities while banks are receiving more options for top quality, cost-effective products and services.  Company descriptions and contact information have been added to our webpage or contact Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036.

Overtime Exemption Assessment
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires the payment of one and a half times the regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of forty during the workweek.  The misclassification of employees as exempt continues to be a major area of exposure for banks.  On April 21, the United States Department of Labor issued the first major reform of the white-collar exemption in almost seventy years of its existence. The new rules go into effect on August 23, 2004.

The new rules offer an opportunity for banks to review their classification of exempt and non-exempt employees, and to bring the exempt/non-exempt treatment of positions into line with the regulations, while minimizing exposure to employee claims based on misclassification. The Overtime Exemption Assessment provides step-by-step guidance specifically designed for the banking industry on how to meet the August deadline for compliance.

The ninety (90) page Assessment has been designed for Employment Law Compliance by Boyd & Greene, LLC, national experts on Wage and Hour law, and a team of employment compliance professionals with many years’ experience assisting banks.  Look at these components addressing the new rules.

·        Easy to read Comparison Charts giving an overview of the most significant bank industry differences between the new regulations and the old.
·        Overtime Exemption Checklists that allow position-by-position assessment of classification compliance.
·        Job Evaluation Questionnaires to aid in developing FLSA-compliant job descriptions for your Bank.
·        Model Job Descriptions incorporating the elements of the new regulations for the most common Bank positions.
·        Guidelines for implementing a “Good Faith Compliance Initiative” that allows the Bank to retain exempt status, even after making improper deductions.
·        Key DOL authorities impacting community banks.
·        Checklists covering Record keeping, Hours Worked, Minimum Wage, and Computing Overtime Payments for non-exempt employees
·        Halftime Overtime Premium and Coefficient Table
·        Wage-Hour Investigation Guidelines

GBA Job Bank
The Georgia Bankers Association offers free job posting resources for our member banks.  These listings can be viewed online or through our bi-weekly publication included in the GBA Bulletin.  Resume postings are also available.  For more information please contact GBA’s Renee Valdez (404) 420-2036 or Kenyetta Parks (404) 420-2035.

New GBA Members
Congratulations to three new banks that opened during the month of May:  Mountain Valley Community Bank, Cleveland, Marc Greene, CEO; Community Bank of Georgia, Baxley, Lloyd Gunter, CEO; and New Horizons Bank, East Ellijay, Kent Sanford, CEO.

Latest Bank to Link
Welcome to United Bank & Trust, Rockmart, Rodney Grizzle, CEO, as the latest bank to link to GBA’s website. Call Lydia Thomas at (404) 420-2039 when your bank is ready to link.

Congratulations to the following:

Atlanta - BANC Financial Group
Ray Lawhorn has joined the company as Bank Consultant in the area of safety and soundness.

Atlanta - Flag Bank
Quill O. Healey and John D. Houser have been named to the holding company’s Board of Directors.  Additionally, Linda S. Ruddick has joined the bank as Senior Vice President; Wilson Eich as Vice President, Mortgage and Betty Eich as Senior Mortgage Loan Officer in LaGrange; and Chris Slouchick as Mortgage Loan Officer in Columbus.

Atlanta - SouthTrust Bank
Connie Beck has been named Chief Executive Officer of the Atlanta market.

Clayton - United Community Bank
W. Carl Blackburn has joined the bank as Senior Vice President.

Douglasville - Douglas County Bank
Congratulations to Billy Mayhew, President, and the officers, directors and staff on the bank’s recent celebration of its 30^th anniversary.

Mableton - Georgia State Bank
Donnie Elliott has been named Executive Vice President.

Savannah - The Coastal Bank
Chap Bennett has been promoted to Senior Vice President/Senior Lending and Branch Administrator and Thomas E. Butler, Jr. to Senior Vice President/ Corporate Banking Manager.

Statesboro - Sea Island Bank
Paul Roesel has been named to the Board of Directors.

Thomasville - Farmers & Merchants Bank
Joe Anderson has been promoted to Loan Compliance Officer of the Monticello office.

www.gabankers.com

About the GBA  I  Professional Development  I  Government Relations  I  Services