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Convention Attracts a Crowd
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>
Campaigns Begin
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>
Credit Unions in the News
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GBA BankPAC Update
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Leadership Conference Approaching
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Bank Visits
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Relief Available for 401(k) Plans
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>
Insurance Trust Monthly Billing Reports
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>
FinCrime Reports Up This Month
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Welcome New Participants
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2004 GBA Salary Survey
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>
Overtime Exemption Assessment
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GBA Job Bank
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Add GBA to Safe Sender List
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> Congratulations
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June
Professional Development Calendar
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2004 Calendar of Events
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May 2004
Leadership Note$
Convention
Attracts a Crowd
GBA Chairman Ed Milligan, Chairman and CEO of
Main Street Banks, Inc. in
Atlanta, reports more than 375 people will gather this week for the
113th annual
GBA
Convention at the Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. “We are
delighted with the turn out this year. The bankers attending have a
packed week ahead with top notch speakers, a great hotel and
fun-filled sports and recreational events planned,” Ed said. Each
year, the annual convention draws bankers from throughout Georgia to
hear the latest news in banking, see old friends, make new
acquaintances and prepare for the future. “Every convention more
than pays for itself as what you learn at these events creates value
when you return to your bank,” Ed concluded. We will report more
about the convention, who was elected to new leadership positions
and recognize some special people in the next Bulletin.
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Campaigns Begin
Has your phone
been ringing off the hook from candidates for state and local
offices seeking help in financing their races? The 2004 campaign
season began in earnest when the General Assembly adjourned its
special session. There are more candidates seeking office than in
any time in recent memory, and many of the races will be hotly
contested. Among the more visible races is the one for U.S. Senate
to succeed retiring
Sen. Zell Miller. However, most of our members are reporting
getting more requests for support from the hundreds of candidates
for state House and Senate races. With the Senate closely split
between Republicans and Democrats, either party could be in control
come January. The Republicans are also mounting significant
challenges in many state House districts. The House is the only body
yet to be controlled by their party. Bankers need to be involved so
our voices will be heard.
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Credit Unions in the News
Georgia Attorney
General
Thurbert Baker has issued an opinion that could greatly
expand the field of membership for state-chartered credit unions.
David Sorrell, Commissioner of the
Department of Banking and Finance, had been asked by
state-chartered credit unions if their boards of directors could
determine what groups could be added to their field of membership
rather than going through a regulatory approval process.
Commissioner Sorrell asked the Attorney General for an opinion and
the Commissioner and his staff are now reviewing the opinion to
determine what steps to take next. Approximately 50 of the 77
credit unions chartered by the Banking Department could be
affected. Prior to 1975, state law allowed credit unions to adopt
bylaw provisions giving their board the ability to add groups to
their field of membership. Legislation passed in 1975 required
regulatory approval to approve expanded fields of membership. The
Attorney General has ruled, however, that the
credit unions which were in existence prior to 1975, and which had
those bylaw provisions in place, do not have to abide by the more
restrictive statute. “We are reviewing the ruling to determine if
there is any basis for a legal challenge,” said GBA Chairman-elect
Dan Blanton, President of
Georgia Bank & Trust Company
in Augusta. “We have seen credit unions continue to go far
astray of their original mission, and this is yet one more example
of where they are trying to find every way possible to expand. We
have already seen several credit unions change their charters to a
community charter so they would not have to add membership by
specific categories. In some instances, credit unions have tried to
add a whole state as their ‘community’ and that is just not
appropriate,” Dan concluded. GBA has also been focusing on
generating opposition to the credit unions’ principal bill,
H.R. 3579, now before Congress that would expand their
business lending. So far, none of Georgia’s congressional
delegation has cosponsored the bill.
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GBA BankPAC Update
Since our
last report, the following companies have participated by
contributing to the GBA StatePAC:
·
Jim Gill,
CEO, Citizens Bank and Trust of West Georgia, Carrollton
·
Bob Voyles,
President,
BankSouth, Greensboro
·
Jimmy Gillis,
CEO, The Bank of Soperton
In addition, officers and directors of the following companies
have contributed to the GBA FedPAC:
·
Jim Gill,
CEO, Citizens Bank and Trust of West Georgia, Carrollton
·
Bob Voyles,
President, BankSouth, Greensboro
Thanks to all for your support. If you have questions or need
additional information, please contact
Elizabeth Chandler at (404) 420-2027.
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Leadership Conference
Approaching
Registrations are coming in at a steady pace for Leadership GBA’s 44th
Annual
Leadership Conference. Bankers across Georgia will convene
on July 18-21 at
the
Hilton Oceanfront Resort on Hilton Head Island, South
Carolina. The
Executive Committee has planned a great program to help you
prepare for the constant changes in the banking industry. But no
conference would be complete without an economic update. Back by
popular demand, Dr. Roger Tutterow of
Kennesaw State University will be on hand to discuss the
contribution of various factors to the current economic climate and
the prospects for a return to economic prosperity over the coming
quarters. The conference will also provide excellent networking
opportunities for bankers from around the state to share ideas. For
additional information, call GBA’s
Susie McGehee at (404) 420-2010.
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Bank Visits
One of
GBA’s goals this year is to show bankers how we are using the
internet to enhance your education and training needs. While not
for everyone, internet training has several distinct advantages over
traditional training delivery methods. Internet courses are
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The courses require no
expenses such as travel time, overnight stays, loss of work, or
childcare. GBA’s Training and Development Manager,
Edie Canales,
has been visiting a number of banks with a short presentation on
AIB,
eLearning
and
GSB-Wisconsin
courses. A great big thank you to the following banks for hosting
these presentations:
Citizens First Bank,
Rome;
Darby Bank & Trust Company,
Vidalia;
United Bank,
Zebulon; and
Security Bank,
Albany.
Thank
you to the following banks who attended the presentations:
United Community Bank,
Rome;
Synovus Financial Corp.,
Dalton;
Cohutta Banking Company,
Chatsworth and Dalton;
Georgia Bank & Trust,
Calhoun; Bank of Nashville, Nashville, TN;
Mount Vernon Bank;
Altamaha Bank & Trust Company,
Uvalda;
Montgomery Bank & Trust,
Ailey;
Vidalia Federal
Savings & Loan Association;
Peoples Bank,
Albany;
United Bank,
Griffin;
First National Bank of Griffin;
First National Bank of Barnesville;
Bank of Upson,
Thomaston;
Regions Bank,
Albany;
HeritageBank of the South,
Albany;
Security Bank,
Albany; and Bank of Lee County, Albany. To schedule a
presentation in your area, please call Edie at (404) 420-2034.
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Relief Available for
401(k) Plans
Is 401(k)
testing limiting what your bank officers can contribute to your
401(k) Plan? Safe harbor plans that allow officers to contribute
more to their retirement plans are increasing in popularity. Plans
that guarantee a 100% match up to 4% of compensation or a 3% of
compensation profit sharing contribution can be exempt from ADP/ACP
discrimination testing and possibly even exempt from top-heavy
testing depending on different factors. Employees must be
immediately 100% vested in all safe harbor contributions, regardless
of years of service with the bank. The Master 401(k) Plan offered
under
GBA Retirement Services, Inc. is already set up to
accommodate safe harbor plans. Anyone electing safe harbor options
for 2005 must decide by November 1, 2004 in order to allow time for
required notices. Retirement plans help build employee morale and
enhance 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 retirement 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.
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Insurance Trust
Monthly Billing Reports
The
GBA Insurance Trust is happy to inform our members
that starting in April, we began emailing the monthly insurance
billing reports to those who have provided us with an email address.
A major benefit of receiving you reports via email is that your
insurance administrator will then be able to view monthly reports
from July 2003 through the present. To assist in the transition,
hard copies will also be mailed for the next couple of months. If
you have provided your insurance contact’s email address and do not
receive your monthly report via email around the 28th of
May, please email both
Susan Kelley and
Lee Belaus. If you have not provided your insurance
contact’s email address and would like to receive your reports via
email, please email it to Susan and Lee. Beginning in June, we will
only mail hard copies to those employers who have requested not to
receive reports via email. Please contact Susan at (404) 420-2017
or Lee at (404) 420-2013 if you have questions.
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FinCrime Reports Up This Month
Bankers
throughout Georgia are continuing to take advantage of the new and
free service initiated by GBA last year to help reduce bank fraud
and to assist law enforcement in apprehending criminals.
FinCrime is an online database that gives bankers the
opportunity to input information about fraudulent activity in their
bank, and that notification is sent immediately via email to all
subscribers. Banks find the service extremely useful as the
notifications can be printed in flyer-type fashion and distributed
quickly at teller stations and other areas where many of the schemes
are perpetrated. If your bank is not yet taking advantage of this
service, contact GBA’s
Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036 to sign up.
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Welcome New Participants
The Board
of Directors of the
GBA Insurance Trust, Inc. welcomes to the Trust
Bank of Hazlehurst, Jack Floyd, CEO, and
American United Bank, I.O., Tucker, Glenn Thompson, CEO.
These banks join more than 290 community banks and associate members
in this unmatched member benefit. Please call GBA’s
Susan Kelley at (404) 420-2017 for details.
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2004 GBA Salary Survey
The
2004 Salary Survey input packets are being mailed this
week. We have redesigned the input process to help eliminate the
need for double entry from year to year on items that have not
changed from 2003. If you participated in the 2003 survey, you will
be able to access that data and update accordingly. With your
participation, we will be able to provide a comprehensive Survey
providing salary and benefit data from the financial institutions
throughout the state of Georgia. By participating, you will
automatically receive a copy of the compiled results and a discount
on average of $100-$150. The results will be tallied and made
available by August. If you have any questions, you may contact
GBA’s
Renee Valdez at (404) 420-2036.
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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
The Overtime
Exemption Assessment will become available on May 14, 2004.
Through GBA’s Strategic Partnership with
Employment Law Compliance,
GBA members will receive the Assessment at a special price of $395.
GBA members interested in purchasing the Overtime Exemption
Assessment, may preorder by contacting GBA’s
Renee Valdez or (404) 420-2036.
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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.
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Add GBA to Safe Sender List
In an
effort to reduce the amount of spam that reaches their email boxes,
many companies have begun using anti-spam services. This, along with
Congress’ continued efforts to improve the recently enacted CAN-SPAM
Act, that task should become easier. In order to receive the GBA’s
e-Bulletin and
e-Legislative Update in the meantime, your company’s
email controls must be set to accept them. Please have your system
administrator to add the GBA to your safe sender list. Please
contact GBA’s
Lydia Thomas with questions.
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Congratulations to the
following:
Atlanta -
SouthTrust Bank
Congratulations
to the bank on the recent grand opening of their new offices in the
SouthTrust Tower at Atlantic Station. Connie Beck has also
been named Atlanta president.
Birmingham, AL -
Regions Bank
David C.
Weaver
has been named Vice President and Director of Public Affairs.
Cartersville - Unity National Bank
John
Graham
has joined the Rome branch as Vice President and Commercial Loan
Officer.
Dawson - Bank of Terrell
Derrick Cox
has joined the
bank as Consumer Lender and Special Assets Manager and Bob Crew
has been named Loan Officer and Branch Manager of the Leesburg
office.
Macon - New Southern Bank
Annie
Reed,
Amy Wise and Bethany Miller have been promoted to
Banking Officer.
Savannah -
Colony Bank
Mike Miller
has
been named City President.
Statesboro -
BB&T
Our sympathies
are extended to the family, friends and colleagues of Wallis Cobb
on his recent death at the age of 101. He was former President of
Bulloch County Bank in Statesboro, now BB&T, and served as
GBA Chairman from 1963-1965.
Thomasville - Farmers & Merchants Bank
Mary
Pierce
has been
promoted to Head Teller.
www.gabankers.com
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