+ Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Forum
June 13, 2018 | September 12, 2018
Registration for all three sessions is $1,200 for CBAO members.
The CFO Forum will bring together CFOs from noncompeting banks throughout the state in a small-group setting to exchange ideas freely, dissect challenges openly, and discuss solutions that can improve performance of your bank and help you grow both professionally and personally. Agenda topics will change at each forum session based on member input and the current banking environment.
Benefits of the Forum:
- Improve your effectiveness as CFO/Controller
- Learn from your peers what’s working and what’s not in bank financial management
- Improve the efficiency of your bank’s financial function
- Form lasting relationships with other CFOs
- Gain insight into your most pressing accounting and finance concerns
- Obtain access to highly respected industry experts
- Grow professionally as well as personally
How the Forum Works:
- CBAO will organize the forum based on bank size and market to ensure that participants have as much in common as possible while minimizing competitor overlap
- The group will be small, no more than 15 participants. Due to the nature of the program, no substitutes will be permitted, unless by consent of CBAO staff and facilitator
- The Forum typically meets three times during the year.
- Six to eight topics will be discussed at each session; participants are strongly encouraged to suggest agenda topics of interest
- Forum participants get the benefit of working with expert consultants on a cost-saving basis
- A binder based on Forum topics is compiled for each group member
Possible Forum Topics:
- Financial reporting issues: Effective planning/budgeting; getting your board members the information they really need, current accounting topics
- Profitability issues: Measuring customer profitability; bank-wide pricing discipline; margin maintenance; product profitability; deposit pricing
- Personal growth: The CFO/controller as a leader in the bank; time management; setting priorities effectively
- People issues: Recruiting; retaining and compensating financial personnel; coaching for performance; personal improvement plans; motivating long term employees
- Regulatory issues: ALLL methodology; assessing your bank’s risks and financial controls
- Vendor issues: The CFO/controller role in vendor assessment; negotiating and managing vendor contracts
- Emerging issues/other issues: Investment strategies; ALCO issues; analyzing technology investments and their risks; insurance and bank risk management; emerging FASB issues
Meet the CFO Forum Facilitator:
John Brooks
[email protected]
John has over 30 years of bank management and consulting experience, including a position as the Chief Accounting Officer at a $1.2 billion bank holding company with mortgage and wealth management subsidiaries. In this capacity, John was responsible for accounting and financial reporting, including SEC reporting, asset liability and market risk management, commercial interest rate swaps, derivatives and hedging, mortgage banking, and tax planning and accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a master of business administration from Waynesburg University. John completed the requirements for his doctorate (Ed.D.) in administration and leadership from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His dissertation research explored the relationship between job satisfaction and financial performance in community banks.
John started his career as an auditor and held the position of Chief Auditor at two financial institutions. He also spent five years as an Assistant Professor of Accounting at a local college.
In his role at Snodgrass, John was involved in the design of our proprietary enterprise risk management process. He provides ERM services for our clients and assists on audits of unique, higher-risk areas such derivatives and interest rate risk management and model validation. John is also involved in our training program for audit staff specializing in mortgage banking, derivatives, and hedging.
John is the facilitator for both the CEO and CFO Forums.
+ Compliance Forum
May 18, 2018 | August 2, 2018 | November 1, 2018
Registration for all four sessions is $1,250 for CBAO members.
Our forum sessions are valuable training and group discussion of new and proposed legislation and areas of regulatory focus. Each interactive session will provide a forum for you to voice your questions and concerns, poll the group on their practices and experiences and allow you to network with your compliance counterparts. Better yet, we will be inviting the regulators to join our last forum of the year to share their insights on emerging risks, exam concerns and areas of supervisory focus.
Your registration fee covers your participation in the forum, including breakfast and lunch, as well as all materials provided for the event. You will receive a handbook at each forum, comprised of PowerPoint slides, narratives, tools and reference materials related to the topics covered. You will also receive all materials and tools electronically upon completion of each forum.
Meet the Compliance Forum Facilitators:
Angela Lucas
[email protected]
Angela Lucas is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sterling Compliance, LLC, an independent compliance and risk management consulting firm based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to launching Sterling Compliance, Angela was an examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, specializing in consumer compliance and commercial credit. Several years and examinations later, Angela expanded her skill set within the Investment Advisory Monitoring and Testing Group at Federated Investors, Inc., focusing on compliance testing and advisory services as a critical link between trading floor portfolio managers and the compliance function.
Lisa Zigo
[email protected]
Lisa began her career as a Loan Review Specialist at a multi-bank holding company in Northwestern PA, after graduating from Youngstown State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance in 1991. In 2000 she accepted a position with a community bank in northwestern PA to help develop a more formalized commercial credit culture. As Vice President and Director of Credit Administration, she managed a team of credit analysts, loan operations and collections.
+ Cybersecurity/IT Forum
June 25, 2018 | October 22, 2018
Registration for all three sessions is $800 for CBAO members.
The Cybersecurity/IT Forum will provide a platform and opportunity to exchange ideas freely, examine pressing issues in today’s ever-evolving regulatory, cost-conscience and productivity-driven environment.
The CBAO is pleased to provide this program where individuals who are responsible for Cybersecurity/IT related issues in their institutions have the opportunity to discuss those concerns and explore collaborative solutions to problems they face on a day-to-day basis.
Benefits of the Forum:
- Improve your effectiveness as Information/Cybersecurity Officer /IT Officer/Operations Officer
- Discuss current industry challenges with others in bank technology & operations
- Form lasting relationships with other bank Information/Cybersecurity Officer /IT Officer/Operations Officer
- Solve your most pressing problems
- Obtain access to highly respected industry experts
- Grow professionally as well as personally
- Discuss with peers what works and what doesn’t
- Hear from experts in the industry on products, services, regulatory changes and best practices.
How the Forum Works:
- The Forum will meet three times during the year
- Several topics will be discussed at each session; current, relevant, and the hottest topics submitted by the participants...
- Facilitated discussion with supplemental documents and reference documents provided to enhance discussion
- Guest presentations from Industry experts
- A binder based on Forum topics is compiled for each group member
Possible Forum Topics:
- Cybersecurity assessments
- Information and cyber security programs
- Risk assessments
- Mobile banking
- Remote Deposit Capture
- Remote access and BYOD
- Networking and controls
- Outsourced third party relationships and oversight
- Incident response planning
- Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Regulatory issues
Meet our Cybersecurity/IT Forum Facilitator:
Susan Orr
[email protected]
During Susan's 14-year tenure as a bank examiner, she held numerous lead positions including Regional IT Examination Specialist, Special Assistant to Regional Director, Special Assistant to the Director of DSSC, and Special Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the FDIC. Susan was also a lead instructor for the FDIC's technology school and was instrumental in key industry initiatives such as the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Handbook rewrites. Prior to launching her consulting practice, Susan was Vice President of Regulatory Compliance for an internet security company where she advised staff, customers and partners on regulation, security and risk management.
+ Human Resources Forum
May 15, 2018 | August 9, 2018 | November 8, 2018
Registration for all four sessions is $937.50 for CBAO members.
The morning portion of the workshop is topic based designed by the Human Resources forum group. The afternoon session will be divided into two portions: Hot Topics and HR Roundtable. As part of the HR Roundtable section, participants will have the opportunity to ask HR questions, share employment related concerns and secure input from other participants.
Meet our HR Forum Facilitator:
Joan Berry Kalamas
[email protected]
Joan, SPHR, is a full time faculty member with Ashland University teaching HR and Management classes to both undergraduate and MBA students; is the founder and owner of Strategic Solutions, an HR consulting company; and brings over 25 years of experience as an HR practitioner in the for-profit, non-profit, government, and educational sectors to these workshops. She is the co-author with her late husband of two Training and Performance Improvement books published by HRDPress.
+ Innovating the Retail Experience Forum
April 24, 2018 | August 21, 2018 l October 23, 2018
Registration for all sessions is $937.50 for CBAO members.
Program Description: We will spend the day addressing numerous topics facing retail executives at community banks throughout the US. We'll focus on the client experience for both consumer as well as the small business customer segments. This will provide an opportunity for us to share best practices from institutions within the state as well as ideas being implemented around the country.
How the Forums Work:
- Groups of retail professionals will be based on bank sizes and limited competitive overlap
- Group size will be no more than 15 participants, with limited ability to send substitute participants without CBAO staff or facilitator approval
- Participants will drive the topics and agenda, based on surveys prior to each meeting
- Each meeting will allow time for emerging issues and open discussion
- The facilitator will have substantial retail and management experience, as well as information and updates to provide to participants
- In between quarterly meetings, members can exchange ideas and network
Example Forums Topics:
- Branch Transformation – Both branch expansion as well as branch closure opportunities, assessing existing branches for current performance as well as the future opportunity
- Concepts in new branch designs – traditional vs. neighborhood, traditional teller vs teller pods, remote drive in, teller cash recyclers, i-pads and wifi, etc..
- Branch staffing models – Universal Banker model, self-service model, traditional model – to include payroll and incentive program alternatives
- Marketing tactics for Community Banks – everything from event marketing to utilizing analytical tools – prioritizing each markets financial opportunity
- Creating Differentiation – Through automation, service quality, community involvement, etc.
- Consumer and Small Business segmentation opportunities
- Utilizing social media effectively to promote your brand and values
+ Marketing Forum
June 27, 2018 | October 24, 2018
Registration for all three sessions is $800 for CBAO members.
The CBAO is excited to announce the launch of our Marketing Directors Forum to help bank marketers get a handle on the challenges and learn from their peers about trends and strategies to set your bank apart from the crowd. The Forum provides a platform and opportunity for Marketing and Retail staff to exchange ideas freely, dissect problems and discuss important issues with peers. The Forum is facilitated by a former community bank marketer who served the industry for 15 years (most of it in the marketing and technology areas of the bank), so there will be tons of learning opportunities from not just your peers, but from what's happening in the industry and big-picture that you can take back to implement.
Benefits of the Forum:
- Improve your effectiveness in Marketing
- Discuss current industry challenges with others in marketing
- Form lasting relationships with other marketing professionals
- Solve your most pressing problems
- Obtain access to highly respected industry experts
- Grow professionally as well as personally
- Discuss with peers what works and what doesn’t
- Hear from experts in the industry on products, services, regulatory changes and best practices.
How the Forum Works:
- The Forum will meet three times during the year
- Several topics will be discussed at each session; current, relevant, and the hottest topics submitted by the participants...
- Facilitated discussion with supplemental documents and reference documents provided to enhance discussion
- Guest presentations from Industry experts
- A binder based on Forum topics is compiled for each group member
Possible Forum Topics:
- Social media strategies and managing compliance
- Online advertising and search visibility
- Blogging and content creation strategies
- EMV debit card conversions
- Cross‐media brand management
- Low-cost deposit acquisition
- Onboarding programs for new customers
- Reboarding existing customers – retention and relationship growth
- Elimination of free checking or replacement with fee‐based account option
- Strategies to implement marketing automation technologies to build relationships
- Creating customer personas to help refine your target market efforts
- And much more!
Meet our Marketing Forum Facilitator:
Eric Cook
Eric Cook has been a part of the WSI network since 2007. He made the jump to a new career after spending 15 years in the banking industry. During his time as a banker he enjoyed working on strategic technology initiatives and thinking “outside of the box”. The ways consumers search, validate and select a service partner today has shifted. The power is now in the hands of the customer, not in your business and unless you understand what this means, you’re at risk of quickly becoming obsolete. Eric speaks about connecting the dots between “what’s possible” and “what makes good business sense” and has had the opportunity to speak across the country. With over 15 years of real-world business experience as a community banker, Eric’s approach is based on solid business strategy, and his speaking engagement-style challenges the audience to get comfortable with thinking outside the box, but with a bit of humor tossed in for good measure. Eric has been a National Speakers Association Member since 2011 and spends a bit of time “on the road” presenting at events in from coast to coast.
Eric is committed to the “art” of public speaking. He speaks on a variety of topics, including online strategies ranging from Social Media, Digital Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Lead Generation and Conversion, and Blogging.
+ Senior Lender Forum
June 28, 2018 | August 1, 2018 | November 7, 2018
Registration for all sessions is $937.50 for CBAO members.
Program Description: Your participation in these quarterly meetings allows you to network with peers to discuss best practices, stay on top of emerging lending issues, and discuss support tools/software and staffing needs. The forums are member-driven – that is, most of the agenda is set by the participants.
Benefits of Participating:
- Improve the profitability of your loan portfolio
- Reduce the risk in your loan portfolio
- Increase your understanding of regulatory issues
- Form lasting relationships with non-competing senior lenders
- Get solutions and practical ideas (what works and what doesn’t) for handling your most pressing concerns
- Grow professionally and personally
How the Forums Work:
- Groups of senior lenders will be based on bank sizes and limited competitive overlap
- Group size will be no more than 15 participants, with limited ability to send substitute participants without CBAO staff or facilitator approval
- Participants will drive the topics and agenda, based on surveys prior to each meeting
- Each meeting will allow time for emerging issues and open discussion
- The facilitator will have substantial lending and management experience, as well as information and updates to provide to participants
- In between quarterly meetings, members can exchange ideas and network
Example Forums Topics:
- Economy, banking and lending trends update from the facilitator, plus anecdotal feedback from customers of the participants
- Options for selling residential mortgages and/or keeping loans in the portfolio
- What works in terms of setting loan agreement covenants
- Way to enhance timely collection of financial statements and other information
- Keys to utilizing support staff
- Enhancing loan participation opportunities
Meet our Senior Lender Forum Facilitator:
Richard Hamm
[email protected]
Richard has been training bankers for 24 years, designing and delivering courses specializing in commercial lending and credit, including portfolio and risk management, commercial real estate (CRE) and appraisals, plus selling and negotiating skills, and director training. During his banking career, he was active within RMA’s chapter structure and served on several committees at the national level.