The Paul W. Barret, Jr. School of Banking is a non-profit independent school created by and governed by a Board of Regents, whose members are executives from banks and other firms involved with the financial services industry. The mission of the School is to provide an adult learning experience for the career-oriented individual in commercial banking.  * Three year graduate program * Annual one-week residency session * Over 40 hours of classroom instruction each year, for a total of 128 hours * More than 40 years of providing advanced banking education * Annual tuition subsidy of over $1,600 for each student from endowment funds *

Chris Kelley – 901-725-4822

Serving community bankers for 33 years, Financial Education & Development and the Community Bankers Webinar Network currently partner with 30 community bankers associations to deliver quality webinar training for bankers in all 50 states. The synergy of these relationships allows us to successfully deliver more than 130 webinars annually, covering critical issues for every level of the financial institution...... And bankers attend!   

       In 2016, over 119,000 bankers participated in Community Bank webinars. 

Chris Padgett  –  501-246-4975

ICBA CRA Solutions provides CRA Education & Training, CRA Support Services, the CRA Collaborative Peer Group, and CRA qualified loans, investments, and grants. Since our inception in 2000, we have helped banks across the country earn meaningful CRA credit through elder financial abuse prevention programs—all with flexible funding options to make it simple for banks to get involved.ICBA CRA Solutions provides CRA Education & Training, CRA Support Services, the CRA Collaborative Peer Group, and CRA qualified loans, investments, and grants. Since our inception in 2000, we havehelped banks across the country earn meaningful CRA credit through elder financial abuse prevention programs—all with flexible funding options to make it simple for banks to get involved. 

Kristine LaVigna, Business Development Manager - 901.529.4781

Steffani Jenkins, CRA Liaison and Business Development Officer - 901.529-4773

Through a strategic partnership with Dell and ICBA, Arkansas Community Bankers Association (ACB) members can enjoy preferred pricing on computer equipment.

Hardware covered under the agreement includes workstations, laptops, ultrabooks, desktops, servers, printers, electronics and accessories as well as services and software. ACB members will have access to a dedicated account executive familiar with this program who will advocate on your behalf with appropriate technical experts from all of Dell’s brands and product lines.

Preferred pricing is also available to bank employees and bank customers. 

800-757-8442 and simply use Member ID: 141351622

The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective advocacy, education, and innovation.

ACB is the ICBA Arkansas State Affiliate.

ICBA Payments, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA), has been managing payments solutions for the nation's community banks since 1985.

We help power the potential of ICBA members through payments-related innovation, education, and advocacy to help community banks navigate the payments ecosystem and select suitable offerings at favorable pricing—helping community banks compete and thrive.

As a trusted strategic partner, ICBA Payments also provides consultative services, industry representation and ongoing vendor support to help community banks retain their best customers, earn profitable returns, and be respected as full-fledged participants in the evolving payments landscape..

Jacob Eisen -  800-242-4770

ICBA Securities provides a full suite of investment products and services for community banks through its exclusively endorsed broker, Stifel. Included are traditional debt securities, interest rate products, whole loans, and M&A and bank valuation services. Stifel also has state-of-the-art asset/liability and bond accounting products. It offers investment banking services through KBW. ICBA Securities, a wholly owned subsidiary of ICBA, provides a full calendar of educational events for community bankers and investment professionals. ICBA Securities is endorsed by 34 affiliated state banking associations, and is the only broker/dealer owned by the community banking industry.

Jim Reber  -  800-422-6442
Andy Smith  –  501-772-3816

When you choose JTS Financial to design, implement and manage your employee benefits, you get a team of professionals that know the business and have raised the bar on world-class service. As one of the fastest growing benefit consulting firms in Arkansas, we know that our most valuable asset is our ability to help our clients leverage their resources to achieve their goals. We help you increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your employee benefit programs, directly translating into stronger employee retention and a better bottom line.

At JTS Financial, we recognize that employee benefits must be understood and appreciated by employees before they can produce any return on investment. The process of educating and enrolling employees must be efficient and effective for both the employee and the company. At JTS Financial, our experts will help your employees get the most out of their benefits by:  1. Effectively communicating benefits and reducing employee questions;  2. Conducting a streamlined enrollment using flexible, personalized methods;  3. Providing year-round benefits support to employees and new hires.

Our approach to employee communications, support and enrollment combines traditional methods with the latest technologies to achieve both understanding and efficiency.

Your dedicated account manager works with your HR staff year round – helping with everything from payroll to billing to filing a claim for an employee.  You get an experienced team from day 1.

MPA‘s disaster recovery program was established in 1989 to help financial institutions with a quick recovery in a disaster situation. The program guarantees members a 14′ x 70’ modular building equipped with furniture, teller counter with under counter steel pedestals for each teller, drive-up window, night depository and safe, camera and alarm system, telephone, computer wiring, lobby area, work area, enclosed offices, ADA-compliant restrooms and an air conditioner/heating unit among many other features free of charge for six months. There is no transportation, placement/tie down charges, removal fees, etc., and there are no rental charges from MPA during the first six months. We also offer as an option our Connectivity Package which includes all the necessary equipment and connection capabilities to access the internet, and connect to your core processor.

Gary Halstead  –  888-233-1584

Our attorneys provide a broad range of business oriented services and can meet virtually any transactional or regulatory need:  ♦ BANKING  ♦  BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS  ♦  REAL ESTATE  ♦  SECURED TRANSACTIONS  ♦  SECURITIES REGULATION  ♦  TAXATION  ♦  BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION  ♦  BANKRUPTCY

Tim Grooms  –  501-379-1713  

The 200,000 small businesses in Arkansas employ one million people and provide nearly half of all Arkansas jobs.

We are a small staff with our main office in Little Rock, and a field office in Fayetteville. Each year, our office helps to provide about $100 million in loans to small businesses, we and our SBA-funded partners provide management training and consulting to thousands of entrepreneurs, and we help small business owners pursue contracts from the federal government and prime federal contractors.

Adriene Brown  –  501-404-7781

Rob Buchanan  –  800-717-4460

The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group (ACCG) is a privately held group of for-profit and non-profit corporations dedicated to improving the lives of Arkansans. ACCG and its affiliate companies empower entrepreneurs by providing capital to businesses through its capital availability programs and advocating for entrepreneurs through capital, educational and technological improvements.

 Craig Calafati – 501.374.9247

In 2016, SNL Financial and S&P Capital IQ, two of the world’s leading financial analytics providers, joined forces as S&P Global Market Intelligence to deliver the most sector-specific, comprehensive and reliable intelligence in the industry.

 At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we integrate financial and industry data, research and news into tools that help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuation and assess credit risk. For community banks, we offer solutions to help bankers evaluate market opportunities, manage risk and maximize performance.

 S&P Global Market Intelligence is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals and companies to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence.

 Melissa Peterson - 434-529-1978

We understand banking risks

For more than a century, Travelers has supported community banks by offering an extensive selection of customized insurance solutions. Our product line responds to the most recent trends in community banking.

Through  Travelers, you can obtain coverage for a wide range of exposures and help reduce potential gaps and overlaps in coverage.

Anita Redd  –  501-223-6746

Vericast, formerly Harland Clarke Holdings, is a leading marketing solutions company that helps businesses across many industry verticals connect with consumers through data, analytics, and a broad portfolio of digital and print solutions.

We help businesses understand, engage, grow and retain customers. Every day, we influence the consumer purchasing and transaction behavior of more than 120 million households – impacting where people eat, shop, buy, save, and borrow.

It’s crucial to maximize every engagement tool at your disposal to drive brand awareness and revenue. With a full suite of services designed to engage customers including, Check Solutions, Card Solutions, Contact Center Solutions, Customer & Employee Insight, Customer Change Management and Acquisition and Retention; Vericast solutions combine superior service and deep experience to build a program tailored to your goals and brand strategy.

Click here for more information about Harland Clarke's solution portfolio. 

Christine Ahlgren