First Freedom Bank was a sponsor of the Cookeville Chamber’s annual Christmas Business After Hours. Held at the Leslie Town Center, this event promotes networking among local businesses.
Pictured from left to right is Abby McCann, Cookeville FSR Manager, Bryan Sweet, Cookeville Personal Banker, Ladell Medley, Vice President and Cookeville Office Manager, and Kaitlyn Kovalchick, Accounting Officer.
First Freedom Bank staff volunteered to help with Easter Seals Tennessee’s annual holiday party. The party was organized for Easter Seals’ Early Intervention and Autism Therapy Families in Wilson County. Around 150 families were invited to attend.
Staff assisted with the party set-up, as well as helping with several activities during the party.
Easter Seals Tennessee is a non-profit organization that supports children and adults living with autism and other disabilities or special needs and their families.
Pictured, top, left to right is Kasey Johnston, Lebanon FSR, and Holly Wolfe, Lebanon Personal Banker.
Pictured, bottom, left to right, is Amanda Hewitt, Lebanon FSR, and Tatum Ortlepp, Lebanon Assistant Office Manager.
First Freedom Bank was a co-sponsor of the annual Wilson County Rehab23 First Responders Christmas Breakfast. Attendees include Sheriff, Directors, & Chiefs of the 8 Wilson County agencies Rehab23 supports and Rehab23 responders, as well as other guests or organizations that have provided support to the organization.
The special guest speaker this year was Patrick Sheehan, Director of Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Pictured left to right is Sarah Poss, Vice President and Assistant Director of Retail Banking, Denise Bingham, Providence Personal Banker, Ashley Montgomery, Assistant Vice President and Providence Office Manager, Patrick Sheehan, Mayor Hutto, and Kenny Beavers, Senior Vice President and Director of Retail Banking.
Paul W. Barret, Jr. Graduate School of Banking in Memphis, Tennessee recently announced the graduation of Laura Johnson, Senior Vice President, Information Security Officer and Deposit Operations Manager.
The school was held on the campus of Christian Brothers University in Memphis. Paul W. Barret, Jr. Graduate School of Banking has been providing advanced banking education for fifty-one years, with a curriculum designed to provide a high degree of understanding of all commercial banking functions. During the three-year program, graduates received in excess of 130 hours of instruction and prepared in-depth reports in eight areas of study. There were 246 financial industry professionals from thirty states participating in the 2023 session.
Johnson has twenty-four years of banking experience, compounded by a specialized education revolving around bank automation, money laundering, and information security. Johnson holds the Accredited ACH Professional certification (AAP) from the National Automatic Clearing House Association (NACHA) and the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist certification (CAMS) from the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. She holds a General Banking Diploma and a Bank Operations Diploma from The American Bankers Association.
First Freedom Bank was recently acknowledged as the top performing bank in Tennessee for 2022 by independent firm Financial Management Consulting Group (FMC). FMC utilizes public call report data submitted to the FDIC which is designed to collect financial data in the form of a balance sheet, income statement and supporting schedules. The Report of Condition schedules provide details on assets, liabilities, and capital accounts while the Report of Income schedules provide details on income and expenses. The state of Tennessee had 125 banks in the analysis.
FMC has been analyzing bank performance for 25 years and computes the rankings on a quarterly basis for 42 states. W. Timothy Finn, Principal of FMC, explains his firm utilizes eight key measurements in their analysis and stack ranks all banks in each of the categories. They then average the category rankings to stack rank the banks for overall performance. “It’s quite a task to get the top spot in overall performance,” said Finn, “First Freedom is to be commended for this significant accomplishment.”
John Lancaster, Chairman and CEO of First Freedom, stated, “We are honored to be recognized by FMC in this way. We have followed their analytical work for years and appreciate the transparency in their approach. These results are a testament to our thriving communities, our focused board, and our dedicated employees.”
First Freedom Bank, headquartered in Wilson County, was established in 2006. A full service, community bank, First Freedom Bank offers personal and commercial banking services from six locations in Wilson, Putnam and Jackson Counties, and has approximately 70 employees. First Freedom Bank has assets in excess of $600 million and is owned by approximately 1,000 shareholders throughout Middle Tennessee. First Freedom Bank is a member of the Better Business Bureau, an Equal Housing Lender, and Member FDIC. Additionally, First Freedom has earned the prestigious Five Star rating by Bauer Financial, the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating firm.