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Tag: Jackson County

Jackson County includes First Freedom Bank’s Gainesboro Office

First Freedom Joins Gear Up Collegiate Tailgate

Written by Trey Watkins on . Posted in Bank News, Community Involvement.

Gear up collegiate table 2025

Last week First Freedom attended the Gear Up Collegiate Tailgate at Jackson County High School. Local businesses were invited to attend and share information about the respective jobs to Jackson County Highschool Students. First Freedom hosted a tent and answered questions and provided information about the different career paths in the banking industry. First Freedom also donated a financial literacy door prize.  We want to thank JCHS for the invitation and for putting on this great event!

Pictured is Sara Beth Kinnaird, Gainesboro Senior Personal Banker.

Gainesboro Office
Jackson County News

First Freedom Bank has been a part of the Jackson County community since the acquisition of our Upper Cumberland Offices in 2016. Since that time, we have made it a top priority to be engaged in and to support local organizations. To learn more about our Gainesboro Office or read more about our involvement in the Jackson County community, click the buttons below.

First Freedom Donates to Jackson County Project Graduation

First Freedom Donates to Jackson County Project Graduation

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Community Involvement, Sponsorships/Community.

First Freedom Bank is proud to once again support the Jackson County High School’s Project Graduation, which aims to keep graduation night fun and safe! Jackson County is doing their part to help celebrate the students and families of this year’s graduating class by providing a fun and safe environment to commemorate this milestone achievement.

The event will take place right after the graduation ceremony on May 16th and the school expects a great student turnout!

Accepting the donation, left, is Belle Beaty, with Shelby Meadows, Senior FSR & UC Training Coordinator, and Anna Jean Ellis, FSR.

First Freedom Bank has been a part of the Jackson County community since the acquisition of our Upper Cumberland Offices in 2016. Since that time, we have made it a top priority to be engaged in and to support local organizations. To learn more about our Gainesboro Office or read more about our involvement in the Jackson County community, click the buttons below.

Gainesboro Office
Jackson County Support
Bank Employees hold winning piggy banks while standing with contest winners.

First Freedom Sponsors Jackson County 4-H Contest

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Community Contests, Community Involvement.

First Freedom Bank is proud to once again to sponsor the annual Jackson County 4-H Piggy Bank contest. Students that participated in the contest created their own piggy bank and the winners received a cash prize. Each year, the piggy banks are displayed in the lobby of our Gainesboro office.

Pictured above are Sara Beth Kinnaird (Left), Gainesboro Senior Personal Banker, Shelby Meadows (Right), Gainesboro Senior FSR & UC Training Coordinator, alongside contest winners Keira Huff and Evan Perry.

To learn more about the Gainesboro office and our recent involvement in the community, please interact with the buttons below.

Gainesboro Office
Community Involvement

First Freedom Recognizes FSRs with Chairman's Cup Award

First Freedom Recognizes Employees with Chairman’s Cup Award

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Press Releases.

First Freedom recognized several Financial Services Representatives (FSR) this past quarter for exceptional job performance and for exceeding their individual goals for enhancing and broadening customer relationships. Their outstanding performance earned them the prestigious honor of Chairman’s Cup Member for the quarter.

Congratulations to the following staff for qualifying for Chairman’s Cup:

Abby McCann, Cookeville FSR Manager

Alexia Borrero, Lebanon FSR

Blake Smith, prior Lebanon FSR Manager, now Accounting Clerk

Chrissy Wright, Lebanon FSR Manager

Jessica Boyd, Cookeville FSR

Kaye Fajardo, Providence FSR

Miah Lamb, Providence FSR Manager & Personal Banker

Rebecca Birman, Gainesboro FSR Manager

Shelby Meadows, Gainesboro FSR

Teola Ragland, prior Algood FSR Manager & Personal Banker, now Algood Assistant Manager

Abby McCann received additional recognition as the Chairman’s Cup Top Performer for achieving the highest overall performance score among all participants.

Pictured back row and left to right is Kenny Beavers, Retail Executive, Miah, Shelby, Rebecca, and John Lancaster, Chairman & CEO. Pictured front row and left to right is Sarah Poss, Vice President & Director of Retail Banking, Kaye, Alexia, and Tatum Ortlepp, Retail Banking Sales Manager.

At First Freedom Bank, we look for opportunities to recognize and reward team members for exceptional performance, as we know that they are critical to our success as a bank. We have great people at all of our offices and in all of our markets. If you would like to learn more about these locations, or even just about us as a bank, click the buttons below.

Office Locations
About Us

First Freedom Donates to Share to Care Fundraiser

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Sponsorships/Community.

First Freedom donated to the Share to Care Foundation’s annual “Stuff the Bus” fundraiser. Proceeds raised through the fundraiser benefit Jackson County students and teachers. Held at the end of June in Gainesboro’s historic downtown, the event includes food, music, an art auction, and a firework show.

Pictured is Kyleigh Heady, Gainesboro Senior FSR, and Rebecca Birman, Gainesboro FSR Manager, presenting the donation to the Share to Care Foundation founder, Cassandra Kessler.

First Freedom Sponsors Jackson County 4-H Contest

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Community Contests.

First Freedom Bank was again a sponsor for the Jackson County 4-H’s annual Piggy Bank contest. Students that participated in the contest created their own piggy bank and the winners received a cash prize.

Pictured, center, is Kyleigh Heady, Gainesboro Senior FSR, with the two contest winners, Trinity Buck, left, and Ava Stafford, right.

First Freedom’s Tippit Participates in Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation Roundtable

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Community Involvement.

First Freedom’s Ashley Tippit, Gainesboro Assistant Office Manager, joined a roundtable with the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation earlier this month. Tippit is a board member for the Jackson County Imagination Library and by participating in the roundtable she had the opportunity to meet with other Dolly Parton Imagination Library board members from surrounding counties. Meetings like this help strengthen partnerships, share ideas, and increase awareness of the program.

Tippit is pictured third from the left with other roundtable attendees.

Image of Lebanon Office

First Freedom Ranked Top Performing Bank in Tennessee

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, Press Releases.

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.