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Tag: Putnam County

Putnam County includes First Freedom Bank’s Cookeville Office

Brew with the Blue at Vol State

First Freedom Joins Brew with the Blue at Vol State

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

First Freedom’s Teola Ragland volunteered at a Brew with the Blue event on Vol State’s Cookeville campus. Held periodically, this free event offers an opportunity for local law enforcement and students to meet and engage in a positive environment.

Teola currently serves as the Assistant Office Manager at our Algood Office.

Pictured left to right is Putnam County Sgt. Cody Meadows, Vol State Chief Pennington, Teola Ragland, Vol State Sgt. Justin Medlin, and Putnam County Deputy Mike Phillips. 

First Freedom joined the Algood and Cookeville communities in 2016 after the acquisition of the Upper Cumberland locations. From the first day here, we have made it a priority to continue to build and strengthen our ties within the community. Learn more about our two Putnam County offices by clicking the buttons below.

Algood Office
Cookeville Office

Ragland delivers breakfast to Algood Middle School

First Freedom Delivers Breakfast to Algood Middle School

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

First Freedom’s Teola Ragland, Algood Assistant Manager, delivered breakfast for the staff at Algood Middle School. She is pictured here with the school principal, Mr. Darley.

First Freedom joined the Algood community in 2016 after the acquisition of the Upper Cumberland locations. From the first day here, we have made it a priority to continue to build and strengthen our ties within the community. Learn more about our two Putnam County offices by clicking the buttons below.

Algood Office
Cookeville Office
Teola Ragland

First Freedom Promotes Ragland

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

Teola Ragland has been promoted to Assistant Office Manager at the Algood Office, announced John Lancaster, Chairman and CEO. Ragland’s prior role was Financial Services Manager (FSR) and Personal Banker.  

“I’m very pleased to see Teola move into this Assistant Manager role,” said Lancaster, “She is very knowledgeable, community minded, and takes pride in providing top-shelf customer service!”  

Ragland has been with First Freedom Bank for eight years, having joined the bank in 2016 as a Personal Banker / FSR at the Gainesboro office. In 2022, she relocated to the Algood office where she undertook the role of FSR Manager and Personal Banker. Before joining the bank, Ragland worked for two years in the tax industry.

Community involvement has been an important facet of Ragland’s career. She is a member of the Young Professional Highland and is involved in Mom Co., a non-profit organization that supports mothers of young children to reach their potential as mothers, women, and leaders through partnerships with local churches. Ragland is also an active volunteer with Life Church, where she participates as part of their Dream Team at the Baxter Campus.  The Dream Team manages the logistics and organization of the church services and extracurriculars.

Ragland currently resides in her hometown of Baxter with her two children.

First Freedom joined the Putnam County community in 2016, where we continue our legacy as an independent, community-focused, full service bank. Learn more about our two Putnam County offices by clicking the buttons below.

Algood Office
Cookeville Office
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
Sycamore Back to School Bash

First Freedom Welcomes Sycamore Students Back to School

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

First Freedom Bank hosted a table at Sycamore Elementary School’s back-to-school bash. This annual event is intended to help transition students into the new school year and to give them an opportunity to meet or reacquaint themselves with teachers and staff. Local businesses are invited to host tables to give out goodies to the kids and their families.

First Freedom has been a proud adopter of Sycamore Elementary School since 2016.

Pictured from left to right is Holly Cox, Cookeville FSR, and Rachel Honaker, Putnam County Market Manager.

Becoming a part of the Putnam County community has become a highlight in our bank’s history. We’ve enjoyed getting to know our customers here and building lasting relationship and connections. Being an adopter for Sycamore Elementary School is a great example of the deep commitment we have to the community in this area. For more information on the Cookeville office, or to learn about the personal checking accounts we offer, click the buttons below.

Cookeville Office
Personal Checking Accounts
Rachel Payne

Honaker to Lead First Freedom in Putnam County

Written by Sarah Poss on . Posted in Bank News, New Hires/Promotions, Press Releases.

Rachel Honaker has been promoted to Putnam County Market Manager, announced John Lancaster, Chairman and CEO.

 Rachel began her career with First Freedom in 2021 as a Personal Banker at the Cookeville Office. She received multiple promotions, ultimately serving as the Algood Office Manager.  Under Rachel’s leadership, the Algood office experienced tremendous growth and outperformed many First Freedom Offices in key metrics.  With this promotion to Putnam County Market Manager, Rachel will oversee the operations of both the Cookeville and Algood offices, representing $120 million in customer deposits.

“Rachel is an outstanding young banker and very deserving of this critical position,” stated Lancaster.  She understands that top-shelf service is our brand, and that local decision-making and community commitment is key to our success.” 

Rachel has a B.S in Business Administration / Finance from Tennessee Tech, as well as several years of prior experience in the financial industry.  She is currently completing the Retail Banking Leadership Series through Tennessee Bankers Association. 

Having attended college and having worked for several years in the area, she is at home in Putnam County and prioritizes being an active member of the community.  Rachel currently serves on the Administrative Office Technology Advisory Board for TCAT-Livingston and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

First Freedom joined the Putnam County community in 2016, where we continue our legacy as an independent, community-focused, full service bank. Learn more about our two Putnam County offices by clicking the buttons below.

Cookeville Office
Algood Office

First Freedom Donates to Algood Library Program

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

In support of the Algood Library’s summer reading program, First Freedom bank donated goody bags to be given to program participants. As it is Older American’s Month, the library is using this as their focus for May.

Pictured from left to right is Teola Ragland, Algood FSR Manager / Personal Banker and Rochelle Turner, Algood Branch Library Manager. 

First Freedom staff stand and smile at the camera.

First Freedom Supports Cookeville Chamber

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

First Freedom supported the Cookeville Chamber’s annual meeting by sponsoring a table at the event. Held on February 6th at the Leslie Town Center, the chamber honored six members for their commitment to Putnam County in the prior year. The keynote speaker was Dianne Murphy, senior partner at the PICTOR group.

Pictured from left to right, front row, is Rachel Honaker, Algood Office Manager, Abby McCann, Cookeville FSR Manager, Bryan Sweet, Cookeville Personal Banker, Donna Elrod, Vice President and Gainesboro Office Manager, Sarah Poss, Vice President and Assistant Director of Retail Banking, and J.B. Owens, Executive Vice President and Director of Commercial Banking. Pictured from left to right, back row, is Kenny Beavers, Senior Vice President and Director of Retail Banking, and Ladell Medley, Vice President and Cookeville Office Manager.

First Freedom Sponsors Cookeville Chamber Event

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

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.

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.