Pub. 14 2019-2020 Issue 1

WWW.NEBANKERS.ORG 8 We are actively providing scholarships, placing student interns in member banks, and guest lecturing in college and university classrooms. President's Message — continued from page 7 Contact Richard J. Baier at (402) 474-1555 or richard.baier@nebankers.org . 4. Your NBA education team hosted more than thirty five live training and educational programs, with total reg- istrations again topping 4,000. In addition, the NBA’s online and webinar training services continue to experi- ence strong banker demand. 5. Over the past few years, the NBA has placed an increas- ing emphasis on strategies to grow the next generation of bankers. We are actively providing scholarships, placing student interns inmember banks, and guest lecturing in college and university classrooms. We are also actively using social media and video to feature banking career opportunities. 6. Communicating with members, various media outlets and consumers remains a priority of the organization. Media interviews last year totaled thirty four. Converse- ly, NBA staff distributed 235,000Husker Football sched- ules to member banks to share with their customers. 7. One issue that garnered statewide attention during the past year is the importance of improving financial education in our state. In addition to promoting valu- able learning tools such as EverFi, the NBA was active in contributing input and guidance to the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) as they updated both business and social studies curriculum standards. The NBA received considerable media coverage as a result of this work with NDE. 8. The Nebraska Bankers Insurance & Services Co. (NBIS- CO), the NBA’s for-profit subsidiary, continues to offer a wide variety of competitively-priced, customer-focused products and services, withmore than 85% of our mem- ber banks enrolling in one or more of the group insur- ance products. The Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) health insurance program covers more than 10,000 of your fellow Nebraska bankers and their dependents. 9. Finally, I wanted to touch briefly on the Bank On Ne- braska Strong disaster relief efforts. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the many Nebraskans who were im- pacted by the severe weather and devasting floods which impacted our state in March. Nebraska bankers, from the onset of the disaster, have been on the forefront of helping their communities to recover. Your NBA board of directors unanimously voted to designate $50,000 to spur recovery efforts. Likewise, the NBA partnered with Nebraska United Ways and the Nebraska Community Foundation to create the Bank On Nebraska Strong di- saster relief funds. More than $145,000 has been raised so far from a wide range of contributors, including NBA member banks, fellow bank organizations, Nebraska businesses, individuals, etc. On May 15, the NBA began accepting grant applications to distribute dollars to worthwhile recovery and rebuilding efforts. a. In the mantra of “Bankers Helping Bankers,” the NBA distributed gift cards to sixty six Nebraska bankers who experienced substantial personal losses as a result of the flooding. b. To help facilitate information sharing throughout the disaster, the NBA hosted a statewide conference call with more than one hundred and fifty member institu- tions and various disaster relief organizations, including both the Nebraska and Federal EmergencyManagement Agencies, the USDA-FarmService Agency and the Small Business Administration. A special webpage was also developed to help disseminate recovery information. This site has seen a lot of web traffic. c. Going forward, the NBA is serving on Governor Ricketts Housing Recovery Task Force. I want to extend my personal thanks to the many not-for- profit organizations, donors and supporters who are working tirelessly to help Nebraska begin the long rebuilding process. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not extend a special thank you to our members institutions, board members, volunteers, partners and our amazing staff who help the NBA retains its role as the leading financial services trade association in the state of Nebraska. Together, we successfully speak as the leading advocate for Nebraska’s banking industry. 