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The Community Bankers Association of Oklahoma is a member-driven trade association. It is funded by the membership dues of community banks owned or chartered in the State of Oklahoma. Voting membership is not open to large, out-of-state mega-banks, even if they operate branches in Oklahoma.
CBAO allows bankers to collectively accomplish many goals that would normally be unattainable with only the efforts of an individual banker or individual bank. The majority of legislation that affects the community banking industry is now decided in Washington, DC. CBAO, along with 33 other state community banking associations, works hand in hand with the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). Together, they fight proactively for legislation that would level the playing field for community banking, while at the same time maintaining a strong defense against costly and burdensome regulations. Since both CBAO and ICBA only allow community banks in their membership, 100% of their priority issues are on behalf of the community banking industry.
CBAO is governed by a board of directors consisting of up to 18 Oklahoma bankers: nine representing geographic areas around the state, an executive committee of four bankers along with the President and CEO of CBAO, and up to five at-large directors representing Oklahoma member banks regardless of geographic region.
Craig Buford serves CBAO as its President and CEO. He joined CBAO in April of 2004 after spending two years in Austin, Texas with the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. Buford began his career as an agricultural lender and was a community banker for many years.
Employees of CBAO member banks utilize their association as a RESOURCE in many ways:
Education: Training is a never ending struggle for community banks. A well trained staff provides your customers better service, protects bank assets and meets regulatory requirements. While so important, it is a constant challenge to have employees out of the bank for training. CBAO offers excellent bank employee training localized for you and your neighbor banks. Areas of the state such as Guymon, Alva, Stigler, and Idabel have already found that 4-6 neighboring CBAO member banks can enjoy top speakers, and bank employees do not have to travel far or be gone overnight. Not to mention, the training is very affordable.
Through a partnership with Financial Education, Inc., CBAO also offers training via webinar. This allows your employees to train in the bank with no travel time away from their families or your customers. Member banks throughout the state quickly see the value of this excellent educational opportunity.
Legal and Compliance issues are always a concern for community bankers. CBAO members enjoy the opportunity to have two outstanding banking attorneys available at no cost to answer general banking questions. Whether it is an Oklahoma banking code question or a tough federal compliance issue, CBAO members become more competitive with this excellent additional compliance tool.
Endorsed Service Providers offer CBAO member banks an excellent resource for bank products and services. CBAO works with a few select companies that are the best in their field. This saves your bank valuable staff time on due diligence. Additionally, many companies offer discounts to CBAO member banks that are not available to non-member banks.
CBAO’s Convention is an excellent source for training, net-working, new ideas, and wonderful food and entertainment with fellow Oklahoma bankers.
CBAO/IBAT Alliance: CBAO formed an alliance with the Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) several years ago. As a member of CBAO, you qualify as a member of IBAT and can take advantage of any IBAT programs at member prices. IBAT offers another convention venue, a large leadership conference in the summer, a winter summit at a ski resort, and the large technology trade show, TechMecca.
Summary: The State of Oklahoma is lucky to have two strong banking associations - two strong voices on your behalf. If you are a community bank, the Community Bankers Association of Oklahoma is deserving of your support and asks for you to join paying very reasonable “fair share” dues.
The community banking industry will see more and more tremendous challenges in the years ahead. It is vital that Oklahoma community banks have an association whose only priority is what is best for the community banking industry. If you feel it is important to maintain the value of your banking franchise, to maximize the return on investment to your stockholders, and utilize every competitive advantage available, then become a member of CBAO.
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