MEMBER NEWS Cornerstone Bank’s Donation of Parking Lot Raises $42,238 in Community Charles T. Cross, President and CEO, Cornerstone Bank, recently announced that the local bank’s annual donation of its downtown branch facility’s parking lot to local organizations, civic groups and non-profits raised $42,238.70 in 2016. Cross stated, “We are very pleased that the donation of our bank’s parking lot to 90 different organizations was able to raise this record breaking amount of money in 2016. These dollars support some very worthy causes right here in our hometown
and we feel privileged to have the opportunity each year to give back to a community that has continued to make our bank’s exceptional growth and progress possible.” Annually, the bank allows non-profit and civic organizations the opportunity to raise money with parking proceeds at its Historic Downtown Branch Facility. The local bank donates its lot free of charge for any group that meets standard criteria.
Arkansas State University Competes in 2017 Community Bank Case Study by Richard S. Plotkin
In the nationwide team competition, undergraduate college students-under the advisement of a school faculty member-are required to establish partnerships with local community banks to conduct original case studies. The competition is intended to build a further understanding of the community banking business model and the role community banks play in local communities. The topic of the case study in 2017 is management and board succession.
Students on the first-place team each will receive a scholarship from CSBS of $1,000 and a travel stipend to present their case study at the annual “Community Banking in the 21st Century” research and policy conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The conference is scheduled to be held October 4-5, 2017. The first through third place teams, and teams that receive David Kern, Associate honorable mention, will have their Professor of Finance at case studies published in a journal Arkansas State University. during the conference.
The teams will be responsible for analyzing the financial characteristics and historical trends of their bank and the strengths and weaknesses in the institution’s management succession planning. In addition, they will be expected to identify any correlation between the bank’s performance and its leadership succession preparedness. The students must develop recommendations for the bank to consider in executing a strong succession plan.
States represented in the 2017 competition are: Alabama; Arkansas; California; Connecticut; Georgia, two schools; Indiana, four schools; Iowa, two schools; Kentucky; Louisiana, three schools; Michigan, two schools; Minnesota, two schools; Mississippi, two schools; Missouri; Montana; North Carolina; Ohio, four schools; Pennsylvania, four schools; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas, two schools; Virginia, two schools; and Wisconsin.
The faculty adviser for Arkansas State University is David Kern, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance, who advised three teams in 2016. Kern’s students will work this year with The Citizens Bank, Batesville.
Southeastern Louisiana University, which finished first in the 2016 competition, is one of the three schools in that state that have entered the competition in 2017.
A total of 40 colleges and universities from 22 states – including Arkansas – have entered the third annual 2017 Community Bank Case Study competition, sponsored by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). Arkansas State University is the only entrant from the state of Arkansas. A team from Arkansas State University was selected among 12 finalists in the 2016 competition.
The teams in the competition will be responsible for submitting a paper consisting of up to 25 pages that discusses their case-study findings, and a video that highlights the findings. The deadline to submit the paper and video is April 24, 2017. After the judging period ends May 19, 2017, the first- through third-place teams will be announced on May 25 during the 2017 CSBS State-Federal Supervisory Forum in New Orleans.
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The Arkansas Banker | January 2017
More information is available on the Community Bank Case Study Competition website at: www.csbs.org/bankcasestudy. CSBS is the nation’s leading advocate for-and the only national organization dedicated to advancing-the state banking system. Its members include banking regulators from all 50 states and U.S. territories.
