The American Bankers Affiliation these days declared the recipients of its once-a-year Bruning and Blanchfield Awards, the association’s premier awards presented for major contributions to agricultural banking. ABA will honor Keith Phillips, senior vice president and ag division supervisor, First Lender and Believe in Organization based in Lebanon, Va., with the Bruning Award and Steven Turner, an lawyer with Baird Holm LLP, with the Blanchfield Award at the ABA Agricultural Bankers Conference, Nov. 6-9 at CHI Wellbeing Heart in Omaha, Neb..
Bruning Award
J. Keith Phillips is this year’s receiver of ABA’s Bruning Award, which acknowledges the lifetime achievement of agricultural bankers for their leadership and exceptional perseverance to furnishing credit and fiscal guidance to farmers, ranchers and corporations in rural America. Named right after its very first recipient, Nebraska banker Frank Bruning, the Bruning Award is now in its 25th calendar year.
“We are happy to existing the 25th once-a-year Bruning Award to a extremely deserving banker like Keith,” explained Ed Elfmann, senior vice president, agricultural and rural banking coverage at ABA. “He is the epitome of a effective ag banker and neighborhood chief who has by no means wavered in his lifelong motivation to agriculture.”
“Receiving this award is certainly a emphasize of my occupation,” said Phillips. “I stumbled into ag lending early in my specialist everyday living and now, as our bank’s ag lending system has developed, I get so considerably satisfaction in assisting the up coming era of ag creditors develop their skillset and their ability to support producers in our location.”
Phillips’ vocation in banking commenced in 1977 as an agribusiness officer with Rockingham Nationwide Financial institution. Because then, he has remained concentrated on agricultural and professional lending. In 2001, Phillips joined Initial Bank & Believe in Business to lead the bank’s initiatives to create an agricultural lending division. He has grown the bank’s agricultural lending portfolio from $10 million in 2001 to far more than $634 million nowadays. Now, as senior vice president and manager of the agricultural lending division at 1st Bank & Have faith in Business, he oversees the agricultural lending action of the bank’s principal marketplaces of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and manages a crew of 28 creditors. Less than his leadership, the bank’s agricultural lending division is now the fourth premier in the country amongst ag financial institutions and 30th amid all U.S. professional banking companies. Despite only possessing actual physical locations in a few states, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, First Bank & Belief Firm has been named a Farm Provider Company confirmed loan company in 7 states together with Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Phillips has served in many management positions on committees, packages and initiatives at ABA and various state and federal lending applications. He has volunteered his time and know-how to educate Federal Reserve staff members and college students in colleges and universities in Virginia. In the course of his job, he has supported 4-H and Long term Farmers of The us youth systems and collaborated with main agricultural business groups to offer financial scholarships and human source assist to many academic and company systems. Phillips also mentors youthful bankers with an fascination in agricultural lending, encouraging to produce the industry’s future generation of leaders.
“Agriculture is cyclical,” stated Phillips. “The exact difficulties that we’ve often had will continue on to be present. What is transforming is the technological know-how, and the upcoming era of ag lenders are likely to be essential to doing the job competently and overcoming people worries.”
Phillips is a indigenous of Augusta County, Va., and has been associated in different varieties of output agriculture all over his daily life. He attained a B.S. in Animal Science from Virginia Tech. Phillips presently resides in Virginia with his spouse of 41 yrs, Lee. They have two young children, Koree and Josh.
Blanchfield Award
The ABA Blanchfield Award, named in honor of previous senior vice president of ABA’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking John Blanchfield, acknowledges the contributions of a non-banker who has made sizeable contributions to the advancement of agricultural lending.
This year’s receiver, Steven Turner, is a celebrated lawyer whose locations of focus incorporate industrial and agricultural funding transactions.
“Winning this award is a major honor for me,” stated Turner. “Over the decades, I’ve come to be great close friends with John Blanchfield, so it surely makes it additional meaningful to receive an award named following him.”
Turner, who has been an legal professional with Baird Holm LLP for much more than 40 decades, is an active member of the authorized local community. He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and has served on its board of directors and is earlier chair of its Uniform Commercial Code Committee. He is a fellow in the American College or university of Bankruptcy and a member of the Nebraska Condition Bar Affiliation. Turner is also active with the American Bar Affiliation and has served on its Uniform Business Code Committee, Commercial Money Companies Committee, Subcommittee on Agricultural and Agri-Business Finance (previous chairperson from 1987 to 1994) and the Job Power on Revision to Short article 9 of the UCC Relating to Agricultural Financing (chair).
Turner attributed a great deal of his firm’s achievements in the agricultural finance area to a potent familiarity with agriculture. “As a business centered in Omaha, we the natural way have a deep understanding of agriculture and the one of a kind desires of our clients and their customers,” said Turner.
Turner has been greatly recognized through his profession. He is bundled in the Fantastic Plains Super Legal professionals 2013 checklist for his get the job done in banking legislation, and each 12 months given that 1989, Turner has been chosen by his friends for inclusion in The Finest Legal professionals in The usa in the fields of banking and finance regulation, bankruptcy and creditor-debtor legal rights regulation and money company regulation legislation. He is listed in Chambers United states of america, America’s Major Legal professionals for Company for his perform in financial transactions. In 2009, Turner was designated by Finest Legal professionals in The us as the Banking Legislation Law firm of the Calendar year and in 2011 as the Individual bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Legal rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law Attorney of the Yr.
From 1985 to 1990, Turner was an adjunct professor of regulation of personal bankruptcy and reorganization for Creighton University Faculty of Law. He has served as an teacher for the American Bankers Affiliation Faculty for Agricultural Bankers and the Agricultural Creditors Institute in Fresno, Calif. for the earlier 15 many years.
Turner and his wife of 47 years, Maureen, have 4 little ones and 4 grandchildren.
***Notice TO EDITORS: Reporters enjoy complimentary entry to the ABA Agricultural Bankers Conference in Omaha Nov. 6-9. Perspective the total program and get hold of Sarah Grano ([email protected]) to register.
The American Bankers Association is the voice of the nation’s $23.7 trillion banking market, which is composed of little, regional and significant financial institutions that alongside one another use a lot more than 2 million men and women, safeguard $19.6 trillion in deposits and lengthen $11.8 trillion in loans.
Since 1997, the Bruning Award, named after its 1st receiver, Nebraska banker Frank Bruning, acknowledges bankers that show outstanding management and focused company to furnishing credit score and guidance to farmers, ranchers and their fellow agricultural bankers.
Recognized in 2015 in honor of John Blanchfield, previous senior vice president of ABA’s Heart for Agricultural and Rural Banking, the Blanchfield Award recognizes agricultural pros who have made significant contributions to the development of agricultural lending.
