Recently, we conducted a series of 20-minute briefings with education and training leaders in our member banks, highlighting VACB’s education offerings and our new affiliation with ICBA’s Community Banker University.

The briefings were inspired by our Education Task Force, which has been hard at work over the past few months. The briefings are one of several takeaways the group has produced to make our programming better — for your bank and for VACB.

As a result of conversations with task force members, two realities surfaced. First, education and training are handled in a variety of ways across our member banks, with no correlation to bank size or other variables. Second, some VACB members know little of VACB and ICBA programming, and others know of programs that they have used for years, but little about our newer programs and affiliations. Our goal is to make sure that all of our members are aware of all that we offer, and the briefings were an effective first step to that end.

Our thanks to Katharine Garner, who “wrote and directed” the briefing agenda. The 20 minutes were packed with information and thought-stimulating questions and links to more information. A recorded version is available at https://tinyurl.com/VACB-Overview if you would like to view it or share it.

Our thanks also to Julie Hanson, ICBA’s SVP for State Education Programs, who provided a two-minute overview of the new VACB-ICBA affiliation in each briefing and remains very accessible as we expand the reach of our new collaboration.

In addition to the major new affiliation with ICBA’s Community Banker University, we have expanded the number of other community-bank-specific associations with which we engage in education. We’ve been partnering with our peers in West Virginia for several years and have recently conducted programs with community bankers associations in Georgia, Colorado, and Missouri. The benefits of these collaborations are realized in wider access to quality speakers, more revenue opportunities, and more interaction between a broader cross-section of community bankers.

We are also looking to build affiliations with other entities that make training a hallmark of their value proposition.

Our strategic plan emphasizes the need to drive member value. For those who appreciate the role of education in the recruitment and retention of good people in key positions at your bank, VACB and ICBA will continue to provide valuable opportunities. Use our website — www.vacb.org — to find links to ICBA and VACB programming.