The Tennessee Bankers Association’s Young Bankers Division elected new 2020-2021 officers and directors during the Division’s virtual Annual Meeting on May 1, 2020.
New Officers
Delegates elected the following bankers to serve as officers:
- Chairman—Derrick Whitten, Vice President, The Hardin County Bank, Savannah
- Chairman-elect—Michael J. Saporito, II, Senior Vice President, Mountain Commerce Bank, Knoxville
- Vice Chairman—Justin Nipper, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, The Farmers Bank, Portland
- Immediate Past Chairman—Samuel L. Short, Senior Vice President/Senior Lender, Southern Bank of Tennessee, Mount Juliet
As chairman of the Division, Whitten will serve as an ex-officio member of the Tennessee Bankers Association board of directors. “It is a privilege to serve as the chairman of the TBA Young Bankers Division,” said Whitten. “This Division has nurtured the professional development of the next generation of bankers since 1960. Through the Covid-19 pandemic, banks have played a vital role supporting its communities and small businesses. I think this will ensure that our customers and our banks emerge stronger than ever after this crisis.”
Directors
In addition to the four executive officers, the Young Bankers Division is governed by a nine-member board composed of three directors from each of the three grand divisions of the state—East, Middle, and West. Directors serve a three-year term with one director from each of the grand divisions rotating off each year and is replaced by a newly elected banker from the same division.
Directors elected to the board during this year’s Annual Meeting were:
- East Tennessee—Jared Palazzola, Senior Vice President, Bank of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Middle Tennessee—Hunter DeBerry, Maury County President, TriStar Bank, Columbia
- West Tennessee—Brooke Regen, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer, First Citizens National Bank, Dyersburg
Bankers who have completed their three-year terms and rotated off the board were:
- Middle Tennessee—James Fuller, Vice President and Relationship Manager, SmartBank, Tullahoma
- West Tennessee—Misty Sharp, Vice President and Internal Auditor, Centennial Bank, Medina
Directors continuing to serve out their terms on the board are:
- Coty Grissom, Loan Officer, Homeland Community Bank, McMinnville
- Billie Jo Parker, Senior Vice President, Pinnacle Financial Partners, Memphis
- Debbie Reid, Assistant Controller, Citizens Tri-County Bank, Dunlap
- John Seiber, Business Development Manager/Loan Officer, Peoples Bank of the South, Clinton
- Lauren Smith, Vice President/Risk Management, Decatur County Bank, Decaturville
- Race Wilson, Branch Manager, First Farmers & Merchants Bank, Lewisburg
The Young Bankers Division was established in 1960 and is devoted to preparing Tennessee’s young bank officers to become the industry’s next generation of leaders.
The members of the division represent financial institutions across the state of Tennessee. In addition to the two-day professional development conference, Leadership Convention, the division hosts the Young Bankers’ Day on the Hill. This program reinforces the importance of involvement in the TBA’s government relations activities. During this annual event, bankers spend a day at the Capitol in Nashville engaging in the legislative process and learning about how the General Assembly functions.
