VSU Hosts Third Annual South Georgia Community Bankers Symposium

VALDOSTA --Valdosta State University’s Langdale College of Business Administration joins Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) once again for the third annual South Georgia Community Bankers Symposium Thursday, Oct. 11 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

The symposium includes a day of presentations from leaders in the banking industry and will cover topics such as accounting standards and how they impact financial institutions, market trends and updates in agriculture and opportunities to solidify the next generation of premier community banks. The theme for this year’s symposium is “Moving Forward.”

“As the title suggests, the focus this year will be on opportunities in banking,” said Dr. Ellis Heath, assistant professor of economics and coordinator of the symposium. “In previous years we have focused on regulation and the financial crisis. Needless to say, this year's agenda promises to be more upbeat as we put the financial crisis behind us.”

The keynote speaker, Elaine Demarest, will deliver an address titled “Planning the Future.” Demarest is the president of the Demarest Strategy Group, Inc., located in Hilton Head, S.C. She holds nearly four decades of experience in accounting and consulting. She opened her firm, which offers management advisory services for bank and bank holding companies, in 1984.

Other presenters include Joe Brannen, GBA president; Dr. Cynthia R. Tori, professor of economics at VSU; Dr. John McKissick, professor of agricultural marketing at University of Georgia; Ruby Riesinger, area director and business consultant with VSU’s Small Business Development Center; Timothy Keadle, partner with Portle Keadle Moore, LLP; Scott Manley, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at VSU; and Dr. Ronald Zaccari, former VSU president and strategic planning/regional and community relations officer with Guardian Bank.

With more than 100 attendees at last year's symposium, Dr. Wayne Plumly, dean of the Langdale College of Business Administration, anticipates an equally successful event this year.

“We have lined up energetic forward-looking speakers that will leave the attendees excited  about the future of banking” Plumly said.

Registration for the event is $149 for the first participant and $119 for all secondary participants. For more information about the symposium, contact GBA’s Susie McGehee at (404) 420-2010 or smcgehee@gabankers.com or visit http://careerpaths.gabankers.com/Lists/Calendar%20of%20Events/DispForm.aspx?ID=63893 .