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“In 2023, I attended for the first time the Symposium, where the event far exceeded my expectations. The networking was outstanding and especially vital given the current risks & challenges the community banking industry is facing! I have been the CEO & Director of our Community Bank for the past 10 years and wished that I had attended in the previous years. The sessions at the symposium really hit the spot with the current challenges & opportunities in Community Banking. The time was well spent.” ~ Brent B. Miller, Security State Bank of Wyoming
“I serve as a COO for our organization in addition to serving on the Board of Directors. I attended the WSDEF Symposium for the first time in 2023. The content was timely, diverse and well delivered. Although I’d attended other conferences in the year, this offered specific content for my role as a Director. The accommodations were superb, and the length of the program was perfect. I highly recommend this conference to any Community Bank Director.” ~ Megan L. Harmon, Branch President/COO, The Eastern Colorado Bank, Colorado Springs, CO
“What a wonderful opportunity to be surrounded by other community bank boards and learn from each other! 2023 was our first Symposium experience and we enjoyed the atmosphere of learning and imagining, while networking with other boards similar to ourselves. This is like strategic planning, but without the expensive consultant. It isn’t often that a board can break away from their daily lives to fully focus on improving their bank in such a positive and educational setting. The moment the event ended, we wanted to spend another day discussing and implementing what we learned. We will be returning in 2024 and bringing our entire board to take full advantage of the opportunity the Symposium offers us. Thank you for building a program that is so impactful and important to the livelihood of community banks.” ~ Kim DeVore, President/CEO, Jonah Bank of Wyoming
“I have attended the Western States Directors’ Education Symposium for over 15 years. Initially, I attended it primarily for networking and business development purposes. However, as of and following 2018 when I became an outside director, I have gleaned valuable insight into the day-to-day, nuts and bolts of community banking and the challenges and solutions shared by participants. The conference is well-planned and executed and the venue has always been second-to-none. The Symposium provides invaluable educational tools for bank directors, and the speakers are not only experts in their field, but the topics are germane to real-time issues affecting the community banking industry. Do not miss this event. 10 out of 10!” ~ Kristin S. Godfrey, Esq., Outside Director, Bankers’ Bank of the West, Denver, CO
“I was a first-time attendee in 2023, and brought my board and it exceeded our expectations. My board enjoyed interacting with other community bank board members from similar size institutions not operating in large coastal cities. We found the content to be timely and the speakers very informative. We will be returning in 2024!” ~ Wes Veach, President & CEO, bankcda, Coeur d’Alene, ID
“The topics and presentations offer information that directors do not see on a day-to-day basis, so it brings us up to speed to what the employees of the bank talk about day-to-day. And always, the best part for me is what I gain from talking with directors from other banks that are of similar size. The relations you will build, the people you will meet, and the quality of the presentations are phenomenal”. ~ Bill Trumbull, Outside Director, Platte Valley Companies, Scottsbluff, NE
“The symposium has been very eye-opening and lets us know that we are right on track about what we are doing and what we are proposing for our bank. I enjoy the speakers, and always enjoy the networking and meeting different community bank members throughout the western states. The symposium gives you the added benefit of seeing what is happening across the nation and to exchange ideas with other directors.” ~ Cristie Stuart, Outside Director, First New Mexico Bank, Las Cruces, NM
The Symposium is a good time spent with our directors. We invite all our directors and spouses, so we spend that one-on-one time outside of the board room, getting to know each other better and we find that valuable in the long run. And of course, meeting the people from other banks; they run into the same challenges as we do, there are people to bounce ideas off of, to learn from each other and to make each other better in the long run.” ~ Andy Miller, President & Director, Sundance State Bank, Sundance, WY
“Community banking is vital to the success of our country and that is not going to change. I am very bullish on community banking, and I encourage all community bankers to continue to fight this very important fight to support the communities we serve. Nobody else is doing it like we do. The symposium provides an effective means for folks to receive further education that allows them to be more successful in helping their banks to meet the needs in the communities they serve.” ~ Bill Mitchell, President & CEO, Bankers’ Bank of the West, Denver, CO
“I have been in banking for 36 years and have been going to the WSDEF symposium for five with our directors. It is a wonderful experience. Very worthwhile as they learn a lot and look forward to attending every year. My bank continues to return because we gain practical knowledge; bankers teaching bankers. And for the networking, networking with other community bankers from the same regions facing similar issues is invaluable. The Symposium is exactly what we need every year to keep us abreast of what is happening in the industry.” ~ P. Mark Graff, Chairman of the Board, MNB Bank, McCook, NE
“The symposium is a great, great learning experience. It is something that should not be passed up. I would tell those first timers you will not understand 80% of what is said, but that is what happens at the bank level. This is the place to learn, then you have resources to review and can ask those directors what it is you are missing in the conversations. New bank board members, you certainly need to make this an important priority to attend!” ~ Sharon Kauffman, Outside Director, FMS Bank, Fort Morgan, CO
“This is my first year attending in 2018, and it has exceeded my expectations, specifically the quality of the speakers. I strongly recommend the symposium, it is a great time to come to Arizona, but also a great time of year for looking towards budgeting, strategic planning and succession. A great, great seminar to attend. I highly recommend it.” ~ PJ Wharton, President and CEO, Yampa Valley Bank, Steamboat Springs, CO
“I have been attending the WSDEF symposium for over 8 years and First Northern Bank has been involved with the foundation for over 30 years. Regulators pay attention to education and recognize that our bank is investing in our board of director’s training; it is definitely a plus. In addition, attending the symposium helps our directors to better understand banking, which leads to more informed decision making.” ~ Bob McBride, Executive Vice President & Chairman, First Northern Bank of Wyoming, Buffalo, WY
“This year marks the 15th year I have attended the Western States Director Symposium having always enjoyed great educational programs and peer to peer exchange focused on the never wavering mission of aiding and encouraging, all who attend, to keep community banking viable, competitive and most importantly “Independent”. If you are a community bank director, you owe it to your bank’s future to be a part of the Symposium.” ~ Sean Ormand, President, First New Mexico Bank of Silver City, NM
“In 2017 I had the privilege of attending my first Western States Director Education Foundation (WSDEF) directors education training event in Arizona. I’ve been on the Platte Valley Banks Wyoming board of directors for approximately 7 years and this gave me some great insight to areas of the bank we don’t see from the bank director’s chair. A few of the areas that were covered were: banking regulation, update on Bit Coin movement, maximizing leadership in the bank, marketing to a new generation to security risks. All speakers were very well informed and great speakers. I recommend this conference to all bank directors.” ~ Jim D. Mathis, Platte Valley Bank Director, WY and NE
“The WSDEF Symposium has been a part of our Directors training for over 20 years. We feel it is important for our Directors to interact with other Directors from our area and get ideas and input on different topics to bring back and possibly implement. The Symposium has always had helpful and insightful speakers with a lovely venue! Here’s to 40 more years for the WSDEF Symposium!!” ~ Trudy Durfee, Chairman of the Board, Sundance State Bank, Sundance, WY
“Of all the conferences I have attended in my 19+ years of being a director, the WSDEF Symposium is the one that stands out in my mind as the best for focused education. This symposium drills down and gets to the heart of the matter of what directors need to know.” ~ Brett Kasten, First New Mexico Bank of Silver City, NM
“I attended the Western States Director Symposium and found those few days to be very beneficial to myself and our bank. Attendees are presented with very timely and informative information that is crucial to bank boards and active banks. I found the Symposium to be a great place to network as the participants are all similar in location, bank size, and customer expectations. Lastly, the Scottsdale area isn’t a bad place to spend a few days from Wyoming in November!” ~ Jay E. Hammond, President & CEO, Lusk State Bank, Lusk, WY