Ohio Bankers League Joins Union Savings Bank to Expand Central State University's Banking Industry Program

Ohio Bankers League Joins Union Savings Bank to Expand Central State University’s Banking Industry Program

WILBERFORCE, OH -  A unique Central State University career-development program for Ohio’s banking industry has received a significant endorsement from Ohio’s leading trade association for banks and thrifts.

The Summer Banking Institute 2018, which started as a partnership between Central State and Union Savings Bank, now has a third partner - the Ohio Bankers League, which represents 230 banks in Ohio. The 10-week summer internship program, which trains and then places Central State students in banks around the region, now offers more bank placements and year-round employment.

Michael Adelman, President and CEO of the Ohio Bankers League, said, “A lot of banks are saying we don’t have young people in the community who want to take up this career. The Summer Banking Institute looks like a great opportunity to give a flavor of what banking looks like.” He said the program’s structure is what makes it unique because “students are being brought into a classroom setting to really ensure they have a baseline knowledge of banking and then we take that cohort of students into a bank.”

On Monday, this year’s program began with 23 students, which is a little more than double the number of participants from last year. After four weeks in the classroom, the students will complete a six-week internship at one of seven participating banks around Southwest Ohio.

In the classroom, students are exposed to different functions of the bank such as Marketing, Accounting, Mortgage Lending, Commercial Lending, and Retail Banking among other topics. Upon completion of the program, they are awarded college internship credit plus a certificate in Universal Banking.

The participating banks are:
•    Union Savings Bank
•    Guardian Savings Bank
•    The Park National Bank of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky
•    LCNB
•    1st National Bank
•    Peoples Bank
•    Monroe Federal

The program addresses a critical Ohio workforce need. Evan Kleymeyer, Executive Director of the Ohio Bankers Foundation, said currently Ohio has about 60,000 bankers, but the expectation is that 20,000 of those positions will become available over the next 10 years. The Foundation works on issues of financial literacy and building the next generation of bankers. He said two issues they see in the industry are a slow pipeline and a need for more diversity.

“We love the (CSU) program and we think it makes sense for our members,” Kleymeyer said. “Our vision is eventually we could have 100 kids going through the program every year.”

The innovative program, which is a great example of a public-private partnership, was the idea of Louis Beck, chairman of Union Savings Bank, whose branches serve Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Year one results were so positive that Beck scaled up the program by soliciting the involvement of the Bankers League so more CSU students could be placed as interns. “I give credit to Louis,” said Dr. Fidelis Ikem, Dean of the CSU College of Business. “As this program grows, we could become a center for training future bank employees for the state of Ohio and Louis Beck has been a major part of driving toward this goal.”

Beck said, "Union Savings Bank & Guardian Savings Bank are excited about the Ohio Bankers League's support of the Central State University 2018 Summer Banking Institute. We approached OBL about this collaboration because it allows more students to experience working in the banking industry and it has the potential to lead to increased diversity.  Our vision is that the CSU College of Business becomes the institution for the best banking talent in the state of Ohio."

Adelman said this program makes sense for his membership because roughly half of Ohio Bankers League members are small community banks with $100 million in assets or smaller. But banks are an important lifeblood for a community. “Show me a town that has a good strong bank and that is a healthy community,” Adelman said.

Of the nine participants last year, seven were hired permanently to work at various Union Savings Bank locations. Sharonda McDaniel, a senior accounting major, said she had not considered a banking career before her participation in the Summer Banking Institute last year. Today, she works part-time in the Union Savings Xenia branch. “I learned so much about credit, interest rates, the federal reserve. The four weeks in class were the best part. If we had just jumped into the industry, I would have been lost,” McDaniel said.

Dr. Ikem said, “We’re really excited. I am more excited about the future potential this has for students and for Central State and we’re delighted to be a part of addressing a need in our community.”

About Central State University:
Central State University, located in Wilberforce, Ohio, is a regionally accredited 1890 Land-Grant University with a 131-year tradition of preparing students from diverse backgrounds and experiences for leadership, research and service. The University, which has been named 2017 HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest, fosters academic excellence within a nurturing environment and provides a strong liberal arts foundation and STEM-Ag curriculum leading to professional careers and advanced studies globally.