The Vermont Bankers Association works with qualified vendors to provide products and services which allow members to enhance revenue or reduce expenses. By seeking opportunities to leverage the collective buying power of the industry, VBA helps financial institutions and Associate Members achieve greater value from their membership.

Banking is a highly specialized industry requiring highly specialized support. Very often a financial institution manager is charged with finding qualified expertise for a new company initiative, with increasing non-interest revenue, or with protecting the safety on the institution itself.

Through VBA, members of the VBA have immediate access to some of the finest industry support in the country – vendors who make a strong commitment to Vermont banking.

ENDORSED PARTNERS

BankTalentHQ is a nationwide talent management website dedicated to attracting qualified candidates to the banking industry, and helping banks retain those quality employees.

Blue U Defense: The creators of the Security on Autopilot Program – A systematic approach designed to truly keep people secure starting at $99/Month
Active Shooter, Robbery, Workplace Violence, Drugs In the Workplace/Home, Recognize Signs of Violence, De-Escalation, Receptionist Training
-Review, improve, establish practical, sensible, effective policies and procedures.
-Reduce mandatory training time and cost by 70%
-Increase training effectiveness by 100%
-Establish personal responsibility and desire to get more training and the resources for them to do it
-Designed to keep employees secure at work and at home
-Continuous, up-to-date resources to keep you abreast of today’s unique and dangerous threats
-Experts “On-Call” to help you with daily challenges or major events

One of our banking client employees said, “I learned more about security in 15 minutes at my station with Blue U than I have in 15 years working for the bank”.
Contact: Joseph Hileman, Executive Vice President
Phone: (603) 440-3937
Email: jhileman@blue-u.com

Check Printing Contract Consulting (CPCC) negotiates check printing agreements on behalf of banks. Since early 2015, more than 250 institutions have chosen Check Printing Contract Consulting to impartially negotiate their next check printing agreements. About 95% of its clients choose to stay with their current vendors. The check vendor funds CPCC’s full consulting fee as a portion of the negotiated savings. A bank with 30,000 checking accounts would typically enjoy five-year total contract savings of $500,000 or more.
Contact: Greg Baitt, Executive Vice President
Phone: (216) 396-0225
Email: greg.baitt@checkprintingconsulting.org

ICBA Securities provides a full suite of investment products and services for community banks through its exclusively endorsed broker, Stifel.  Included are traditional debt securities, interest rate products, whole loans, and M&A and bank valuation services. Stifel also has state-of-the-art asset/liability and bond accounting products. It offers investment banking services through KBW.  ICBA Securities, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ICBA, provides a full calendar of educational events for community bankers and investment professionals.  ICBA Securities is endorsed by 34 affiliated state banking associations, and is the only broker/dealer owned by the community banking industry.
Contact: Jim Reber, President/CEO
Phone: (800) 422-6442
Email: jreber@icbasecurities.com

ICI is a consulting firm that supports financial institutions by providing core processing assessments, vendor evaluations, contract negotiation and conversion services.
Contact: Jeff Trice, Senior Vice President
Phone: (410) 822-7451
Email: jeff.trice@ici-consulting.com

KeyState Captive Management (KeyState) is the country’s largest provider of captive management and investment portfolio services to community banks.

KeyState offers banks with over $750 billion in assets the opportunity to form a wholly-owned captive insurance company through its Bank Captive Program. A captive insurance company, or a legally licensed limited purpose property and casualty insurance company, can augment a bank’s commercial policies by covering the existing commercial deductible layers, increasing coverage levels on existing policies (excess layers), and identifying other currently unfunded risks to insure where commercial insurance is not available to the bank.

Through a captive, banks can:

  • Improve their enterprise risk management;
  • Better manage unfunded risks;
  • Formalize a self-insurance program;
  • Realize efficiencies and savings related to insurance expenses and loss mitigation; and
  • Take advantage of a small business incentive available under a section of the Tax Code.

What makes KeyState’s Bank Captive Program different from its competitors? The primary differentiator is KeyState’s deep knowledge and specific expertise working with banks and their regulators in evaluating structures and responding to regulator inquiries. KeyState’s team offers a turnkey product and assists the bank every step along the way.
Contact: David Guerino, SVP & Managing Director of Captive Insurance
Phone: (802) 316-4333
Email: dguerino@key-state.com

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

See our full list of Associate Members for additional resources to assist your bank.