BancFirst a long-time part of local community – Published in the May 10-16 edition of the JC Sentinel
This week’s Member Spotlight is on Corporate Bronze member, BancFirst! This company has been a long time Chamber member and essential part of Johnston County for quite a while. In fact, the Bank of Johnston County was chartered in 1979 and merged into BancFirst in 1995. I first got the chance to meet Vice-President and Branch Manager, Lavon Ladua, while at a community event that BancFirst was host to last week. Community members, including a number of veterans, gathered to celebrate the 94th birthday of Cora Smith, a World War II veteran and Johnston County resident. Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative (OHAI) education director, Kathy Gooding, introduced the two of us at the event and a draw out of my member list led me to visit her again this week to discuss my column.
Lavon, while new to the Tishomingo branch of BancFirst, is an experienced, 28-year bank professional and has spent time traveling Oklahoma opening new BancFirst locations and serving at the Sulphur site. She expressed that she and her staff are excited to engage in continuing community events and has been thinking for some time about starting a networking and fellowship program called ‘Coffee With a Cop’. This initiative, likely to be held quarterly, will offer the community time to visit with Johnston County’s first responders, local law enforcement, and city officials in a comfortable setting that will allow for conversations that foster trust and neighborly relationships. Lavon is also interested in building presentations that will help customers with banking technology, checkbook balancing, and more.
The Tishomingo branch currently has a full staff of six employees, all of which are area locals that are eager to assist your needs. The bank supports organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Reaching Out, Murray State College, local schools (most recently, the Tishomingo Middle School Reading Fair), and are also sponsoring the upcoming OHAI Trap Shoot on June 16. Tishomingo’s BancFirst is located at 820 E. Main Street and can be reached at 580-371-2346. Call today for information on their Locally Grown Auto Loan program now through August 31st!
Read next week for a Spotlight on Simply Safe Compliance of Tishomingo!
We hope that everyone is getting out and about finding the Chickasaw Country logo in the participating businesses for this year’s National Tourism Week Scavenger Hunt! Even if you don’t visit every location, turn your form in at the Chickasaw Information Center for a chance to win our smaller prizes. We have also been busy working on economic development initiatives, new visitor brochures, and a survey that will go out leading up to our first membership meeting – scheduled for Friday, June 1st! More details to come.
Please check the johnstoncountychamber.com calendar for upcoming events and subscribe to my weekly e-newsletter. With summer rolling around, the calendar is filling fast! If you have subscribed, check your spam folder, as I have found that it goes there initially.
-Jordyn
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” – Mary Poppins