Over 400 Farmers Bank & Trust (FB&T) employees gathered in Texarkana, Texas, on Feb. 20 for the fourth annual HEART Celebration to honor the Bank’s hardworking and dedicated staff throughout Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. The event took place on Presidents’ Day, when all branches were closed, and brought together nearly all of FB&T’s leadership and workforce into one location for the first time in three years due to COVID measures.
The HEART Celebration serves as a day to honor the Bank’s workforce. It also highlights those who have shown exemplary displays of FB&T’s core values of HEART (Honor, Excellence, Adaptability, Respect, and Teamwork) during the HEART Awards ceremony.
Amy Downs, a former credit union worker who survived the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, was the featured speaker at the event. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native and current Oklahoma resident has since become an inspirational figure, tri-athlete, and author.
The celebration culminated as President and CEO Chris Gosnell announced the HEART Award winners for outstanding displays of HEART.
“The HEART Celebration is a day to recognize the most valuable assets we have as a bank, and that’s our employees,” he said. “They are the ones who embody our core values of HEART, day-in, and day-out.”
The winners were as follows:
- Big HEART Award – Gabriela Cisneros Guillen, Retail Banking, De Queen, Arkansas
- Big HEART Award, Runner Up – Tara Green, Retail Banking, Nashville and Dierks, Arkansas
- HEART in External Customer Service – Janet Fox, Retail Banking, Mount Ida, Arkansas
- HEART in Internal Customer Service, Greg Evans, Lending, Glenwood, Arkansas
- HEART in a Team – Paris, Texas, Branch
- HEART in Leadership – Dana Turner, Loan Operations, St. Michael Drive Branch, Texarkana, Texas
- HEART in the Community – Jason Ray, Lending, Magnolia Main Branch, Magnolia, Arkansas
- HEART Rookie of the Year – Patsy Webb, Lending, Mount Ida, Arkansas
FB&T also recognized multiple employees for their extensive years of service to the Bank.
The honorees included Jackie Tartlon of Hot Springs, Ark., for 35 years; Karen McLelland of Prescott, Ark., Judi Franks of Magnolia, and Janet Carpenter of Nashville, Ark., for 30 years; Sara Morgan of Magnolia, Ark., and Bill Kerst and Julie Saul of Hot Springs, Arkansas, for 25 years; and Audrea Roach and Sarah Drake of Magnolia, Arkansas, Greg Evans of Glenwood, Arkansas, and Wendi Hibberd of Nashville, Arkansas, for 20 years of service. Recognition was also given to four employees for 15 years, five employees for 15 years, 13 employees for 10 years, and 21 employees for five years of service.
“Without these dedicated people, we would not be where we are today,” Gosnell said.
