YBOK President Brian Whitesell (Landmark National Bank) welcomed everyone to the conference and thanked this year’s sponsors. Whitesell then introduced the YBOK Board and turned the mic over to KBA Board Chairman Jonathan Johnson. Jonathan gave a KBA update about the work that has been done to address our strategic plan. He also discussed the importance of being engaged in the political process and being leaders not only in their institution but also in their community.

The first speakers of the day were The Coach and The Cowboy. For years, Brandon Clark (The Coach) and Kevin Chase (The Cowboy) generated top performance from their respective teams within the community of Derby, Kansas. Brandon was a high school football coach, and Kevin was Chairman and CEO of Verus Bank. Faith and friendship brought them together more than 15 years ago. Today, they both enjoy sharing a common passion for creating positive and meaningful team culture. Kevin has served as the Derby Football Program’s culture coach for the past four years. Together, he and Brandon developed a culture program that has proven successful from the gridiron to the board room.

The Coach and the Cowboy offered many insights on how we can provide a positive outlook on life and in our everyday job duties during these trying times, and they were well received by their audience.

The next speaker of the day was Kansas U.S. Senate Candidate Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall. He joined us while out on the road on his campaign bus just five days before the election, which he won. Senator-Elect Marshall talked about his legislative priorities and what he hears from Kansans across the state amidst a pandemic. Senator-Elect Marshall also talked about his work as vice chairman of the board for Farmer’s Bank & Trust in Great Bend and thanked the banking industry and the KBA for its support in his campaign.

Just after hearing from Dr. Roger Marshall, we took a short commercial break to thank our sponsors for this year’s conference and played the two new KBA videos that have played on TV, one called “There will be a bank” that was produced to help promote the image of the banking industry and another video featuring KBA President Doug Wareham talking about the response the banks in Kansas had in response to COVID-19. Both are available to watch on our website.

After our commercial break, we were able to hear from Frank Carson (chairman, Carson Bank), Charlie Chandler (chairman, INTRUST Bank), and Jeannette Richardson (vice chairman, Prairie Bank of Kansas) for our first-ever virtual chairman panel. The panel answered several questions in regard to what advice they would give someone going into a leadership position for the first time as well their thoughts on the unprecedented actions taken by congress and the Federal Reserve to combat the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

After the panel, KBA’s SVP, Government Relations Alex Orel gave a brief election update and talked about the state and federal legislative priorities that the KBA’s government relations team is working on and what to expect in next year’s state legislative session.

Our last speaker of the day was Astronaut Sam Gemar, who shared many stories during his time as an astronaut and how he overcame many struggles of his career. He was able to relate that to the hard times we are facing during this year’s pandemic and how we can overcome any obstacle if we just persevere.

We finished out the day with our annual meeting and transition of officers and board members. After the transition of officers, incoming YBOK President Derek Bailey (Great Western Bank) addressed the conference and thanked the speakers and sponsors for their time and support. Next year’s YBOK Annual Conference is scheduled for Sept. 8-10 in Wichita, so mark your calendars!