Pub. 6 2017 Issue 7

October/November 2017 27 l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s Robbins explained that the banking industry is suffering from prolonged difficulty recruiting young people out of college. He wanted to develop programs for young people who think they are interested in finance and let them learn what banking is. He has done this in three ways: • First, Farmers Bank and Trust for the last 4 years have been sending bank officers during the spring semester to Fort Hays State University. The officers teach the finance students all aspect of the bank from compliance to lending to bank operations. “It is powerful to get in the classroom and talk about real life examples with juniors and seniors who will be entering the workforce. Bankers need to be more involved in the educational process and we have been able to do that over the last several years. The first year we helped with a class we recruited a top-notch credit analyst and she is still here,” W.R stated. • Second, running with the concept presented by Kansas City Market President Jacinda Zerr, they offered a new type of internship for two college students. Every Monday for 9 weeks the students spend a full day learning about banking with exposure to loan committee, compliance, credit analysis, inspections and operations within the bank. They are assigned a project for a commercial loan at the beginning of the experience and after the 9 sessions are complete they meet with bank leadership and recap what they’ve learned and how it relates to their project scenario. They then decide whether the bank should make the loan. “I feel like we made an impact on those two kids,” W.R. stated. “It isn’t a standard internship where students work as a teller or make copies. They are a banking interest group and programs like this can improve recruiting efforts for the industry,” he continued. • The third major impact W.R. is having on the industry is through the newly formed Robbins Institute of Banking, housed in the Robbins School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Fort Hays State University. W.R. feels like he is planting seeds for future bankers and he hopes that this program, which currently offers a 200-level banking class as well as a 600-level class for senior finance majors, will make other universities take note so the ripple effect can assist the industry. In the first semester, the Robbins Institute of Banking has just under 30 students enrolled and finance majors can earn a certificate in banking. The classes will be available online for remote students beginning the summer of 2018 and the school is planning to work with KBA to encourage Kansas banks to offer internships for students. Fort Hays State University and the many charitable organizations from Dodge City to Great Bend to Kansas City are aware of the generosity of the Robbins family and the Kansas banking industry will no doubt benefit for many years from the vision and passion of this entrepreneur. Pictured from left to right are President KBA Insurance Herb Iams, Chairman & CEO of Farmers Bank & Trust W.R. Robbins, KBA General Counsel Kathy Taylor,, and Director for the Robbins Institute of Banking Alan Deines.