Recognizing that hiring top talent in banking has become increasingly more competitive, we created a Management Development Program to develop our own. The foundation of this program is to grow bankers who have strong financial and client-focused relationship fundamentals, which are skills we recognize as necessary for success within our footprint.

Our MDP is a two-year program where selected candidates are invited to join our program. We recruit from those who express a professional desire to work in banking. During the program, successful candidates develop financial analysis skills plus relationship management skills necessary for working with existing and potential clients. This program also provides professional development and mentoring opportunities aimed at growing our bankers' business and leadership potential, both internal and external to our organization.

This program is open to all qualified men and women, and we actively recruit candidates from all backgrounds with a basic foundation in accounting. We cultivate relationships with traditional universities, majority female colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and other sources to attract top talent from underrepresented groups.

The MDP's capacity is 24 analysts during a rolling 24 months. As of January 2020, the CBDP has 22 active participants, 59% of whom represent diverse backgrounds (women, African-Americans and/or Asian-Americans). Since 2019, we have graduated 41 bankers from the MDP.

Myra Caldwell