Northwest Georgia Bank Promotes Several Employees

  • Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Northwest Georgia Bank promoted several employees, including Frank Hales, Kevin Taylor, Johnny Morris, Brenda Ridley, Tonya Plemmons and Ken Brock.

The 107-year-old community bank promoted Frank Hales to senior vice president-commercial lender. With almost 40 years of lending experience, Mr. Hales began his banking career in 1974 at American National Bank, joining Northwest in 1993. A Chattanooga Valley High School graduate, he graduated from the Vanderbilt Banking School in 1992 and the Mid-South School of Banking in Memphis in 1993.

He is a past member of the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School Booster Club and the Sertoma Club of East Ridge. He lives in Ringgold with his wife, Susan; they have three children and eight grandchildren.

Kevin Taylor was promoted to vice president-controller/interim chief financial officer. Before joining Northwest in 2003 as a staff accountant, he worked for Joseph Decosimo and Co., LLP from 1995-2000 as a senior accountant, and for CIGNA Healthcare from 2000-03 as an accounting manager.

He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1995, finishing up a master’s degree from UTC in 1997. He completed the Graduate School of Bank Investments and Financial Management at the University of South Carolina in April 2006.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants, as well as a Fellow for the Academy for Healthcare Management.

He lives in Ooltewah with his wife Jennifer and their two children, Andrew and Jacob. They are members of The Ministry Center in Hixson.

The bank promoted Johnny Morris to vice president-commercial lender. He joined Northwest in 2008 as assistant manager of the bank’s Battlefield Financial Centre.

With more than 27 years in the banking industry, Mr. Morris worked from 2002-07 as manager-vice president of the East Ridge branch of First Citizens Bank/BB&T. From 1985-2002, he worked as manager-vice president at SouthEast Federal/Bankers First/SouthTrust Bank. He has also worked as a manager at C.I.T. Financial Services and at United Companies Mortgage.

He graduated in 1990 from West Georgia College with a bachelor’s degree in management.

A past Rotarian and Kiwanian, he is a member of Woodland Park Baptist Church and Gideons International-East Ridge.

He lives in Ringgold with his wife, Susan, who is retired from the Catoosa County Board of Education. Their son, Matthew, lives in Ringgold with his wife, the former Betty Grant of Ringgold.

Brenda Ridley was promoted to assistant vice president-centralized loan processing (CLP). She joined Northwest Georgia Bank in 1987 as a consumer loan secretary. During her 26-year banking career, she has served in many different areas of lending support, including loan platform administrator/trainer, intranet co-administrator and CLP department manager, among others.

A graduate of Red Bird High School in Beverly, Ky., she has earned five diplomas from the American Institute of Banking, including General Banking, Banking Operations, Banking and Finance, Marketing and Consumer Lending, as well as three certificates — Supervision, Advanced Loan Documentation and Real Estate Loan Documentation.

A volunteer for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, she lives in Ringgold with her husband of 33 years, Randall.

Executive management also promoted Tonya Plemmons to assistant vice president-human resources manager.

She started her career at Northwest as human resources assistant in 1995, promoting to assistant manager in 2006. She had previously worked as a secretary at A&A Business Machines in Chattanooga and as a credit representative for ProGroup, an Arnold Palmer company.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in management in 2008 from Devry University, with an emphasis in human resources. Her civic involvement is vast and varied, but she is best known for her work as a past Girl Scout leader and product manager for the Moccasin Bend Council.

She lives in Rossville with her husband Steve. They have three children and two grandchildren.

Northwest promoted Ken Brock to assistant vice president-manager of the East Ridge branch, where he has worked as assistant manager since 2010. He will replace branch manager Mary Johnson, who retires later this month.

Mr. Brock began his career at Northwest in 2002 as a part-time mortgage servicing clerk, eventually moving to a full-time position. He moved to the collections department as an assistant in July 2004, promoting to collections representative in 2005.

A 2001 Grace Academy graduate, he earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Dalton State College in 2010.

He serves with the media ministry and the finance committee at Temple Baptist Church. His civic involvement includes volunteer work for the American Cancer Society and Ringgold High School. He and his family live in Ringgold.

Business/Government
Secretary Of State Tre Hargett Issues New Warning About Mail Scam Targeting Business Renewals
  • 3/28/2024

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett issued a new warning to businesses across the state today about a deceptive mail scam related to the filing of annual business renewals from a company ... more

Grand Jury No Bills And True Bills
  • 3/28/2024

Here are the grand jury no bills and true bills: No Bills: 1 BELCHER, ALBERT LEBRON THEFT OF PROPERTY 03/27/2024 True Bills: 317120 1 MOSLEY, SHANE L POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE ... more

Chattanooga Chamber Calendar Of Events April 1-5
  • 3/28/2024

April 1, Ribbon Cutting for Tazikis- Hixson 10-10:30 a.m. Tazikis- Hixson: 5215 Hwy. 153 Join the Chattanooga Chamber for a ribbon cutting event for Tazikis-Hixson. No cost. ... more