Martin
Martin has previously served the LBA as the Northwest Region Director, a member of the government Relations Council, and most recently, as the LBA’s Treasurer.
The directors, officers, and staff of Gibsland Bank and Trust are proud of this appointment and congratulate Martin for reaching this milestone in his illustrious banking career.
Martin believes in ‘team building’ as a key part of any great organization, which has been very successful due to Tom’s exceptional leadership skills. He has developed the best in a ‘team’ culture and has created a continuing trend of very high operating results for this community bank in Northwest Louisiana. GBT’s reputation is growing. During Martin’s tenure as president, GBT has been rewarded with significant regional and national recognition.
He is a 1977 graduate of Louisiana Tech with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In 1982, he graduated from the American Bankers Association – National Installment Credit School at the University of Oklahoma and in 1983 from the LBA School of Banking at LSU. He proceeded to graduate from the LSU Graduate School of Banking in 1987 and in 2000; he graduated from the LSU Agricultural Leadership School.
Martin’s service with GBT began in 1981 as a loan officer. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1998 and became president in 2000. In early 2014, the board promoted him to also serve as CEO. During his leadership as president, GBT has grown from four branches and $65M in assets to nine branches in five parishes.
In addition, he has been responsible for increasing customer services to include a mortgage division, an insurance division, a central operations center, a postal unit and has increased bank assets to over $300M.
“I believe that record asset growth, quality earnings and equity play hand-in-hand with the success in our primary trade areas,” Martin said. “Whether in a small community or urban center, Gibsland Bank & Trust continues to be extremely effective because of the community banking traditions and values that we uphold, the relationships that are created and honored and the community bank brand created by our ‘great banking team’. Gibsland Bank & Trust will continue to reach out to the communities we serve by maintaining and emphasizing the locally managed community bank service image.”
By creating this “team” philosophy and a commitment to excellence throughout the organization, Martin has inspired a culture in which…“every customer and relationship is important and vital to Gibsland Bank & Trust.”
“’GBT…Great Banking Together.’ This statement exemplifies the extraordinary results for Gibsland Bank and Trust Company. I am proud to be a part of the leadership for the total GBT…Great Banking Team,” he said.
Martin and his wife Karen live in Minden and are very active members in their church and the Northwest Louisiana community.
The LBA was founded in 1900 to foster the betterment of Louisiana Community Banking. Since its inception, the LBA has remained true to its original mission: government relations.
The LBA plays an important role in developing a legal and regulatory environment that is beneficial to Louisiana banks.
The LBA’s education arm also offers a wide variety of services to meet members’ specific training needs, including seminars, conferences, in-house programs, and educational products. Thousands of bankers attend LBA’s workshops and conferences each year, ranging from frontline staff to bank directors.