Young & Associates Biographies

Corporate Biographies

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Gary J. Young

Chief Executive Officer and Senior Consultant

Gary J. Young is Chief Executive Officer of Young & Associates, Inc. In his 30 years in bank consulting and 42 years in the banking industry, he has assisted hundreds of community banks from coast-to-coast with improving shareholder value and profit, establishing effective strategic plans, assisting banks through regulatory concerns, as well as budgeting, asset/liability management, expansion planning, and mergers and acquisitions. He remains a student of the industry and is a popular speaker with bankers for his practical and valuable insight. He has conducted seminars throughout the United States and in Europe.

Gary participated in the purchase of the National Bank of St. Anne, and is a member of that bank’s board of directors. In addition, he was the co-founder of Capital Market Securities, Inc., which assists community banks with mergers and acquisitions, and manages a bank investment fund.

Jim Kleinfelter

President and Senior Consultant

Jim Kleinfelter is President of Young & Associates, Inc., and Senior Consultant. As a consultant, he assists financial institutions primarily in the areas of management structure, strategic planning, and loan review. He is a former community bank executive and former senior lender with over 30 years of experience. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Jim worked in branch, compliance, credit card, CRA, lending, and executive management. He spent time with the former Society National Bank of Northwest Ohio, and Bank One Wooster. Most recently, served over 17 years of service with The Savings Bank and Trust (formerly known as The Orrville Savings Bank). He has developed many new lending and deposit products, and was instrumental in developing The Savings Bank and Trust’s online banking. Jim is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and numerous banking schools. He has been an instructor for the American Institute of Banking (AIB), and the Community Bankers Association of Illinois and a member of RMA for many years.

Stephen Clinton

President – Capital Market Securities, Inc.

Steve Clinton has over 30 years of experience in the banking sector and serves as the lead consultant in our capital markets activities. Steve’s experience in the capital markets area expands and enhances Young & Associates, Inc.’s ability to consult and advise our clients in many areas, including market analysis and valuations, strategic and capital planning, and merger and acquisition activity. In addition to his investment banking and consulting activities, Steve also participates in various seminar presentations and contributes regularly to our corporate newsletters.

An investment banker who previously served as a principal with a full-service brokerage firm, Steve served as the Midwest representative for the firm’s financial institutions practice. Steve also served as president of an investment banking firm working primarily with financial institutions in the areas of capital planning, equity offerings, valuations, mergers, and acquisitions. Steve has also worked for several Midwest financial institutions in his career and has served as CEO, COO and CFO.

John Fahrendorf

Executive Vice President – Western Region

John Fahrendorf brings to Young & Associates, Inc. over 40 years of executive experience in the banking industry. As Executive Vice President of the Western Region, John strengthens the company’s presence in the western U.S. His primary focus will be assisting senior management and boards in efficiently dealing with regulatory issues and in improving shareholder value. His past experience includes 20 years as President and CEO of two community banks, as well as positions as a Board member and Chairman of the Board at the Arizona Bankers Association, the Arizona representative to the ABA Government Relations Committee, Board member of the Western Independent Bankers Association, Board member and Chairman of the Board of Pacific Coast Bankers Bank, and member of the Board Pacific Coast Banking School. John is a graduate of the Arizona State University and Pacific Coast Banking Schools.

Kyle Curtis

Senior Consultant

Kyle Curtis has more than 25 years of diverse banking experience in financial reporting, lending, credit administration, and senior executive management positions, including President and CEO, with several mid-sized community banks. He served on the Board and was Chairman of the Arizona Bankers Association. He has also served on the Board of Banker’s Bank of the West in Denver, CO, and the American Bankers Association Community Bankers Group.

At Young & Associates, Inc., Kyle’s time is shared between the lending and management consulting divisions, as well as regulatory compliance and policy development. He assists banks under regulatory enforcement agreements, and performs management and board of director assessments, loan review and ALLL analysis, and policy implementation.

Bill Elliott, CRCM

Senior Consultant and Manager of Compliance

Bill Elliott has over 30 years of banking experience. As a compliance consultant and manager of the compliance division with Young & Associates, Inc., Bill works on a variety of compliance-related issues, including leading compliance seminars, conducting compliance reviews for all areas of compliance, conducting in-house training, and writing compliance articles and training materials.

During his career, Bill spent 15 years as a compliance officer and CRA officer in a large community bank, as well as working for a large regional bank. He has been a lender for consumer, commercial, and mortgage loans, and has managed a variety of bank departments, including loan review, consumer/commercial loan processing, mortgage loan processing, loan administration, credit administration, collections, and commercial loan workout.

S. Wayne Linder

Senior Consultant

A twenty-year banking veteran, Wayne Linder was formerly the CEO of a community bank. At Young & Associates, Inc., Wayne works as a lending and management consultant. He performs loan reviews, fair lending reviews, and regulatory compliance audits, facilitates strategic planning retreats, assists banks under regulatory enforcement agreements, performs management and board of directors assessments, and develops and implements written policies throughout all areas of the bank.

Wayne is a popular seminar speaker with both national and international experience. In addition to his many published articles, he is the author of Loan Review Deskbook.

Jackie Roesser

Senior Consultant

Jackie Roesser brings to Young & Associates over 25 years of experience in the banking industry. She serves as an internal audit consultant for the company. In that capacity, she manages the delivery of internal audit services, including control reviews and management, organizational and process reviews. Jackie also provides lending and management consulting services, including loan reviews, fair lending reviews, interest rate risk reviews, allowance methodology reviews, and regulatory compliance reviews. She is a former community bank executive and has held management positions in both line and risk review and control functions with a number of regional and international banking institutions. In addition, she has assisted the FDIC receivership office in a consulting capacity, and has prior experience as a bank consultant serving community banks and thrifts in several states.

William J. Showalter, CRCM, CRP

Senior Consultant

William J. Showalter is a Senior Consultant with Young & Associates, Inc. Bringing more than 25 years of compliance consulting experience to the company, Bill advises financial institutions on consumer compliance, assists them in establishing compliance management systems, monitors regulatory developments, and responds to clients’ daily compliance questions. He also develops and conducts compliance training programs for individual banks and their trade associations.

Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Bill worked as a compliance consultant with a nationally known consulting firm, where he evaluated compliance systems and management at numerous banks and thrifts; developed compliance policies and procedures for numerous financial institutions, including several Internet start-ups; advised thrift institutions facing mandatory reimbursement based on violations to the Truth in Lending law; assisted banks in verifying favorable regulatory interpretations with appropriate supervisory agencies to assure compliance and minimize risk of enforcement action; wrote or co-wrote numerous compliance articles and several nationally known compliance publications; and designed and conducted compliance seminars for numerous state bankers’ associations, savings institution leagues, regional trade groups, individual banks, and regulatory agencies. Bill was formerly a banker with two community banks, one an affiliate of a multibillion-dollar bank holding company. He served as each bank’s compliance officer, where he developed and directed a comprehensive compliance program and performed lending responsibilities in mortgage, consumer, and commercial credit.

Tamara Simms Bolin, CBCO, CRCM

Compliance Consultant

Tamara Simms Bolin began her banking career in 1979 and has continued her service to regional and community banks, both as a banker and as a consultant, in the areas of lending/loan operations, secondary market setup, quality control, operational analysis, due diligence and internal loan review, regulatory compliance, management, training, sales, and customer service. Tamara has spoken to banking audiences across the country. She has presented sessions for numerous state associations, ABA, and BAI, and has taught at numerous banking schools. She is the author of the Regulatory Compliance Monitoring Guide (2000) and the Comprehensive Quality Control Guide (1998), as well as numerous manuals, articles, and newsletters for banking publications. She is an alumnus of Walsh University and holds the designations of Certified Bank Compliance Officer (CBCO) and Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) and is a Certified Review Appraiser and Registered Mortgage Underwriter.

Karen S. Clower

Consultant

Karen Clower is a compliance consultant at Young & Associates, Inc. Her primary responsibilities include product development and maintenance, answering compliance hotline calls, manual creation and updating, and compliance field work. Her prior banking experience includes 19 years working for a large community bank where she managed the mortgage lending department, including processing, underwriting, and the mortgage loan officers. She has also worked as a mortgage loan officer and credit analyst/account officer for commercial lending. Karen holds a BA in Business Management from Hiram College, and associate degrees in Banking and Finance and Business Management from Kent State University.

Mitchell Cohen

Loan Workout Consultant

Mitchell Cohen is a licensed attorney with over 15 years experience in the commercial real estate finance and debt restructuring industries and provides Loan Workout services for Young & Associates, Inc. As an outsourced loan workout consultant, Mitchell’s services include borrower negotiation, structuring and documenting the workout and coordinating with outside legal counsel as needed for litigation, foreclosure, bankruptcy and related matters. In addition, he is able to advise clients on the internal loan workout policies and procedures necessary to be in line with regulatory requirements and to minimize risks and optimize recovery rates. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Mitchell served as Senior Counsel to a regional bank, where he gained broad experience overseeing a multi-billion dollar loan portfolio, provided business and legal advice for handling all aspects of loan modification, negotiation and restructuring of commercial real estate loans, and resolved defaulted and distressed debt situations. His workout experience includes handling large complex transactions involving syndicated debt, negotiation with mezzanine and other sub-debt holders, foreclosures, deed-in-lieu transactions, and enforcement of creditor rights and other remedies. Mitchell also worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in its resolution and receivership capacity over the retained assets of a failed bank where he worked with FDIC’s Post Closing Asset Management Team and FDIC legal counsel assisting in workouts, legal oversight, and liquidation of problem assets and REO properties.

Martina S. Dowidchuk

Senior Consultant

Martina S. Dowidchuk manages a wide range of financial management and planning assignments for Young & Associates, Inc.’s clients. Her areas of expertise include bank expansion and financial forecasting, feasibility studies, asset liability management and risk modeling, stress testing, performance analyses, and stock valuations. She also assists clients in the regulatory application processes involving de novo bank charters, mergers and acquisitions, new branch openings, and other strategic initiatives. Martina has over 15 years of experience serving financial institutions and has developed a number of financial models, policies, and other tools for banks and credit unions. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Martina worked for the Slovak Business and Banking Advisory Center and The Recovery Group, Inc. where she participated in a number of management consulting assignments throughout Central and Western Europe. Martina holds an MBA degree in Finance from Kent State University and a Master’s degree in Corporate Management from the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Bryan Fetty

Consultant

Bryan Fetty brings over 26 years of banking experience to Young & Associates, Inc. A former vice president of a mid-sized community bank, Bryan’s primary expertise is on the operations side. His experience includes bookkeeping and proof operations, teller operations, branch administration, call center, marketing, and training, as well as deposit compliance. At Young & Associates, Inc., Bryan works in the product division and is assists with product development and management for all the major divisions of the company. In addition, he consults with banks, performs in-bank training, presents seminars, and assists with the development and maintenance of the corporate Web site.

William C. Gaidis, Ph.D.

Consultant

Bill Gaidis has performed a wide range of services for Young & Associates, Inc., having assisted client banks in the marketing, regulatory compliance, and lending divisions. For the lending division, Bill works primarily in the areas of loan review, quality control, appraisal review, and ALLL review. He has also performed deposit and operations reviews, Fair Lending reviews, BSA/OFAC reviews, and compliance training, and has worked extensively with client banks to develop and enhance their marketing programs, specializing in sales training, communication strategy, market research, and new product development.

Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Bill was a marketing analyst for a $10 billion bank with over fifteen years of experience in market research and analysis. In addition, he was a professor of marketing at three research-oriented universities. His PhD degree is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a major field in marketing and supporting fields in Management, Economics, and Cognitive Psychology.

Michelle R. Graber, CRCM

Compliance Consultant

Michelle Graber has over 24 years of community banking experience. As a compliance consultant at Young & Associates, Inc. she specializes in all areas of regulatory compliance, where she conducts compliance reviews, facilitates compliance seminars and workshops, and responds to client inquiries and compliance issues.

During her career, Michelle spent 13 years as a compliance officer and CRA officer for a small community bank. She has been a lender for consumer, commercial, and mortgage loans, and has served as branch manager for numerous branch locations, including branch administration and development. Michelle holds a BA in Public Relations from the University of Toledo and is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager.

Jim Greenfield

Consultant

As a lending consultant for Young & Associates, Inc., Jim Greenfield brings over 29 years of diverse banking experience in the areas of branch administration, residential and commercial lending, loan administration, and senior management. At Young & Associates, Inc., Jim assists banks with loan validation through the loan review process, helps to maintain the company’s current lending products, and assists in new product development.

Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Jim served as a senior vice president of a community bank, and assisted banks with policy development, commercial appraisal review, management and board-level reporting, secondary market processing, and sales and administration, as well as asset quality oversight, including loan workout strategies and REO property management. Jim holds a BS degree from Ohio University and has attended numerous banking schools, including the Graduate School of Banking in Madison WI.

Terri A. Klemann

Consultant

Terri A. Klemann is a compliance consultant with Young & Associates, Inc. She has been in banking for 16 years and has worked exclusively with community banks of all sizes. Terri specializes in Bank Secrecy Act compliance, front-line operations, privacy, deposit compliance and customer service issues, and has a broad knowledge base of many other compliance-related issues. Terri enjoys presenting in-bank BSA training, as well as conducting BSA seminars for tellers, customer service representatives and other front-line personnel. She has presented seminars for various trade associations regarding new rules and regulations. At Young & Associates, Inc., Terri performs BSA and deposit compliance reviews and assists client banks with policy development.

Michael Lehr

Human Resources and Sales Consultant

Mike Lehr brings to Young & Associates over twenty years of practical application of HR principles. At Young & Associates, Inc., Mike assists client banks with not only the more compliance-oriented aspects of human resources, but also with the implementation of those aspects that will directly impact bank profitability and standing in the community. His financial services experience includes five years at a national insurance/investment firm and thirteen years at a large regional bank where he helped develop the infrastructure to define, reward, manage, and coach a more revenue-oriented banker. He also developed an expertise in the training and coaching of soft skills in a variety of disciplines including the management of cross-selling and product rollouts.

Barbara A. McKenzie

Compliance Consultant

Barbara McKenzie brings to Young & Associates, Inc. over 27 years of banking experience, 23 years of which are in the compliance field. At Young & Associates, Barbara is a member of the Compliance Division, where she focuses primarily on in-bank compliance reviews. Her primary strengths include the consumer lending regulations, HMDA, and CRA. Prior to working at Young & Associates, Barbara worked at a large community bank, where she served on the compliance audit team and as a Compliance/CRA Officer.

Jeanine Schmitt, CCBIA

Consultant

Jeanine Schmitt is a compliance and internal audit consultant for Young & Associates, Inc., serving client banks in Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Midwest. She brings to the company over 25 years of banking experience, with extensive experience in regulatory compliance and internal audit. She performs in-bank compliance consulting, conducts compliance training, writes articles for various compliance publications, and provides audit services to include control reviews and management, organizational, and process reviews. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., she served as a compliance officer and internal auditor for several community banks in Illinois, where she coordinated audit and compliance functions, conducted compliance training, and developed bank policies and procedures. Jeanine has earned the designation of Certified Community Bank Internal Auditor (CCBIA) from the Independent Community Bankers Association.

Tommy Troyer

Consultant

Tommy Troyer is a consultant in the lending division at Young & Associates, Inc. and assists clients with loan reviews, ALLL reviews, and various other lending services. Tommy joined Young & Associates, Inc. from the Bank Supervision Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he focused on credit risk management practices at supervised institutions. His work included a focus on the ALLL, stress testing, and risk monitoring and reporting practices. Prior to his time in bank supervision, Tommy worked in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Research Group. Tommy holds a B.A. in Economics from Wittenberg University.

Debra Werschey

Consultant and Manager of Secondary Market Services

Debra L. Werschey brings to Young & Associates, Inc. 18 years in the banking industry. Her banking experience includes processing, closing, post-closing, and escrow of mortgage loans for community and national banks. As Manager of Secondary Market Services, Debra performs quality control reviews of retail mortgage loans, including APR and HOEPA audits, insuring that secondary market underwriting guidelines and other investor guidelines are maintained. She also assists the lending division with appraisal reviews and commercial, mortgage, and consumer loan reviews, evaluating the quality of existing credits for various financial institutions.

Adam Witmer, CRCM

Compliance Consultant

Adam Witmer is a compliance consultant with Young & Associates, Inc., serving client banks in the Midwest. Having nearly 10 years of experience in banking, he performs in-bank compliance consulting, conducts compliance training, and writes articles for various compliance publications. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Adam served as an officer and Director of Compliance for a multi-bank holding company in the Midwest. He has held the titles of Compliance Officer, BSA Officer, and CRA Officer for multiple banks, and has experience in the areas of compliance, training, internal audit, privacy, deposit and loan operations, retail banking, and secondary market lending. He earned the designation of Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) from the Institute of Certified Bankers. Adam holds a BA in Business Administration from Taylor University and an MBA in Management and Human Resources from Indiana Tech.

Sharon Jeffries

Human Resources Manager

Sharon Jeffries brings to Young & Associates, Inc., over 20 years of experience in all aspects of human resources management. Sharon is currently involved in developing and administering the human resources efforts of the company. In addition, she can provide expertise to banks in all areas of human resource management including offering solutions related to balancing the business needs of the bank with the needs of the employees.

Sharon’s human resources experience covers employment law, employee relations and problem resolution, compensation and benefits, orientation and training, recruitment and retention, labor relations, and all aspects of employee communications. She has developed, communicated, and administered numerous human resources policies, served as a resource and counseled employees and management on human relations issues, including ADA, FMLA, harassment, discrimination, performance, and termination, developed human resource programs designed to help companies attract, motivate, and retain a highly skilled workforce, and managed outplacement services coordination due to corporate downsizing.

Mary Earl

Associate Consultant

Mary Earl is involved with delivery of internal audit and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) services. She is a former bank executive with more than thirteen years of service within the community banking industry. Prior to joining Young & Associates, Inc., Mary was an executive officer with responsibilities for compliance and information security. She has extensive managerial banking experience in the community bank environment within the areas of bank compliance, operations, branch management, information technology (IT) and information security.

Jeanette McKeever

Associate Consultant

Jeanette McKeever is an Associate Consultant for Young & Associates, Inc., where she assists clients primarily in the lending and loan review division. Her prior industry experience includes seven years working in customer service and lending in both credit union and bank environments. Jeanette has served as a loan officer in both residential and consumer lending departments, and worked in loan processor training and policy and lending manual revisions. She is also experienced in residential real estate, book keeping/accounting, and title closings.