Brown earns professional lender designation

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Joshua Brown, Branch Manager at First State Bank of Campbell Hill, has successfully completed all requirements necessary to achieve the Certified Community Lender (CCL) designation. Designed to professionalize the position of a community bank lender, the Certified Community Lender designation establishes a standard of knowledge in the field. Brown is among 30 Illinois lenders that have earned this prestigious designation.

Candidates must have three or more years of lending experience and pass a six-hour exam to be awarded this classification. Skills subject to testing included: consumer lending, residential real estate lending, business financial statements, compliance regulations, loan review, loan collection, portfolio management, and problem-loan identification and management.

The Certified Community Lender program was developed by the Community Bankers Association of Illinois (CBAI), Springfield, and Bankers Management, Inc., McDonough, GA. It is also offered by the Iowa Independent Bankers, Community Bankers Association of Georgia and the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers. In order to retain this designation, Certified Community Lenders must complete 24 hours of continuing education credit through their state association every two years.

Headquartered in Springfield, CBAI is a statewide association representing nearly 400 community banks and thrifts in Illinois.