Compassionate Capitalism - September 2004

Nevada First Bank

Investing in Children and Education

by Joan C. Miller

Nevada First Bank strongly believes in giving back to the community. This can be seen through its many charitable contributions and in the company spirit. The contributions not only take the form of cash donations, but usually involve the personal time of the company’s employees.

Nevada First Bank has identified specific goals for providing charitable assistance. "The senior management team decided our primary focus would be children and education," said Jennifer Hall, senior vice president of marketing for Nevada First Bank.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is one of the organizations Nevada First Bank enthusiastically supports. The bank became involved with JDRF when approached by employee Glenn Raymin in 2001. His daughter, Ashley Raymin, had been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Raymin belonged to a JDRF "family team," whose goal was to raise money to find a cure, while providing community visibility.

The outpouring of support by Nevada First Bank and its employees was amazing, said Hall. Many creative options were employed to raise charitable donations. "An empty office was turned into a fund-raising convenience store by stocking it with snacks and candies for employees to purchase during the day," explained Hall. "The money generated by the store became part of the corporate donation." Other fund-raising activities have including raffles of items donated by clients, and the formation of teams within the company. "It was fun. One branch baked brownies and sold them at other branches," said Hall.

For the past three years, Nevada First Bank employees have participated in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. The event is held in the fall and preparation begins about three months beforehand. In 2002, Nevada First Bank donated $1,000 and approximately $2,200 was raised by employees.

Nevada First Bank’s senior management has a very positive attitude toward employee involvement in charitable associations. "We encourage our employees to be involved in an organization outside of work and try to be as flexible as possible regarding time to attend meetings, fund-raising events, etc.," said Arvind Menon, the bank’s president and chief financial officer. "We have a great team that likes to participate in fun events in order to help raise money for local community organizations that are focused on children and education."

Nevada First Bank makes charitable donations to many other community organizations, offering both time and money. Employees’ involvement in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas has included joining a bowling team and being a Girl’s Day sponsor. Six female employees volunteered their time on a Saturday and were paired up with six girls for Girl’s Day. Teams of women and girls participated in events such as sack races, and the girls received presents of bicycles and makeup from sponsors of the event. Employees also participate in golf events, benefiting organizations such as Down’s Syndrome Organization of Southern Nevada, City of Hope and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Nevada First Bank actively supports the UNLV College of Business. The college created the Nevada Business Hall of Fame to honor top business leaders who have significantly contributed to the prosperity of the state and a dinner to honor inductees into the Nevada Business Hall of Fame is held every year. Nevada First Bank helps sponsor this event and buys a table each year. Jim Rogers, the chairman of the board at Nevada First Bank and chief executive officer of Sunbelt Communications, was named as a 2004 inductee to the Nevada Business Hall of Fame.

Nevada First Bank was founded in January 1998 and has rapidly expanded from one branch to four branches in the Southern Nevada area. The bank has approximately 75 employees and serves about 5,000 customers.

Joan C. Miller
Joan C. Miller is a freelance writer based in Southern Nevada.