Endowed fund, award at Ole Miss pays tribute to his 50-year career in busines

Hahn, Tina

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eGrove (Univ. of Mississippi)

University of Mississippi eGrove University of Mississippi News 3-22-2018 Community Bank Honors Thomas Colbert Tina Hahn Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umnews Recommended Citation Hahn, Tina, "Community Bank Honors Thomas Colbert" (2018). University of Mississippi News. 1136. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umnews/1136 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Mississippi News by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact egrove@olemiss.edu. Search this website … SearchThomas Colbert (right), senior chairman of the boardfor Community Bank, greets UM Chancellor JeffreyVitter and wife, Sharon, at a dinner celebratingColbert’s 50 years of leadership in the bankingindustry. Community Bank has created two new fundsin his name at the Ole Miss School of BusinessAdministration to strengthen opportunities foremerging entrepreneurs and students. UM photo byBill DabneyCelebrating Thomas Colbert’s 50 years of leadership inthe banking industry are (from left) Sharon Vitter, UMCommunity Bank Honors Thomas ColbertEndowed fund, award at Ole Miss pays tribute to his 50-year career in businessMARCH 22, 2018 BY TINA HAHNOXFORD, Miss. – Fifty years is a long time tobe at the forefront of an industry, but businessvisionary Thomas W. Colbert’s legacy began asMississippi’s youngest bank CEO in 1968 andled to his founding the state’s first-ever bankholding company in 1977. And he keepsleading, now as senior chairman of the board forCommunity Bancshares of Mississippi Inc.To mark Colbert’s golden anniversary in banking,Community Bank has expanded his legacy witha gift of $340,000 to the University of MississippiSchool of Business Administration. Newinitiatives at his alma mater bearing his namewill provide educational opportunities foremerging young entrepreneurs and businessstudents.The surprise announcement was made last night (March 21) at a dinner in Jackson.“We are so honored to make this contribution to pay tribute to our visionary leader,” said Charles W.Nicholson Jr., president and CEO of Community Bank. “I always think of Thomas as an extraordinaryentrepreneur who just happens to be a banker. He has done so much for the community, his friends,family and the entire staff at Community Bank.”Colbert responded to the gift by sharing his family’s longtime relationship with UM.“We go back to (wife) Ann’s great-great uncle, Dr. Christopher Longest, in the 1900s,” Colbert said. “Hewas head of the English department and interim chancellor. Obviously Ann and I are graduates; mydaughter and son are graduates; my brother is a graduate.“Our roots go deep at the University of Mississippi and we’re just delighted by this gift. I really cannothave asked for a higher honor than this being bestowed on me tonight.”The Thomas W. Colbert Lectureship in Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Finance Endowment willprovide funds to recruit and retain faculty members to the business school’s Center for Innovationand Entrepreneurship. Annual income from the endowment can be used for salary supplements,research and creative activity support, and more.The Thomas W. Colbert-Community Bank Innovation Award Fund will underwrite an annual $5,000 prizeto a student entrepreneur venture team for an outstanding venture driven by innovation in a product,process or service through the application or development of a technological change. The judging panelfor the annual Gillespie Business Plan Competition, the marquee event for the CIE and businessschool’s academic year, will determine the winner.Colbert, who was inducted into the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame in 2005, developed a successfulmodel for Community Bank and, at the same time, became a great role model for business studentsand others who want to become entrepreneurs, UM Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter said. His model of creatingseparately chartered banks that operate independently but share services within a holding company hasbeen a key to one of the South’s fastest-growingfinancial institutions.“When our students look to Thomas Colbert’s professional life, they will see a visionary who has beendriven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and adeep commitment to customer service,” Vittersaid.Read the story …Read the story …Follow us on socialCampus BriefsDonations Sought for 25th AnnualBooks and Bears ProgramOXFORD, Miss. – The University ofMississippi is asking the community tohelp spread a little joy this holiday seasonby donating to the 25th annual Books andBears program. Donations such as toys,books, dolls, bicycles and other children’splay items are being accepted throughDec. 14. All donations will be collected andsortedMore Posts from this CategoryThank You To OurDonorsMississippi Excellence in CoachingFellowship Aims to Build LeadersOXFORD, Miss. – Twenty-five inauguralrecipients of the Mississippi Excellence inCoaching Fellowship – a program hostedby the University of Mississippi School ofEducation in partnership with theMississippi Association of Coaches andthe Mississippi High School ActivitiesAssociation – are expected to increasetheir impact on student-athletes and theircommunities. The coaching fellowshipMore Posts from this CategoryOle Miss In the NewsClarion-Ledger: New EssayCollection Tells the Story ofMeredith’s EnrollmentEssays celebrate 60th anniversary ofJames Meredith’s enrollment at Universityof Mississippi By Lauren Rhoades Oct. 1marks the 60th anniversary of JamesMeredith’s 1962 enrollment atthe University of Mississippi as theschool’s first African-American student.News Releases UM COVID-19 Video Gallery University Communications Ole Miss Homepage Ole Miss News BlogFacebookTwitterLin edInEmailCopyLinkSMSPrintFriendlySharFacebookTwitterInstagramLinkedInYouTubeChannelChancellor Jeffrey Vitter, Colbert, Community Bank’sChairman of the Board Freddie J. Bagley and President-CEO Charles W. Nicholson Jr. Community Bank hascreated two new funds in Colbert’s name at the OleMiss School of Business Administration to strengthenopportunities for emerging entrepreneurs andstudents. UM photo by Bill Dabney“We want to equip Ole Miss students withproblem-solving skills to achieve greatness, justas Mr. Colbert has always done. Having hisname attached to funds that will elevateopportunities for our students is a great honor,and we are very grateful to Community Bank for this gift.“In addition, Mr. Colbert has shown how leaders can also go beyond their industry to impact countlesspeople. We appreciate the service Mr. Colbert devoted to the state Institutions of Higher Learning boardas a member and as president. Having a stellar higher education system plays a crucial role in ourstate’s economic climate.”With few acquisitions, Community Bank has grown from $6 million in assets and a couple of offices tomore than $3 billion in assets, 47 offices and more than 785 staff members in four states. CommunityBank has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Mississippi” by the Mississippi BusinessJournal and included in the “Best Banks to Work For” by the American Bankers Association.Formerly Farmer and Merchants Bank, Community Bank started more than 100 years ago in a smalltimber community in east central Mississippi. It has grown by employing innovative approaches to oneof the nation’s most routine industries.The generous gift from Community Bank was a fitting way to honor Colbert, given his record as a provenentrepreneur, said Ken Cyree, dean of the Ole Miss business school.“Our Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has captured the attention of individuals who, like Mr.Colbert, are gifted with a vision of what can be created to add value and exceed expectations in themarketplace,” Cyree said. “We offer a major in entrepreneurship to business students and a minor inentrepreneurship to all students, and they will be prepared to either start their own companies orinnovate in established companies.“We are excited about the opportunities this gift provides and have high expectations that thesegraduates will help advance our state, region and nation.”After earning an undergraduate degree at UM in 1962, Colbert attended the Senior Bank ManagementSchool at Harvard University and the School of Bank Public Relations and Marketing in Chicago.Throughout his leadership of Community Bank, he has made community service a priority. Besides hisIHL service, he is a former chair of the Mississippi School of Banking, a past president of the ForestRotary Club, a past director for In Touch Ministries of Atlanta and a member of UM’s Lyceum Societyand the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame.Colbert has received the National Community Service Award from the Daughters of the AmericanRevolution and the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award.He is married to the former Ann Brand of Houston, an Ole Miss alumna, and they have one son,Thomas W. Colbert Jr., and two granddaughters, Anna and Claire.The Colberts established an endowment in the UM Department of Music to memorialize their latedaughter, Christy Colbert Butler.Individuals and organizations can make gifts to the Thomas W. Colbert Lectureship in Venture Capitaland Entrepreneurial Finance Endowment or the Thomas W. Colbert-Community Bank Innovation AwardFund by mailing a check with the fund’s name noted in the check’s memo line to the University ofMississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655.Gifts also can be made online by visiting http://www.umfoundation.com/makeagift or by contactingNikki Neely Davis, executive director of development at 662-915-6678 or nlneely@olemiss.edu.FILED UNDER: COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, FEATURED NEWS, NEWS RELEASES, SCHOOL OF BUSINESSADMINISTRATIONRead the story …“James Meredith: Breaking the Barrier,” acollection of essays edited by UMprofessor of journalism Kathleen Wickham,honors this historic milestone withMore Posts from this CategoryRetu rn  to  to p  o f  p a ge Copyright © 2022 · Th e Un iversity  o f  M ississ ip p i

Community Bank Honors Thomas Colbert

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Community Bank Honors Thomas Colbert

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