About First Freedom Bank
Our People | Management
John Lancaster, Chief Executive Officer/President, Director
A banker who knows you is a banker who understands your needs, your dreams, your grand plans. That's what it means to be a community bank. John Lancaster has a vision for building First Freedom Bank into a true community bank: a bank whose roots go deep in Wilson County, a bank that's fully invested in the growth and prosperity of this
community.
John R. Lancaster is a native of Lebanon, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Castle Heights Military Academy, an Honor graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in Business Administration, and a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University with a M.A. degree in Management.
Prior to the organization of First Freedom in 2005, Mr. Lancaster served as Wilson County Chairman with SunTrust Bank / National Bank of Commerce. He is a graduate of the Tennessee Commercial Lending School and the Southeastern School of Advanced Commercial Lending, both at Vanderbilt University. He is also an alumnus of the prestigious Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.
Active in community affairs, Mr. Lancaster has served as Board Chairman and Campaign Chairman for United Way of Wilson County and as a board member of the United Ways of Middle Tennessee. He has served as chairman of the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Greater Lebanon Regional Planning Commission, president of Main Street Lebanon, Inc., president of the Wilson County Adult Reading Council, Inc, and was an instructor/facilitator for Junior Achievement through Lebanon High School for a number of years.
Mr. Lancaster is also a graduate of Leadership Wilson and has served on the board of the Wilson County Heart Association. He and his wife, Penny (Fisher), have two sons and are members of the First United Methodist Church in Lebanon. Mr. Lancaster is a director and board member of the bank and serves as the Bank's President and Chief Executive Officer.
John Bradshaw, Executive Vice President and Director, Chief Operating Officer
Loan-to-value ratios. Annual percentage rates. FDIC regulations. It's a good thing John Bradshaw has a handle on all the technicalities of the banking business. But banking, in the end, isn't about numbers. It's about relationships - people helping people.
You look to your banker when you're taking some of the biggest steps of your life: when you're buying a house, starting a business, sending the kids to college, thinking about retirement. Aren't you glad there are bankers like John Bradshaw, who understand that banking is more about relationships, not just rates and ratios? John Bradshaw is helping make First Freedom a different kind of bank.
John H. Bradshaw has twenty-two years of banking experience in all aspects of banking. He was most recently employed as senior vice-president of First Tennessee Bank, N.A. in Lebanon, Tennessee and headed the commercial lending and business development in Wilson County. A lifelong resident of Lebanon, he graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy and received his bachelor of science degree in finance at the University of Tennessee. Additionally, he earned his Masters of Business Administration from Cumberland University. He is a graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Banking and the Tennessee Commercial School of Banking at Vanderbilt University. Mr. Bradshaw has worked with Middle Tennessee Junior Achievement as an adult leader/teacher with students at Lebanon High School. He graduated from the inaugural class of Leadership Wilson in 1994. He currently serves on the Health and Education Board of Wilson County and the Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce board. Mr. Bradshaw served on the board of trust for Summit Hospital and a member of the Lebanon Rotary Club. He is a past board member of the American Heart Association, the Empower Me Day Camp, and Leadership Wilson Alumni Board. Mr. Bradshaw is actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America. He has coached baseball in Lebanon for the last six years. Mr. Bradshaw and his wife Karen have been married for 20 years and have three children. They are active members of the First United Methodist Church in Lebanon. He is a Director of the bank, and serves as the Bank's Chief Lending Officer. He also serves on the Executive, Loan, IT, and ALCO Committees.
Ken Howell, Board Chairman and Director
What will Wilson County look like in ten years? In twenty years? In fifty? Nobody knows for sure, but exciting growth and changes are happening in this community. It's going to take vision and leadership to manage that growth and change. Ken Howell and First Freedom Bank plan to be an important part of Wilson County's future. A community bank, after all, is vital to community growth. That's why vision is so important in the community banking business. Our vision makes First Freedom a different kind of bank.
Kenneth C. Howell graduated from Columbia Central High School in Columbia, Tennessee and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University in 1972. He attended Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, the National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma, and the National Consumer Credit School at the University of Oklahoma. He was employed by Commerce Union Bank from 1972-1984 in various lending and management positions in the bank's Nashville, Springfield and Lebanon locations, being promoted to vice-president. He worked for the Humana Hospital Corporation in public relations and physician recruitment and later in private business as a series 7 licensed broker in the securities industry from 1984-1987. He joined Peoples Bank of Lebanon (later Third National Bank) in 1987 as executive vice president and as a member of the board of directors.
Mr. Howell was the Wilson County Regional President for First American National Bank from 1988-1992, a position that included being project manager for the new office in Lebanon. He joined First Tennessee National Bank in 1992 as executive vice president and commercial sales manager and later as regional president for Wilson County (1997-2002), a position that included the project management for the replacement of an old office in Lebanon with a new facility for the bank. He is the past president and member of the board of directors of Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce.
In 1995 he founded the Wilson County Business and Education Coalition, Inc., a non-profit teacher grant program of the Chamber of Commerce. He was elected a lifetime member #23 of the Lebanon/Wilson County Chamber of Commerce in 1998 and was one of the founding members of the Business Resource Center for the Chamber. Mr. Howell is a past charter member of the Rotary Club in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee and a past member of the board of directors of the Middle Tennessee Heart Association. He is past president and member of the board of directors of the Wilson County United Way and past member of the board of directors of the United Way of Middle Tennessee, serving on the needs assessment and allocations committee for Middle Tennessee. He is past president and member of the board of directors of Prospect, Inc.; a member of the Wilson County Fair Board; and an honorary member of Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society at Cumberland University. He is a member of the First United Methodist Church in Lebanon.
Mr. Howell and his wife, Mallory, have been married 38 years and have three sons. He is a Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors for First Freedom Bank.
Mike Wiggington, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
As Senior Vice President and CFO, Mike Wiggington is ultimately accountable for every dollar that comes into and goes out of First Freedom Bank. His daily decisions are guided by one very important fact: it's not the bankers' money sitting in those vaults. It's the customers'. There are plenty of banks that want your business. That's why Mike Wiggington is committed to making sure First Freedom is the most customer-driven, community-focused bank in Wilson County. That kind of leadership makes First Freedom a different kind of bank.
Wiggington comes to First Freedom from SunTrust/National Bank of Commerce, where he was the Commercial Loan Manager and Senior Lending Officer for the Wilson County region.
Prior to his tenure at the bank, Wiggington was Chief Financial Officer for two trucking companies and provided financial consulting services for various businesses in Middle Tennessee.
Wiggington holds a MBA from the prestigious Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received a BS degree in Mathematics from Ball State University and has taken additional professional courses through the American Bankers Association and Robert Morris Associates.
A twenty year resident of Wilson County, Wiggington has been a member of the Lebanon Planning Commission, the Lebanon Breakfast Rotary Club, Wilson County CASA, and the Sumner Academy Board of Trustees. He and his wife, Theresa, reside in Lebanon and have two grown children.
Maliea Oakley, Senior Vice President, Retail Division Manager
Maliea Oakley is the kind of banker you can trust. You can see it in her face. But it's more than that. In thirty three years in the business - from bank teller to bank Sr. Vice President - Maliea has built a track record of excellence, honesty, and customer-focus that bank customers throughout Wilson County have come to rely on. Maliea Oakley has touched a lot of lives in this community. One transaction at a time, she has built a lot of trust. That's why First Freedom Bank brought her on as Senior Vice President. People like Maliea Oakley make us a different kind of bank.
Maliea Oakley is a lifelong resident of Wilson County. Educated in Wilson County schools, Oakley went on to obtain AIB diplomas in general banking, consumer credit and commercial lending from Volunteer State Community College. She graduated from the Southeastern School of Consumer Credit and the Southeastern School of Banking. Oakley is also a graduate of the prestigious Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining First Freedom Bank, she held executive leadership positions as vice president and main office manager at Wilson Bank & Trust, where, among many other duties, she handled a $29 million loan portfolio. Oakley also served as a relationship banker and commercial officer at Peoples Bank, which later became Third National, handling an extensive loan portfolio for her clients. Oakley and her husband have two children. She is currently the co-chair for Relay for Life in Wilson County, and is on the committee that organized Wilson County-the Place to Be. In the recent past, Oakley has been a trustee for the Southeastern School of Consumer Credit, held positions of Immanuel Baptist Church's budget and finance committee and properties committee, treasurer of Lebanon High School Band Boosters, and member of Junior Achievement and Leadership Wilson.
J. B. Owens, CPA, First Vice President, Senior Lending Officer
J. B. has a history of getting involved. He’s the past President of the Kiwanis Club of Lebanon, former Treasurer of the United Way of Wilson County, and is a former Lebanon Kiwanis Little League Commissioner and Board Member. J. B. is still active in these organizations as he still serves on the Board of Trustees of both the Kiwanis Club of Lebanon and the United Way of Wilson County. Why does he do it? Because he cares, and that makes him a better banker, too, especially at a bank like First Freedom, where the community is so important. If you want a great community bank, you need bankers—like J. B.—who think the community matters.
J. B. Owens, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), has spent his entire professional career in the banking industry. He came to First Freedom Bank from Kraft CPAs, where he spent a couple of years in the Bank Audit and Assurance Services Group. While at Kraft, J. B. worked with numerous public and nonpublic banks ranging from $75 million in assets to well over $2 billion in assets. J. B. graduated from Tennessee Tech University in May of 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting and later obtained his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Tennessee Tech in December of 2004. While attending Tech, J. B. was the President of the Zeta Phi Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, a National Honors Accounting Fraternity, and he was a member of the Student Ambassadors of the College of Business Administration. While working on his graduate degree, J. B. held a Graduate Assistantship position with the Accounting Department at Tennessee Tech. J. B. maintains an active CPA license and is a Member of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
J. B. is both a graduate of the Southeastern School of Consumer Credit at Vanderbilt University and the Southeastern School of Commercial Lending at Vanderbilt University. He currently is in his final year at the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania, the American Bankers Association’s most prestigious national banking school. He received the Certified Public Accountant designation in 2007.
He and his wife, Bethany, reside in the Gladeville community of Mt. Juliet and attend Mt. Juliet Church of Christ. Since coming on board with First Freedom Bank in 2006, J. B. has held various positions within the bank’s commercial lending department and has served as First Freedom Bank’s Sr. Lending Officer, overseeing new loan production, since 2009.
Luke Winchester, Vice President, West Wilson Division Manager
Nobody's more involved in the community life of Wilson County than Luke Winchester. That's why the Mount Juliet/ West Wilson County Chamber of Commerce honored Luke as their Volunteer of the Year for 2010, and he recently completed his 9-year term as a Board Member of the organization. Luke Winchester is a natural leader. And he cares deeply about making Wilson County a better place to live. That's why First Freedom Bank is proud to have him as a Vice President and Manager of the growing West Wilson Division. People like Luke Winchester make us a different kind of bank.
Before coming to First Freedom, Luke Winchester was Vice President at SunTrust (previously National Bank of Commerce), where he specialized in small business and commercial relationships. Prior to that, he was a consultant to ComCo Equipment Leasing Group, where he worked with banks to expand their equipment lease financing.
Winchester received his B.S. degree from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is also a graduate of The Graduate School of Banking at LSU and a number of other banking programs offered through the Tennessee Bankers Association. He is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Wilson and has served for two years on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Wilson County, most recently as their Chairman. Winchester is also a charter member of the Mt. Juliet Noon Rotary Club and represents the City of Mt. Juliet on its Regional Planning Commission where he served as its Chairman in 2010 and 2011.
He is involved with his two children as a coach of their youth baseball/ softball teams and is a member of Cook’s United Methodist Church.
Shawn Glover, Vice President, Providence Office Manager
It says a lot about your hometown when you choose to spend your life there. Shawn is all Wilson County - born and raised - and now raising her family here. She hopes to do that in the same traditions and community environment of her own childhood. That's why she is so interested in the future of this community - and why she is such a great fit for First Freedom. Shawn spends a great deal of time interacting with the Wilson County school system and supporting Mt. Juliet youth sports programs. We are proud to have leaders like Shawn, who focus on the future of this community.
Melinda Bailey, Vice President, Relationship Manager
It's nice to be able to work with a bank that can get things done - that's what Melinda Bailey will tell you. With First Freedom's community focused approach, loan decisions are made locally and quickly. And, with the company's streamlined organizational chart, she knows the top decision makers are only a few feet away. Melinda understands time is money, and her clients understand that she is the one to help them identify all their options. Melinda Bailey is just one more reason you should trust your business to First Freedom Bank.
A 22 year veteran on the banking industry, Melinda Bailey has called Wilson County home for 9 years. She and her husband, Joseph, have two children in the county school system where Melinda volunteers as secretary / treasurer of BNI- Mt. Juliet Horizon chapter. Melinda also serves as secretary / treasurer of the WCHS softball team. Previously she has volunteered for senior citizens through Madison Senior Citizen Center. Her banking career covers virtually every aspect of the industry-branch banking, operations, commercial lending- Melinda has experienced it all. Currently she holds membership in CCIM and Mt. Juliet Chamber, demonstrating her knowledge and expertise in real estate lending, and she focuses on small business and professional private banking relationships.
[ Hide ]John Pope, Vice President, Relationship Manager, Mortgage Officer
John C. Pope is a native of Wilson County with over 16 years in banking and mortgage banking experience. He is a graduate of Mt. Juliet High School and received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Cumberland University with a minor in Management and Philosophy. Prior to joining First Freedom Bank, Mr. Pope was a Vice President with Pinnacle National Bank as well as previous positions with Bank of the South, SunTrust Bank and First Bank and Trust as Vice President.
John Pope has a long history of working with many different community and civic organizations including Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee, past President of Main Street Lebanon, past President of the Cumberland University Alumni Board, previous member of the Lebanon Public Works and Transportation committee, 2001 graduate of Leadership Wilson and current member of the Lebanon Noon Rotary Club. Mr. Pope has coached baseball in Lebanon and Mt. Juliet for the past 5 years as well as active members of College Hills Church of Christ with his wife Traci and two children. He is a Vice President of the bank serving as Relationship Manager and Mortgage Officer.
[ Hide ]Christy Thompson, Vice President, Operations Manager
What does Christy Thompson bring to First Freedom Bank? She brings the kind of leadership that expresses itself in service - in putting other people first. Whatever the event, if Christy Thompson is there you can be sure she's in the middle of things, finding ways to serve and help. She brings that same attitude to her work as Vice President of Operations at First Freedom Bank. That kind of leadership - that kind of service - makes us a different kind of bank.
Christy Thompson manages all aspects of operations for First Freedom. Her experience includes more than 20 years of bank operations, including 13 years at Wilson Bank and Trust, where she managed the bookkeeping department. A lifetime resident of Wilson County, Thompson graduated from Lebanon High School and received a General Banking Diploma from the American Institute of Banking.
Christy is a member of Leadership Wilson. She currently attends the Southeastern School of Banking, held at the Owen Graduate School of Management –Vanderbilt University. She has been active in her community through a number of local activities including serving as a volunteer instructor for the Junior Achievement program. Christy and her husband, Mark, have two children and are members of Immanuel Baptist Church where Christy teaches a youth Sunday school class.
Josh Clemmons, CPA, Vice President - Accounting Manager
Josh is another great example of a highly qualified financial professional who chooses to work in his hometown. As a Certified Public Accountant and the Accounting Officer for First Freedom, Josh has a great understanding of what makes our bank - and our community - "tick". He serves on the Allocations committee for United Way of Wilson County where he provides valuable input on the distribution of local United Way funds. He also serves his home church - Immanuel Baptist - as a Sunday School teacher. He prides himself on providing big city expertise with small town - and hometown - charm. It can be done - and Josh does it every day. His attitude and expertise make First Freedom a different kind of bank.
A lifelong Wilson County resident, Josh began his career with Rayburn, Bates & Fitzgerald, Certified Public Accountants in Brentwood, TN where he specialized in bank audits and loan review. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a B.S. degree in Accounting. He received the Certified Public Accounting designation in 2009. He and his wife, Beth, have been married since 2007 and they have one daughter.
Matt Smith, Assistant Vice President, Chief Compliance & BSA Officer
Matt loves a community environment. As a compliance specialist for both large regional banks and small community banks, he will tell you there is nothing that compares to the service of a great community bank. "Know your customer" - it is a staple of the compliance world, and one of the many reasons Matt loves the atmosphere at First Freedom Bank.
Matt is a native of Hartsville, TN. He received his Business Administration degree from Middle Tennessee State University with an emphasis in Financial Institutions Management. Prior to joining First Freedom, he obtained extensive bank compliance experience with companies such as Bank of the South, Mid-America Bancshares and Pinnacle National Bank. He is a graduate of the Southeastern School of Banking at Vanderbilt University and a graduate of the American Bankers Association’s Graduate School of Compliance Risk Management.
Bob DiSalvo, Mt. Juliet Office Manager
Bob DiSalvo has grown deep roots in West Wilson County. He's lived in Mt. Juliet for more than 20 years, in Middle Tennessee for 33 years. He has served as Chairman of the Mt. Juliet West Wilson Chamber of Commerce and on its Board of Directors for six years and currently serves as a Chamber Ambassador. He's making Mt. Juliet a better place to live with his work on the City's Parks and Greenway Board. As the Mt. Juliet Office Manager at First Freedom Bank's 12888 Lebanon Road location, Bob is focused on you and the West Wilson community, on listening to your needs and meeting them. Bob's dedication and leadership make First Freedom a different kind of bank.
Bob DiSalvo joined First Freedom in February of 2008 after a distinguished 31-year career with TDS Telecom. He has received the Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce's prestigious Paul Bauman Award of Excellence and is a board member and past president of the Mt. Juliet Breakfast Rotary Club as well as a Paul Harris Fellow. Other civic activities include past president and board member of Wilson County CASA and is on the executive board of the 100 Club of Wilson County serving as its president.
DiSalvo is a graduate of the 1999 Class of Leadership Wilson. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, DiSalvo is a veteran of the US Air Force. He is a member of St. Stephens Church in Old Hickory. He and his wife Judy have two children and three grandchildren.
