Local Community Bankers Lend Expertise to Business Students

Student Team Advances to Final Round of Community Bank Case Study Competition

Five Southern Miss Business students made it to the final round of the 2022 Community Bank Case Study Competition, sponsored by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).

The USM team, made up exclusively of undergraduate finance students, was only one of five teams to make it through to the final round of the competition. The team of five finalists advanced through two rounds of judging and competed against an original pool of 23 participating teams representing 21 universities.

Douglas Rehm, Joseph Sumrall, Emma Warren, Mekhi Wyman, and Brock Revels comprised the student team, which partnered with The First Bank of Hattiesburg. The team met with and interviewed members of The First Bank to analyze the banking environment over the last 10 years to identify the most significant developments for community banks while attempting to predict the most significant changes that could impact the industry over the next 10 years. They ultimately submitted a paper and a five-minute video highlighting their findings. The case study work was conducted under the guidance of faculty advisor and adjunct instructor, Chase Blankenship. Blankenship serves as the market president for The First Bank of Hattiesburg and first broached the idea of recruiting a student team in 2021. After an initial submission last year as a learning experience, he was ready to tackle this year’s competition head-on.

I started my fall semester Bank Administration course by telling the students about the competition. I told them they would have the opportunity to write a two-page essay as to why they wanted to be on the team, and the top five essays would be picked to form the team in the spring.

In addition to providing undergraduate students with an excellent opportunity to engage and gain valuable knowledge of the banking industry, the case study competition gives community banks an opportunity to tell their individual stories. The competition also serves as a way of building further understanding of the community bank business model, the role community banks play in local communities, and connecting academics and millennials with the community banking industry. 

"We are extremely proud that our student team made it into the top five in just our second year of competing,” said Dr. Bret Becton, dean of Southern Miss Business. “This is an invaluable experience for these students, and they have represented Southern Miss Business very well through their efforts. Also, we are very thankful for instructor Chase Blankenship for guiding and coaching the team through the process. We are fortunate to have someone with Chase’s expertise and passion leading this effort."