Board of Directors
James F. "Jimmy" Dodson, Chairman
Jimmy Dodson was elected chairman of the board of directors in January 2012. He was first elected to the board in 2003, and served as vice chairman from January 2009 through December 2011. He is a past chairman of the Texas AgFinance, FCS Board of Directors and a former member of the Texas Farm Credit District Stockholders' Advisory Committee.
Dodson grows cotton and milo and operates a seed sales business with his family near Robstown, Texas. He is chairman of the Tenth District Farm Credit Council, president of American Cotton Producers of the National Cotton Council and chairman of the cotton council's policy committee. He formerly served on the board of Cotton Incorporated and is a former chairman of the Cotton Foundation. Dodson serves on the bank's audit and compensation committees.
Lester Little, Vice Chairman
Lester Little joined the board of directors in January 2009 and was elected vice chairman in January 2012. Little is a former chairman of the Capital Farm Credit Board of Directors and is a past vice chairman of the Texas Farm Credit District Stockholders' Advisory Committee.
Little owns and operates a farm headquartered in Lavaca County, Texas, and his principal crops are corn, milo, hay and wheat. He also offers custom-farming services, primarily reclaiming farms and handling land preparation. He is vice chairman of the bank's audit committee and a member of the bank's compensation committee.
Little serves on the Lavaca Regional Water Planning Group. Previously, he was chairman of the Lavaca Exposition Association and board chairman of the Hallettsville Junior Livestock Show. He also was a board member of the Lavaca Central Appraisal District and board chairman of the Hallettsville Independent School District.
Ralph W. "Buddy" Cortese, Director
Buddy Cortese, a farmer and rancher from Fort Sumner, N.M., joined the board in 1995, and his current term expires Dec. 31, 2013. He served as board chairman from January 2000 through December 2011.
Before joining the bank board, Cortese was chairman of the Production Credit Association (PCA) of Eastern New Mexico Board of Directors. Early in his career, he was vice president of Roswell PCA. He is a member of the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council Board of Directors, and he served on the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) board from 2003 to 2008. He is chairman of the bank’s compensation committee and a member of the bank’s audit committee.
Joe R. Crawford, Director
Joe R. Crawford began his first term on the board in 1998 and is currently elected to a three-year term that expires Dec. 31, 2012. Previously, he was a member of the Federal Land Bank Association (FLBA) of North Alabama Board of Directors. He also served on the Texas District FLBA Legislative Advisory Committee. Crawford is a member of the audit and compensation committees. In addition, he is a board member and audit committee member of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation.
Crawford, who lives near Baileyton, Ala., has worked as an engineer for the U.S. Air Force and NASA, and is a member and past president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association. He has owned and operated a cattle business since 1968.
Elizabeth G. "Betty" Flores, Board-Appointed Director
Betty Flores was named to the board on Aug. 1, 2006, and was reappointed Jan. 1, 2010, to a three-year term that will expire Dec. 31, 2012. She is one of two board-appointed directors, and is a member of the bank’s audit and compensation committees. In 2010, she was appointed to serve as a member of the Farm Credit System Diversity Workgroup.
From 1998 until June 2006, Flores was mayor of Laredo, Texas. Prior to serving as that city’s first female mayor, Flores worked for 28 years at Union National Bank and Laredo National Bank, rising from secretary to senior vice president. Flores serves on the boards of the Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council, the TMF Health Quality Institute and the Laredo Youth Hockey Association. She is a partner in a ranching and real estate limited partnership, E.G. Ranch, Ltd. She is a former member of the Federal Reserve Board Advisory Council.
A graduate of the Leadership Texas class of 1995 and the 2008 class of Leadership America, she received the 2006 Cathy Bonner Leadership Award from the Leadership Texas Alumnae Association. Throughout her career, Flores has been an advocate for community reinvestment and affordable housing, as well as U.S.-Mexico relations. She devotes time to literacy projects, battered women’s centers and at-risk children.
Jon M."Mike" Garnett, Director
Mike Garnett joined the board of directors in January 1999 and was vice chairman from January 2000 through December 2008. He is vice chairman of the bank's compensation committee and serves on the bank's audit committee. He grows grain and forage crops, and runs stocker cattle near Spearman, Texas.
A director of the Pampa-High Plains Federal Land Bank Association (later Panhandle-Plains Land Bank) for 23 years, Garnett was the association’s board chairman from 1995 to 1998. He is a former member of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas Retirement Committee. A member of the national Farm Credit Council Board of Directors since 2003, he was elected chairman in January 2011. He also is chairman of that board’s executive committee, vice chairman of its legislative committee and a member of its coordinating committee. Garnett is a member of the Texas State Technical Committee for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Garnett is a former consumer co-op director, Spearman Chamber of Commerce director and Spearman Independent School District board member.
Dr. William F. Staats, Board-Elected Director
William Staats, Ph.D., chairman of the bank's audit committee and a member of the bank’s compensation committee, serves as the board's designated financial expert. He has been a director since 1997, and his current term on the board will expire Dec. 31, 2014.
Staats is professor emeritus of finance at Louisiana State University, where he held the Louisiana Bankers Association Chair of Banking and the Hermann Moyse Jr. Distinguished Professorship. He also serves on the Farm Credit System Audit Committee.
Previously, he was vice president and corporate secretary of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Staats also serves on the boards of the Money Management International Education Foundation, Money Management International, SevenOaks Capital Associates, LLC, and Platinum Healthcare Staffing, Inc. In addition, he is a member of the Texas Lutheran University Board of Regents.