Board of Directors
Ralph W. "Buddy" Cortese, Chairman
Ralph W. "Buddy" Cortese, a farmer and rancher from Fort Sumner, New Mexico, has served as board chairman since 2000. He joined the board in 1995, and his current term expires December 31, 2010.
Previously, 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 a member of the bank’s Audit and Compensation Committees.
Jimmy Dodson, Vice Chairman
James F. "Jimmy" Dodson was elected vice chairman of the board of directors in January 2009. He was first elected to the board in 2003. 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 in Robstown, Texas. He is chairman of the Tenth District Farm Credit Council, chairman of American Cotton Producers and chairman of the National Cotton Council's Policy Committee. He formerly served on the board of Cotton Incorporated and is former chairman of the Cotton Foundation. Dodson serves on the bank's Audit Committee and is chairman of the bank's Compensation 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 December 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. Vice chairman of the bank’s Audit Committee, Crawford also serves on the bank's Compensation Committee.
In addition, he is a board member and audit committee member of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation.
Crawford, who lives near Baileyton, Alabama, has owned and operated a cattle business since 1968.
Elizabeth G. "Betty" Flores, Board-Appointed Director
Elizabeth G. “Betty” Flores was named to the board on August 1, 2006, and was reappointed January 1, 2010, to a three-year term that will expire December 31, 2012. She is one of two board-appointed directors.
From 1998 until June of 2006, Flores served as mayor of Laredo, Texas. Under her leadership, Laredo became one of the fastest growing cities in Texas, and achieved the highest financial ratings in the city’s history and record-low unemployment. 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 of Spearman, Texas, joined the board of directors in January 1999 and was vice chairman from January 2000 to January 2009. He raises 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 served as 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 Farm Credit Council Board of Directors since 2003, he was elected vice chairman in 2009. He also serves on the Farm Credit Council Board of Directors’ Legislative Committee, Compensation & Benefits Committee, Executive Committee, and serves as chairman of the Budget Committee. He also serves on the Texas State Technical Committee for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
He is a former consumer co-op director, Spearman Chamber of Commerce director and Spearman Independent School District board member.
Lester Little, Director
Lester Little joined the board of directors in January 2009. Little is the 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.
A Farm Bureau member, he is chairman of the Lavaca Exposition Association and board chairman of the Hallettsville Junior Livestock Show. He previously was a board member of the Lavaca Central Appraisal District and board chairman of the Hallettsville ISD.
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 a member of the bank's Audit and Compensation committees.
Dr. William F. Staats, Board-Elected Director
William F. Staats, chairman of the bank's Audit Committee, serves as the board's designated financial expert and has been a director since 1997. His current term on the board will expire December 31, 2011. 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 and the bank’s Compensation 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. He is also a member of the Texas Lutheran University Board of Regents.