One of Oklahoma 's fastest growing banking enterprises has its roots in rural Bristow. True to its family-owned and operated heritage and grass roots values, Oklahoma 's Spirit Bank continually invests in people as well as Oklahoma businesses.

A top priority at Spirit Bank is state-of-the-art skills training for its employees. A key provider for that training is Central Technology Center in Drumright and Sapulpa . Spirit Bank has a facility in both communities as well as nearby Bristow, Cushing, Depew , Oilton, Stillwater , Stroud, Tulsa and Oklahoma City . Central Tech provides computer software training for employees at all of the Spirit Bank locations.

Spirit Bank training coordinator Terry Kissee says nearly 200 employees have received training in Microsoft Word and Excel computer software at the Central Tech Business Assistance Center in Sapulpa .

Both basic and intermediate classes were held at the school's new business center, partly because of the size and quality of facilities, and partly "to get our staff away from the bank's the usual distractions of the job so they could focus on the training," said Kissee.

"Central Tech has a really nice computer training lab in Sapulpa with the latest versions of Word and Excel and we could put more people in a class size than our in-house facility allows. We could train 16 per class at Sapulpa , doubling our capacity for each class. Another reason we chose to use Central Tech was that we felt there was an untapped resource there that we had not explored before. They have experience in doing these types of programs for other companies," said Kissee.

Sr. Vice President ... Deirdre Cook says Spirit Bank's partnership with Central Tech in providing skills training for bank employees will likely grow in size and depth in 2004 as "we are looking for training for our people in communications skills, personal interaction and face to face communications. We also want to offer leadership training for our employees."

Cook acknowledges that it is more difficult to find individuals in rural areas of the state who have the core skills needed in the banking industry, making quality training programs that can be delivered quickly and conveniently even more valuable.

The Spirit Banks are investing in the next generation of Oklahomans as well with their Save For American program for youths. The program is designed to teach youths at an early age to manage their money well. The students learn how a checking and savings account works and how to manager their bank account register. The banks pay the kids interest on their small savings accounts. "Students in high school are starting to earn serious money and obtain credit and we want to help them learn to manage both responsibly," said Kissee.