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Zions Bank's emphasis on helping women both inside and outside of the company appears to be earning the company national recognition.
American Banker Magazine's October issue on the "Most Powerful Women in Banking" lists Zions Bank among its top four teams in the nation, the fourth time the Utah-based institution has been recognized.
According to the magazine, Zions is one of four banks "where women as a team are having a measurable impact on performance and where a commitment to developing and promoting female talent will create new paths to power for the next generation of women."
Women comprise 40 percent of Zions bank's corporate officer positions and female executives are budgeted to contribute to 36 percent of the bank's 2013 earnings.
LeeAnne B. Linderman, Zion Bank's executive vice president of retail and omni-channel banking, ranked No. 19 on the magazine's list of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Banking."
Lori Chillingworth, excecutive vice president of the bank's Small Business Division, placed No. 19 among the "25 Women to Watch List."
According to Heidi Prokop, senior vice president in charge of communications at Zions, the bank formed a women's financial group in 1997 in an effort to serve women business owners. Its mentoring program, which now requires 60 percent participation by women and minorities, was originally started as a way for senior-level executives to train young women bank officers.
"This issue looks at aggregate teams of women superstars in the industry," said Prokop. "From a company standpoint, we really see our team of female employees as garnering this award, so we're thrilled about the honor."
Linderman has been individually listed among the women's rankings in the magazine six times. She is responsible for Zion's Bank's network of 127 financial centers and 1,084 employees in Utah and Idaho and also directors online and mobile banking, consumer lending, retail sales administration, executive banking and the diverse markets initiative.
Chillingworth has helped the bank maintain its role as the top U.S. Small Business Administration lender in Utah for the past 19 years, the No. 1 SBA lender in Idaho's Boise District for 11 straight years and the premier SBA lender to women- and minority-owned businesses in the market.
"Zions Bank owes much of its success to the leadership of the bank's women executives," said bank president and CEO Scott Anderson. "I'm so proud that the talented bankers are again being recognized for their leadership, hard work and community involvement."
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