Ron Butler, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of First Financial Bankshares, in April will be inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame.

A 30-year member of the bank, Butler also serves as chairman and CEO of the bank's Abilene region. First Financial is headquartered in Abilene.

He will be honored at a ceremony at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. The hall of fame was established by the Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking at the university.

Also to be honored is Kenneth L. Burgess Jr., who for five years as president of Security State Bank in Abilene during his long banking career.

The three other honorees are James D. Goudge, former CEO and chairman of the board of Broadway Bank; J. Pat Parsons, who currently is director and vice chairman of the soon-to-be-named Stellar Bank; and David R. Selm a banker is Lubbock and Amarillo. He served as chairman of the board of Southwestern Graduate School of Banking.

“To be honored alongside these four outstanding bankers is humbling and I am appreciative to Sam Houston State University and the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame for this honor,” Butler said in a press release. “Any success I’ve experienced during my career can be directly attributed to my First Financial teammates, customers and communities with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working.”

First Financial is a $13 billion bank that now has 78 branches in Texas.

Butler is Texas Tech graduate who attained his master's degree in business administration from Tarleton State. He also is a graduate of Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU.

He previously was CEO of First Financial's banks in Eastland and Stephenville.

"We are so excited that Ron is receiving this well-deserved honor because of his exceptional leadership, banking acumen and strong relationships with our customers, employees, and the banking industry, as well as the communities we serve,” Scott Dueser, chairman, president and CEO of First Financial Bankshares, said in the press release. “I speak for everyone at First Financial when I say we are so thankful for the outstanding job that Ron does to make our bank one of the top banks in the country."

Butler has held numerous leadership roles, including the Abilene Industrial Foundation and Abilene Chamber of Commerce.

He was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the Brazos River Authority board of directors and has been a director of the Texas Bankers Association.

Abilene's Better Business Bureau nets 'Outstanding BBB' award

The International Association of Better Business Bureaus (IABBB) has awarded Better Business Bureau Abilene the 2022 Outstanding BBB Award for BBBs with less than 2,000 accredited businesses.

“We strive daily to serve the people in our area with excellence," said John Riggins, BBB Abilene president. "This let us know (that) relative to our peers, we are getting the job done.”

The operation award is based on:

• Percentage of resolved complaints

• Number of days to open a complaint

• Number of days to close a complaint

• Number of BBB business profiles accessed relative to the number of consumers in the market area

“The only more gratifying ‘award’ is when we are able to help our businesses and consumers find and maintain an ethical, fair marketplace in which to conduct business," Riggins said.

For information about Abilene's BBB, go to https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/bbb-of-abilene, or its office at 3300 S. 14th St., Suite 307.

Hendrick wins 'Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite' award

Hendrick Medical Center and Hendrick Medical Center South in Abilene earned the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite Gold designation for proactively supporting employees who choose to breastfeed their infants.

The Gold designation signifies the offering of program components beyond the minimum criteria.

Created by the Texas Legislature in 1995 and administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite program recognizes employers with written policies reflecting their support for their breastfeeding employees.

Healthcare experts recommend women breastfeed their infants through a baby’s first year of life, but working mothers often stop breastfeeding soon after they return to their jobs because they do not have sufficient worksite support.

As a Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite, Hendrick policies provide work schedule flexibility to allow milk expression breaks.

The health system also offers private space where the employee can pump or breastfeed, access to breastfeeding classes and lactation consultants, a dedicated space to pump and/or feed their infant with access to a hospital-grade pump and paid lactation breaks.

Hendrick Medical Center Brownwood is also a Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: First Financial's Butler to be inducted in Texas banking hall of fame