Employee Spotlight
This month's Employee Spotlight focuses not on one individual, but on the five new OSBC Regional Managers. The Regional Manager positions were created during a reorganization process earlier this year. For examination purposes, the state of Kansas is now divided into four regions: East, West, Central and Southeast. Regional Manager duties include the supervision and administration of examination staff, quality training and scheduling for Safety and Soundness, BSA, and IT examinations. Another important duty of the Regional Manager is to serve as a liaison with the federal banking authorities.
Glen Caspers has been employed with the Office of the State Bank Commissioner (OSBC) for almost 24 years. He began his career as a safety & soundness examiner in the Dodge City field office in 1981 and transferred to the Topeka field office in 1985. Glen then transferred to the Topeka Main Office to become a Review Examiner and performed those duties until 1994. At that time, Glen increased his involvement in the agency's IT functions and became the Director of Education and Information Systems. In July of 2004, he was promoted to a Regional Manager position and is now responsible for scheduling and supervising all IT examinations for state banks and trust companies. Other duties include oversight of the agency's database administration, hardware/software technical support, network administration and technology purchasing. Glen has been involved in Information/Technology in some form or another for seventeen years and has received certification from A+ as a computer technician. Glen is a graduate of Fort Hays State University. He and his wife, Eileen, have one daughter who graduated from high school this Spring. During his spare time, he enjoys gardening, landscaping and a variety of outdoor activities. Glen has enjoyed his time with the OSBC and is very thankful for the opportunity to be involved in the many technology changes witnessed by the agency.
James Hass was born and raised in the Manhattan, Kansas, area. He graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration (emphasis in Finance). James began his OSBC career in the Hays Field Office and then transferred to the Salina Field Office in 1989. As part of his bank examiner continuing education, James graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado, Boulder, Colorado with Special Honors in 1997. Prior to being selected as the Central Regional Manager, James was the Field Office Supervisor of the Salina Territory for eleven years. He was a City of Salina, Kansas planning commissioner from 1998 through 2004 and served as Chairman of the committee in 2003. James received his private pilot license in 2002 and enjoys flying as well as playing basketball and working outdoors.
Ken Torgler is the regional manager of the East Region of the OSBC. Ken attended Girard High School in Southeast Kansas and received a Degree in Finance from Pittsburg State University (home of the Gorillas) in Pittsburg, Kansas. He has been employed with the OSBC since 1989. He began his bank regulating career in Wichita and moved to Overland Park in 1990. The wide variety of business types in the Kansas City metropolitan area has provided Ken with experience in examining the larger commercial institutions and also given him the opportunity to expand his knowledge through loan review and discussions with bankers. Ken's hobbies revolve around family and he has the dusty golf clubs to prove it! His wife, Nancy, is a school teacher in the Blue Valley School District. They have two children, Kara, 6 years old and Danielle (Dani), 4 years old. Family activities include camping, movies, bike riding, fishing, weekend trips, reading and attending Pittsburg State Gorilla football games every fall. In addition, Ken routinely gives blood in memory of a loved one and is a past board member for SIDS Resources, Inc. Ken's family is the highest priority in his life along with his faith. Ken says "You can be alive, but you don't start living until you have children. Life is about kids!" The family attends Lord of Life Lutheran church in Leawood, Kansas. Ken enjoys working with the bankers in the State of Kansas and always encourages bankers to call the OSBC for assistance or to share comments, concerns and accomplishments.
Ed Spielbusch started his career with the OSBC upon graduation from The University of Kansas in 1982. He is a lifelong native of Southeast Kansas and was raised on a farm north of Parsons, Kansas, and graduated from Erie High School. In addition to working for the Department, Ed is also involved with a farming operation with his father. Prior to being selected as the Southeast Regional Manager, Ed was the Field Office Supervisor of the Erie Territory (now Southeast Region) for the past ten years. In his free time, Ed enjoys hunting, golfing, coaching his son's biddy basketball team and is an avid KU fan. His wife, Kim, is a kindergarten teacher at Garfield Elementary in Parsons, Kansas. Their children include a son, Jake, who is a Junior at Pittsburg State University, a daughter, Tracy, who is a Freshman at The University of Kansas, and their youngest son, Kyle, who is in fifth grade at Erie Elementary. Family pets are a dog, Gus, and two cats, Spot and Chloe. When asked about his OSBC career, Ed replied "I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with all of the individuals I have worked with over the years, both past and present. In addition, one of the most enjoyable aspects of working for the Department is the working relationship I have built with all of the bankers in our Region. It is always my hope that we can be viewed not as a Regulator, but as a resource for those we serve."
Mike Jackson is a lifetime resident of Southwest Kansas. He received a Bachelor in Science degree in Agri-business from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas, and is also a 2004 graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. Mike's career with the OSBC began in the Dodge City Field Office in May 1997 and he enjoys living and working with the people in western Kansas. His examining experience has helped him to realize that, even though they all compete for depositors and search for safe, sound investments, the state banks are very diverse and each of them have very individual characteristics. The methods used by management to achieve the goal of a return on their investments vary as widely as the methods used by their agricultural customers to raise livestock or a crop. Mike has been married to his wife, Lisa, for almost 23 years. They have two daughters, Cherise and Olivia. Cherise is attending Fort Hays State University Hays, Kansas, while Olivia is recent graduate of Dodge City High School. Mike continues to be actively involved in a family farming partnership with his father, raising corn, soybeans, milo and wheat. In addition, the partnership operates a small "calf-to-fat" cattle operation. As regional manager of the West Region, Mike's goal is "to maintain the level of knowledge needed in order to help keep bankers informed of the risks associated with the banking industry and, on a more individual level, how those risks may affect their institution."
