At Allegiance Bank, you’ll find our team hard at work at all of our 26 Greater Houston area locations. However, our team’s hard work and dedication doesn’t end within the four walls of the bank. We pride ourselves on serving the communities where we live and work – and, despite record-breaking temperatures, this summer has been no exception. Here are a few of the things our bankers have been up to.

Lady Deer Sendoff

We kicked off the summer by sending off the Deer Park softball team to the 6A Softball State Championship for the second year in a row. Vice President Sherry Bufkin accompanied Todd Freed in presenting the Allegiance Bank Team of the Week award and to rally behind the Lady Deer community in celebration of their successful season.

Houston Botanic Garden

This summer, our Allegiance Bankers have not been afraid to get their hands dirty! Our Government Banking and Treasury Management teams spent a morning together at the Houston Botanic Garden. Coming together as a team, our volunteers pulled weeds and laid mulch to help prepare the gardens for the Houston community to enjoy over the summer.

Hustle Tank

Chief Executive Officer Ray Vitulli served as one of six judges for G-Unity Business Lab’s Hustle Tank event. This “Shark Tank” style competition fosters entrepreneurship among Houston ISD students that have the aptitude to become business owners but are without the necessary support or structure. Throughout the 2021 – 2022 school year, these students created business plans for their companies, collaborated with coaches and mentors, and prepared pitches for the Hustle Tank judges. Ray served on the judges panel alongside entertainment mogul 50 Cent and Mayor Sylvester.

Omni Summer Bash

The summer celebrations continued with the OmniPoint Health Summer Bash series. This program provides fun and educational lessons free of charge for kids in the community. These sessions include interactive presentations, lunch, and a movie, which served as a great way to bring the community together this summer.

Van Houston Academy Groundbreaking

Executive Director Gary Henderson attended the groundbreaking for the Van Houston Academy, the first accredited Vietnamese American Private school in Houston. The 504 loan the Allegiance Bank SBA department provided will allow for the school to expand and impact more students in the community.

TSU Future Bankers Program

For the second consecutive semester, 100% of students enrolled in the Texas Southern University Future Bankers Leadership Program (FBLP) have passed the Risk Management Association Credit Essentials Certificate exam. George Martinez, Vice Chairman, and John Scroggins, Senior Vice President, spearheaded this forward-leaning entity within the Jesse H. Jones School of Business. Together, with the partnership of TBA, they have helped this program see continued success since its inception in 2021. In addition, this summer it was announced that the Accreditation Council and The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business have granted renewed accreditation for the Future Bankers Leadership program.

HCC Business Plan Competition

Executive Director of Government Guaranteed Lending, Gary Henderson, participated as a judge in the 2022 Houston Community College (HCC) Business Plan Competition. This annual competition serves as an opportunity for proposed, startup, and existing young entrepreneurs to develop focused plans to start or grow their business. Allegiance Bank was proud to sponsor this event to help encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Immunization Event

In preparation for back to school, Allegiance Bank arranged for a CHRISTUS Healthy Living Mobile Clinic to offer immunizations at the Tejano Center for Community Concerns at no cost. The coordination of this event stems from a deep involvement with both of these organizations. Ray Vitulli, Allegiance Bank CEO, serves on the board of the CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare, while Allegiance Bankers Sonia Gonzales and David Corpus serve on the Board of Tejano Center for Community Concerns. We were happy to help provide children in our community that might otherwise be excluded from care with the immunizations they need for a healthy school year. 

Texans Care Day

More than 40 Allegiance Bankers participated in the Texans Care Day at the Houston Food Bank. Our team had a great time partnering with the Houston Texans to package over 16 pallets of food for the Backpack Buddy program. Over 2,400 bags of food were bundled at this event, equivalent to over 14,000 meals. These backpacks help ensure that at-risk children have access to nutritious food, even outside of the school year.

MD Anderson Blood Drive

In July, our team hosted a blood drive benefitting MD Anderson cancer patients. We had a total of 12 volunteers at this event, who helped the center in their efforts to combat the nationwide shortage of blood.

Special Recognitions

The hard work of our bankers has not gone unnoticed. We are proud to highlight a few of the recognitions that were awarded to our team this summer.

TBA Board of Directors

For the fourth year in a row, Allegiance Bank Chief Executive Officer Ray Vitulli was appointed to the Texas Bankers Association Board of Directors. We look forward to seeing his contributions towards building strong bankers and even stronger communities.

NACD Awards Gala

Allegiance Bancshares Board Member, Janet Wong, was nominated to the NACD Directorship 100™, honoring the most influential people in and around the boardroom each year. Janet is recognized as one of the top 50 corporate board of directors for excellence in corporate governance. This distinction was presented to her at the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Directorship 100 Awards Gala.

HBJ Middle Market 50 Awards

This summer, Allegiance Bank was included in the 2022 Houston Business Journal Middle Market 50 Awards. We are honored to appear on this list alongside such prominent Houston businesses.

Overall, our bankers have had an eventful summer serving the community as well as each other. To stay up-to-date on all that Allegiance Bank is up to, follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.