Bankers from Missouri and Kansas along with business leaders from Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska are candidates for election to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Board of Directors.

          In the first election, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Hans C. Helmerich, president and CEO of Helmerich & Payne, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kevin K. Nunnink, chairman of Integra Realty Resources, Westwood, Kansas, Cathey McClain Finlon, CEO of Finlon Advertising, Denver, Colorado, and Gayle-ann Douglas, executive vice president of Douglas Manufacturing Corp., Crete, Neb., have been nominated by Group 1 member banks as candidates for the three-year term as a Class B Director, effective Jan. 1, 2004. Group 1 banks consist of member banks having a combined capital and surplus of $10 million and over as of Sept 26, 2003.

          In the second election, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Bruce A. Schriefer, president, Bankers’s Bank of Kansas, Wichita, Kansas; Kenneth Riedemann, chairman of Northland National Bank, Gladstone, Missouri, and Mark W. Schifferdecker, president and CEO of Girard National Bank, Girard, Kansas have been nominated by Group 2 member banks as candidates for the three-year term as a Class A Director, effective Jan. 1, 2004. Group 2 banks consist of member banks having a combined capital and surplus of $2.5 million to $10 million as of Sept. 26, 2003.

          The balloting is done by mail and will end Nov. 25.

          The Board includes nine directors, six of whom are elected by member banks in the seven states of the Tenth Federal Reserve District. The remaining three directors are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. to represent the general public. Reserve Bank directors meet monthly to confer on economic and banking developments to advise the Bank on its operations and policies. Among the directors' responsibilities is establishing the Bank's discount rate, subject to review and determination by the Federal Reserve Board.