Thursday, Sept. 23

Friday, Sept. 24

Sponsors & Partners

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Thursday, Sept. 23 -  9:15 – 10:30         
​General Session: Innovative Banker Panel – Terrace Room

Moderated by Wayne Miller, Executive Director, The Venture Center
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For entrepreneurs in financial technology, or fintech, Little Rock is in the big leagues of business accelerators. Preserving and enhancing that reputation is the role of Venture Center Executive Director Wayne Miller, a mission he has executed with aplomb. Miller, who came to the organization in 2017, oversaw the 2018 iteration of the nonprofit group’s 12-week startup program including knitting together a coalition of mentors and support from Fortune 500 Fidelity Information Services, local business leaders and entrepreneurs.  

From the success of the fintech accelerator, Miller negotiated a partnership with the Independent Community Bankers of America to launch the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator. That cohort, a first-of-its-kind community bank-focused fintech accelerator program, has the aim of helping community banks directly engage and partner with early stage fintech companies focusing exclusively on product development.  
Prior to coming to Little Rock, Miller was CEO of Enovative Technologies, LLC, a private equity-backed medical device manufacturer in Bishopville, Md., and was COO of a $45 million transportation and logistics company with more than 1000 vehicles, five facilities and staff of 1,500. 

In all, he’s worked with 12 startup technology companies in health care, cybersecurity, advertising and internet consulting, as well as taught entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and serves on a variety of boards of directors.

• Paul Abramson, EVP, Chief Technology Officer, American Riviera Bank

Paul leads American Riviera Bank technology and cyber security strategy. He came to the bank with over 20 years of experience in the Technology and Cybersecurity industries, of which 13 years has been in banking. Paul previously served as the lead technologist and cybersecurity architect for Montecito Bank & Trust, and before that worked for a network security solutions provider designing and implementing threat management deployments for large enterprises.
Paul graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Business Economics, and recently completed the Western Bankers Association Executive Development Program. He frequently shares his cybersecurity expertise at community events to help prevent fraud and financial crime in the local area and has been invited to present to industry groups including the FDIC.

• Karla (Nikki) Almazan, FVP, Director of Information Technology, EH Private Bank

Nikki Almazan serves as First Vice President, Director of Information Technology and Information Security Officer for EH Private Bank. Fascinated by the ever-evolving landscape of the Banking industry, she has served on various executive committees that have allowed her to be a catalyst for strategic advancement. She has developed strategic roadmaps that align her Bank’s digital initiatives with business wide objectives, cultivates external partnerships and leverages a data driven approach to digital banking and information security. She works arduously to educate and create processes to improve the customer and employee experience across a broad range of technology platforms. Nikki strives to stay ahead of current industry trends and advocates for automation in the work environment to increase operational efficiencies. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking new recipes, watching sporting events and spending time with her family.
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• Eric Brady, Chief Technology Officer, Nano Banc

 Eric Brady is the Chief Technology Officer at Nano Banc located in Irvine, California. Eric attended college in North Dakota at the University of Mary and holds degrees in Computer Networking, Computer Information Systems and a Masters degree in Management. Over the past 22 years he has had a focus on finance technology previously holding positions at Microsoft and California Republic Bank before joining Nano Banc since it’s inception in 2018. While at Nano Banc he architected and implemented the technology behind our growth from $72 million in assets to over $1 billion today.
 
 
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