American National Bank News Updates

American National Bank is pleased to sponsor the upcoming 13^th season of BECON-TV Studios academic competition show SCHOOL DUEL 2023, south Florida’s premiere high school academic quiz show. The sponsorship will help support students’ TV production & journalism education and broadcast innovative while helping to fulfill BECON-TV’s mission to educate ALL students to reach their highest potential and succeed in tomorrow’s world!

A total of 24 public and private schools in south Florida will compete, including 16 from Broward County. Northeast High School in our community of Oakland Park will be one of the participating schools. The shows will air on BECON-TV (WBEC-TV) beginning March 2 and will run through May 18. BECON-TV reaches homes throughout Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties via Comcast Cable (channels 488 & 19); DirecTV, DISH Network and AT&TU-Verse (channel 63), and over the air channel 63. 

BECON (Broward Education Communications Network) is the media production and support operation for Broward County Public Schools. BECON-TV (WBEC-63) is just one element of a broad range of media services provided to district schools and the community, including video production, engineering support, classroom maintenance and repair, print services and distance learning, coordination and support. They serve over 200,000 students and over 30,000 teachers and staff by enhancing learning for K-12 and non-traditional students throughout south Florida with unique educational experiences.

For more information on BECON-TV, please visit www.becon.tv.

For more information on SCHOOL DUEL, please visit www.schoolduel.tv.

American National Bank volunteers participated in Junior Achievement of South Florida’s (JA) Stock Market Challenge with students from Blanche Ely High School on March 3, 2023 at JA World Huizenga Center in Coconut Creek.

More than 1,200 Broward County Public and Charter high schoolers representing 14 schools competed between February 23 – March 3 in a simulated stock market environment that is hectic, loud, exciting and filled with energy. Student teams were given $500,000 in imitation currency used to make their initial stock selections from more than 25 fictitious companies before the challenge begins. At the end of the challenge, the team with the stock portfolio with the highest net worth won.

Bank Vice President and Branch Manager Pamela Dalton was the EMCEE for the event, EVP Baber Malik printed stock listings while Whakaiann Ramjust and Steven Holiday acted as floor traders. This is just one of several programs JA offers that empowers youth with the knowledge, ability and confidence to navigate their futures, drive our economy and lead our community.

In addition to the annual Stock Market Challenge, JA delivers over 20 unique programs to nearly 70,000 students in classrooms throughout Broward and south Palm Beach counties and at JA World Huizenga Center on the Broward College North Campus, training the next generation of business leaders, employees and consumers by educating students about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness. JA has served more than 1,000,000 students since its inception in 1959.

If you would like more information on how you can support Junior Achievement, please visit www.JASouthFlorida.org.

Broward County is one of the nation’s most cost burdened housing markets, making homeownership out of reach for 87% of families. American National Bank is partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Broward to change that! EVP/Chief Lending Officer Amy Mahaney and Habitat CEO/Executive Director Nancy Robin recently met to close on the Bank’s funding of mortgages through Habitat. With this funding, Habitat is able to break ground on 2 more housing projects that will help more families in our community find safe, affordable, permanent housing.

Under Nancy Robin’s excellent leadership and with the support of her Board, Habitat for Humanity of Broward is making a significant impact in our neighborhoods, by providing a hand up to families willing to work for a home of their own and the strength, stability, and self-reliance it delivers. Since 1983, the organization has been building safe, decent and affordable homes in communities throughout Broward County. To date, they have built 514 homes in Broward and sponsored 98 internationally, a total of 612 homes. Please visit their website at HabitatBroward.org to find out how you can join their efforts through donations, sponsorships, and volunteering.

American National Bank is Broward’s oldest and largest community bank and dedicated to giving back to the communities in which we live, work and serve. American National Bank – we’re not on every corner, but we’re always in YOUR corner!

On Saturday, March 4^th, Senior Vice President Perry Alexander proudly represented American National Bank at the Grand Opening Celebration of the newest Broward Meat & Fish Company location at 3201 N. State Road 7 in Margate. The Bank provided the acquisition and construction financing for the store for valued, long-time clients, Ruben and Denise Lujo. The event included a ribbon cutting with Mayor Anthony N. Caggiano, fantastic deals in every department, live music, multiple raffle prizes, a cooking demo with Chef Irie, a live broadcast from 99JAMZ, and more!

The Lujo family founded Broward Meat & Fish Company more than 32 years ago with the aim of providing traditional ingredients with excellent customer service. The company strives to deliver the broadest selection of quality local, Caribbean and international foods to its customers. They focus on fresh food, so that you can get everything you need for your traditional, home-cooked meals. More than 60% of their floor space is devoted to Meats, Seafood, and Produce, including favorites like fresh goat and oxtail, whole hogfish snapper, and yams, scotch bonnet peppers, and other island produce. With fully staffed service counters to prepare your meat and seafood orders as you like them, customer service is their #1 priority.

American National Bank – we’re not on every corner, but we’re always in YOUR corner!

American National Bank is pleased to announce it has hired Edgar Leon as Branch Operations Manager. He will be responsible for managing the operations of the branch, including oversight of the Personal Bankers and Tellers.

Edgar brings with him 16 years of banking experience in New Jersey and New York, including eight years at Bank of America. He also managed branches for Santaner Bank, TD Bank and most recently Citibank in the Bronx, where he was responsible for one of the largest and busiest branches in the region.

American National Bank is currently the oldest and largest community bank headquartered in Broward County – celebrating 37 years of building relationships, serving clients, and giving back to the community. The Bank is a 5-Star Rated Bank by Bauer Financial and was rated one of the Top 200 Healthiest Banks in America with an A+ Rating by LendingTree. Led by President and CEO Ginger Martin, the Bank was named one of the “Top Women-Led Businesses” in the state of Florida for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 by The Commonwealth Institute, and South Florida Business Journal ranked the Bank #1 among banks in South Florida that participated in PPP lending in 2020. It has previously received numerous awards for its financial performance and community involvement as well, such as the Banky Award from The Institute for Extraordinary Banking for four consecutive years, Business of the Year Award from South Florida Business Journal, and Small Business of the Year from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.