James Trent Williams was born in the small southwest Georgia town of Camilla, Georgia, in August 1965. Trent is the third of six children and the first of four boys. A graduate of Mitchell-Baker High School, Trent was very active and participated in several clubs and school activities. He was interested in sports, particularly basketball, where he played on the varsity basketball team. After high school, He attended Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management and a Master’s in Business Administration.
Trent’s first love was journalism. He was proficient as a writer. He was skilled enough as a writer that in his freshmen year at ASU, he won the top prize for being the student with the best journal entries in the fine arts department for the entire semester. However, he transferred to ASU’s College of Business after his freshmen year, as his interest changed to banking.
He continued to expand his post-graduate education by completing a three-year Chief Executive Officer certification. The first year was at Warton, Executive Education, University of Pennsylvania. The second year was at Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. The third and final year was at UVA Darden Executive Education, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trent’s employment experience includes a college internship with Penny Company as a merchandise manager, Ford Motor Credit as an Account Representative, and eleven years as a Vice President with Bank of America. With Bank of America, he worked in several capacities, which began with an 18-month comprehensive management training program, where he was trained in every banking area. In eleven years with Bank of America, he held Vice President of Retail, Commercial & Small Business Banking, and City Executive positions. Trent worked thirteen years with Heritage Bank of the South and Renasant Bank as Vice President, Commercial Banker, and Compliance Corporate CRA Officer. For the last eight years, Trent has worked as Vice President of Lending Operations for DOCO Credit Union, and he’s currently the Regional Vice President of Sales/Lending for Georgia’s Own Credit Union’s Southwest Region.
Trent is an ordained minister. He is married to Pamela Williams. Pam is an educator in the Dougherty School System. They have two adult children: a son, Jaylen, and a daughter, Camryn.