THE Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited (GBTI) recently named West Indies cricketer Shimron Hetmyer and lawn tennis and hockey player Sarah Klautky as its first-ever Brand Ambassadors.

By doing this the lending institution signals its strong support for the nurturing of young talent and cultural affiliation in Guyana, along with its renewed focus on retail and commercial banking.

“Part of this renewed focus is humanising the GBTI brand and what better way to do this than to use our very own Guyanese superstars or people and personalities who have the potential to become stars, leaders and influencers, who we believe have the potential to help us reposition GBTI as a people’s bank that engages, represents, identifies and connects with the Guyanese people and its customers at large, who at the same time proudly carry the GBTI brand wherever they go,” the Bank said in a release

At age 14, Sarah is already carving a name for herself in the sporting arena both locally and regionally. The Marian Academy fourth form student, who first engaged in lawn tennis at age six, is the reigning GBTI Tennis Championship U-18 title-holder.

The Roraima Tennis Club player has represented Guyana in the International Tennis Federation COTECC Championship in Jamaica where she emerged winner in the Under-14 category and subsequently participated in the Blue Mountain Tournament and walked away with the Under-14 Title.

Klautky is also a member of the Junior National Hockey Team and despite only picking up the sport three years ago, she led the Guyana Junior team to victory with the most goals scored in the recently-concluded Paragon Hockey Tournament in Trinidad and recently also copped the MVP player award in a local tournament.

In accepting the ambassadorial role for GBTI Sarah said that she’s “extremely elated to now be a part of the GBTI family. I’d like to thank you for choosing me to be your Brand Ambassador. I will do my best to represent the bank in everything I do.”

Meanwhile, Hetmyer, 21, who is currently in India with the West Indies team, thanked GBTI for bringing him on board, while adding that he’s looking forward to his role as the bank’s Brand Ambassador.