October 2022

MIB held a tailgate party at the University of Montana on Sept. 10, 2022. This event was co-sponsored by Bell Bank who also provided a custom Yeti for a prize drawing. Tim Schreiber was the lucky winner of the Yeti. Congratulations, Tim! And, the Griz won the game, 24-7.

Linda Cohen, the founder of Linda Cohen Consulting, is a professional keynote speaker known as The Kindness Catalyst. A consultant since 2012, Linda has a blog on her website (https://lindacohenconsulting.com). She has written two books; 1,000 Mitzvahs in 2011 and The Economy of Kindness in 2021.

Kindness is a soft skill. Since kindness can be hard to teach, measure or master, many people dismiss it as a nonessential nicety that won’t make or break your business. They value other capitalist-oriented skills more, such as ambition, grit and skill.

n March 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made a significant revision to its examination manual for Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP). The main intent of this action is, as the CFPB states in its press release, “to better protect families and communities from illegal discrimination, including in situations where fair lending laws may not apply.”

Community banks have unique access to equipment leasing opportunities, but many are not taking advantage of – and profiting from – them.

When the average person thinks of banking in Montana, words like checking, savings and loans come to mind. It is a commodity, transactional-based view.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few things about human nature as it relates to bond portfolio management. Some of these notions or biases in the minds of investors are more logical than others. For example, it seems community bankers take some pride in owning a collection of bonds whose price has risen since purchase. An unrealized gain is much preferred over an unrealized loss in the minds of a lot of seasoned portfolio managers, investment committees and boards. This is in spite of the fact that the gain is the residue of rates falling since purchase. The natural consequence is that the overall portfolio’s yields are on the way down, and I haven’t met many people hoping for lower bond returns.

Ransomware attacks were very much in the news in 2021. Every organization should prepare in advance for the steps it must take should a ransomware event occur. While attacks against municipalities, educational facilities, healthcare organizations, the retail industry, and pipelines pepper the news, ransomware attacks have targeted community banks and will continue to do so in the future.

I spent over 20 years as a Montana community banker, working my way through various positions from Teller to Branch Manager, Credit Analyst to Lender, and Chief Credit Officer to Chief Lending Officer. Helping small businesses succeed by getting to know my borrowers’ needs and applying sound loan structuring that made sense for their business and the bank was the most fun part of my banking career.