Happy New Year, and welcome to the inaugural 2025 edition of the Community Banker.
2025 marks my 13th year as executive director of the MIB. Looking back over the last decade-plus, I am heartened by how far the Association has come. Together, MIB has achieved much, including increasing its associate membership to nearly 60, growing annual convention participation, expanding member services and strengthening our partnership with ICBA. Thanks to the hard work and diligence of the MIB board, the Association has bucked the national trend by expanding at a time when many state financial services associations are contracting.
Looking forward, 2025 will be another great year for Montana’s community banks. The Association has retained the services of Shane Scanlon to serve as the MIB lobbyist for the 2025 Montana Legislative Session. Shane is no stranger to the MIB, having served on the staff of United States Sen. Steve Daines and, more recently, having served as the campaign manager for Tim Sheehy’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate. As the 2025 Montana Legislative session kicked off on Jan. 6, by the time you read this, Shane will have hit the ground running on behalf of Montana’s community banking industry. The MIB board is pleased to partner with Shane and feels confident that MIB’s policy agenda will receive favorable treatment from Montana’s legislators.
Looking further into 2025, at the request for MIB’s membership, MIB is pleased to announce that the annual convention will return to Big Sky. The annual convention and tradeshow will be held at the Big Sky Resort on July 16-18, 2025. Coming off the 2024 convention, wherein the Association experienced record associate member participation and sponsorship, MIB expects this year’s convention to be one of its most widely attended yet. So, save those dates on your calendar and join us for big fun, engaging speakers and beautiful views at Montana’s largest annual gathering of community bankers. And, as a reminder, your personal interactions at the convention with your banking peers and community is the highest member benefit MIB can and does provide.
Some additional things to note as we move into this new year. MIB member and associate member renewal packets were mailed out in December. If you have not renewed your membership, what are you waiting for? Get those renewals back in. If you did not receive your 2025 membership packet, please contact me to get your membership information or if you would like more information about becoming a member.
Further, as you likely know by now, in November, I was fortunate to be elected to serve as Montana’s state auditor. My four-year term of office kicked off on Jan. 6. I very much appreciate the support I received from the MIB board and membership during my run for office. With the agreement of the MIB board, for now, I will continue as the executive director of the Association until such time as a suitable replacement is identified, trained and hired.
Speaking of tradeshows and conventions, ICBA has announced that ICBA LIVE will be held in Nashville this year. The national convention is slated for March 11-14, and one of the highlights is attending the ICBA PAC auction. And, with the great work performed by ICBA PAC on our behalf during the 2024 elections, the importance of electing pro-banking candidates cannot be overstated. As a reminder, the contributions you make to the ICBA PAC and to the MIB PAC are the lifeblood of our collective legislative advocacy efforts. This past election season, thanks to your support, MIB was able to financially assist multiple pro community banking candidates both for legislature and statewide office.
I trust you will enjoy this edition of the Community Banker. The MIB and the MIB staff are proud of the continued quality of this publication, and we encourage you to peruse the informative articles written by ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey and Montana FHLB Rep. Joe Kessler.
In 2025, MIB will continue to work on promoting community banking across Montana. That’s why, this year, we have decided to once again undertake a digital marketing campaign on behalf of our member banks. We thank you for all you do on behalf of your communities, your customers and your colleagues. Community banking has many great days ahead of us. MIB is here to partner with you to see them come to pass.
From us to you and yours, we wish you a happy, fun and productive year.
James Brown, Esq.
MIB Executive Director
