Pub. 4 2016 Issue 1

4 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org President’s Address Amy Quarles I had the pleasure of joining my Montana community banking colleagues as well as community bankers from across the country in New Orleans in early March at the annual ICBA National Convention. This convention is always a great op- portunity to attend educational workshops, mingle with other community bankers, and of course hear what is happening at a national level with the Inde- pendent Community Bankers of America. ICBA President Cam Fine spoke during the conven- tion delivering the message to the bankers that ICBA will always have their back and that ICBA has one mission: to create and promote an environ- ment where community banks flourish. At the end of April several Montana bankers traveled to Washington D.C. to the ICBA Washington Policy Summit. This was another exciting opportu- nity to interact with community banking colleagues from across the nation to encourage and accelerate regulatory reform. Every year ICBA sets an agenda for regulatory issues; this year’s agenda is the Plan for Prosper- ity and is focused on reducing the onerous regulatory burden for community banks while empowering local communities. This conference not only offers the opportunity to be involved with the national movement, but also to meet one-on-one with our state legislators to highlight our concerns. These in-person meetings with our Montana senators and state representative help them to better understand the challeng- es facing community bankers in Montana. Of course, MIB’s biggest event in 2016 is our own MIB Convention, to be held July 21-23, 2016 at the Red Lion Kalispell. Convention registra- tion packets were mailed out the end of March, and easy online registration is available at http://mibonline.org/conven- tion, where you can also find details including the tentative agenda, speakers, hotel reser- vations, golf and rafting activity information, and sponsorship options. This issue of The Com- munity Banker also includes convention information, where you can see MIB’s great lineup of speakers, including JimMathis, ICBA Vice Chairman Scott Heitkamp, Tim Henry of United Bankers’ Bank, and Dan Stimp- son of ICBA Securities. As always, Jim and Laura and now Wilson continue to work to ensure our organization runs smoothly and provides the greatest benefit to you, the community bankers of Montana. Their dedication and hard work has resulted in a continued increase in associate members, topping over 55 in 2015. You can view our current list of associate members at the end of each issue of The Community Banker – we encourage you to use them for your bank’s needs. If there is anything you need or suggestions you have to make the organization even stronger, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of them or myself. I hope to see all of your in July at the convention, if not sooner. By Amy Quarles, MIB President 2015-2016 and CFO of First Security Bank of Helena UPCOMINGMIB EVENTS July 21-23, 2016 MIB Convention & Tradeshow MIB Summer Board Meeting MIB Annual Member Meeting Red Lion Hotel Kalispell, MT October 13-14, 2016 MIB Fall Board Meeting Rock Creek Resort Red Lodge, MT January 17-19, 2017 MIB Winter Board Meeting Great Northern Hotel Helena, MT