Pub. 4 2016 Issue 2

4 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org President’s Address Amy Quarles UPCOMINGMIB EVENTS October 11-12, 2016 MIB Fall Board Meeting Rock Creek Resort Red Lodge, MT January 17-19, 2016 MIB Winter Board Meeting Great Northern Hotel Helena, MT S ummer is in full swing and so is the Montana Inde- pendent Bankers Associa- tion, as was evident if you were able to join us for the 2016 MIB Convention and Tradeshow in Kalispell in July. The Convention was bigger and better than ever this year, with near record atten- dance by bankers and vendors and extremely positive feedback all around. Attendees had the opportunity to hear Montana Banking Commissioner Melanie Hall present an update on the Montana banking system and the current issues and concerns that are a priority for regula- tors. Ms. Hall’s presentation was followed by workshops and seminars with topics ranging from the economy, retention strategies, interest rate risk, innovation ideas, and identity theft. Our attendees enjoyed a golf tournament, whitewater rafting, and Kalispell’s attrac- tions. The weekend was capped off with a keynote speech by Scott Heitkamp, ICBA’s current Vice Chairman, at our annual President’s Banquet. We were also honored to have Jack King join us for this convention. Jack has been a founding father of community banking in Mon- tana, having founded Valley Bank of Kalispell and Three Rivers Bank, in addition to being President of MIB and even President of ICBA in the 1980s and serving on multiple local, state, and national boards. A thank you goes to all those who attended and especially to Jim Brown, our Executive Director, and Laura Welker, our Member Relations Director and conven- tion organizer, for putting on this enjoyable event. A new addition to this year’s convention was the announce- ment of the 2016 MIB Graduate Banking School Scholarship winner. The Board understands how difficult it is for small banks to afford to send their officers to banking school for quality training. Last year, the MIB Board created a $2,500 schol- arship to an approved banking school. It was a pleasure to announce that Jeremy Morgret of Stockman Bank in Billings has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 MIB Graduate Banking School Scholarship. Jeremy is Vice President and Assistant Chief of Branch Supervision, and his responsibilities include assist- ing the Bank’s market presidents with growth, development, personnel, pay, and credit-relat- ed items. If you have an eligible and deserving officer in your bank, please encourage them to apply for the 2017 scholarship, as this scholarship will cover the bulk of their tuition! Prior to the convention in April, I joined several of our Montana community bank- ers in Washington D.C. at the annual ICBA Washington Policy Summit. We not only had to opportunity to attend educa- tional meetings with other ICBA members from across the coun- try, but also had the opportunity to meet with all three of our state legislators. These private meetings with our senators and representative offered an in- valuable opportunity to relay a broad overview of issues facing community bankers in Montana, as well as specific experiences we have encountered when doing business in the current banking regulatory environ- ment. As an organization, we are fortunate to have A.J. King representing Montana as the ICBA state director. A.J. not only thoroughly understands the issues, but also has a great rap- port with our legislators. If you have not done so in past years, I would encourage you to attend the 2017 Policy Summit. As November approaches, Jim and the Board will continue to monitor the state and nation- al elections and their potential impact on community banking in Montana. In conjunction with the 2017 Montana Legislative session, MIB and MBA will co-host a reception and dinner for the legislators in Helena on January 18, 2017. All members are encouraged to attend the event. MIB’s board of directors and executive staff are continually looking for ways to improve and expend your member benefits so please reach out to one of us if there is anything you would like us to work on and we will do our best to help you out! Amy Quarles, MIB President 2015-2017 and CFO of First Security Bank of Helena