Pub. 5 2017 Issue 3

4 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org G reetings from Deer Lodge to Mon- tana’s community banking industry. It is hard to believe; but the end of the year is going to be here before we know it. It has been an interesting year in terms of weather. We went from an extremely hot dry end of summer to a very cool and wet fall virtually overnight. My wife, Janet, and I flew out to Seattle on September 12th. From the air, we watched the smoke filled skies and forest fires burning all the way to the west coast. When we returned to Montana one week later, the ground was wet, the smoke was gone, and virtually all the fires were out! What a change. With the first sign of snow, I’m sure MIB’s for- mer President, Kenny Martin, breathed a sigh of relief that his own personal property in Lincoln and the banks he manages in Seeley and Lincoln avoided permanent fire damage. I hope everyone that attended MIB’s 50th annual convention in Helena had as much fun as I did. It was nice to see friends and associates. Our convention is a great opportunity to trade stories and industry knowledge. I probably learn as much socializing with other bankers as I do from some of the excellent convention speakers. It was quite an accomplishment for the Association to have Cam Fine, President and CEO of the ICBA speak at our convention. He has been a great voice for Community Banking at the national level. We here at the MIB were sorry to hear of Cam’s retirement announcement, and we thank him for the many years of great service he has provided to community banks all across this country. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to our featured speaker, Jack Horner, famed paleontologist. His talk about the 10 different oceans in Montana’s history was informative, particularly as I was only aware of one ocean covering Montana prior to the presentation. At the MIB quarterly Board meeting held in Bozeman in September, Jim Brown, myself, and several other MIB Board members met with a number of the MSU/MIB Banking Internship Program students. These students are participating in the community banking program at MSU business school, a program that MIB endowed. As someone who has been in the commu- nity banking industry for more than 40 years, it was a breath of fresh air for me to meet and speak with the new batch of future bankers. Meeting with these soon to be community bankers gives me hope for the future of our industry. The first year of the community banking program proved to be very success- ful; and, at the MIB Board’s suggestion the Business School is going to reach out to the agriculture and accounting departments to try to draw students from those area into the community program. I’m sure you would agree that we could use more young Ag Bankers and Compliance people. The Association also tried something new this fall with the kickoff of our two football tailgate parties. We hosted one even in Boze- man at MSU; the other event was held at the other school located about 50 miles west of Drummond. Going into the events, we were not sure how successful the two membership events would be, but both events turned out wonderfully. With the events behind us, I think the MIB board made a wise decision to make the tailgate parties a member event. I think the parties will help with our outreach to new and existing members and associate mem- bers. The tailgates proved to be a great way to socialize with bank staff that may not ever make it to our board meetings or to the an- nual convention. The Bobcats almost pulled off a fantastic, come from behind, last second, upset of a highly ranked opponent in South Dakota State University. The Grizzlies suffered a tough loss to Eastern Washington. As this is the last edition before the end of the year, just a reminder about your annual dues. Keep your eyes open for the dues pack- et. Although I have only been president of the MIB for a few short months, I can attest to the value our membership receives for their dues dollars. I am fortunate to have taken over the reins of an organization that was well run by our outgoing president Amy Quarles, who served as the Association’s head for two years. On behalf of the board, I want to thank Amy for her excellent volunteer service and to wish her well during her time spent in Spain. I am excited about the future of our organi- zation and hope you will be part of the MIB Community in 2018. Tom Christnacht, MIB President 2017-2019 and President of First Security Bank of Deer Lodge President’s Address