Pub. 6 2018 Issue 3

4 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org President’s Address TomChristnacht I t is always difficult to write a timely article for the newsletter when I know the article will not be published for about six weeks after it is written. Therefore, many of the current issues in the news will be resolved by early November when you read this. Judge Kavanaugh will have either been confirmed or not. The battle between Tester and Rosendale will be settled. The 2018 mid- terms will be completed and control of the House and Senate will be resolved. I am not going to make any public predictions, even though I know the answers to each of these issues. However, you are free to contribute to the Tom Winter of 2018/19 Ski Fund and, in return, I will provide you with the answers to all of the questions posed above. Closer to home, I can say we had a great summer in western Montana! The skies were clear for most of July and August. Moisture was adequate and the grass remained green way longer than normal. I would have to say that based on my eight acre field, the amount of grass grown during the summer of 2018 was one of the best years in the past 30 years. It appears in the world of banking to be shaping up to be a very good year. Business is good for community banks across the country. The economy is booming. The Federal Reserve is slowly adjusting rates back up to a more normal level, and equally as important, the Reserve continues to be transparent with their thoughts and plans. Unemployment is low, past due loans are minimal. All in all, life is good for Montana’s community banks. On the regulatory front, everything is very quiet. There don’t seem to be any major changes coming, or being talked about from the state or federal regulators. It is the least amount of new laws and rules that I can re- member for a very long time. On the federal level, we were fortunate to get S.2155 passed. However, I am always hoping for more dereg- ulation. Yet, I’m not holding my breath. I am hopeful that regulators will move swiftly to implement the reg relief provisions con- tained in S.2155. I know ICBA is working hard on this issue, and I appreciate Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo’s efforts to conduct oversight over the regulating agencies to en- sure they carry out Congressional intent. As someone who works for a bank with assets of less than $5 billion, I am looking forward to that contemplated short form call report. I read with interest the growing trend in the industry of credit unions buying banks. This is something to keep an eye on given the advantageous tax advantage CUs have over us taxpaying entities. I was unable to attend MIB’s Griz tailgate party in Missoula because I had a wedding to attend in Portland, Oregon. It sounds like it was a good time for everyone that attended and the Griz beat Drake, which made the day even better. I am hoping for nice weather when MIB hosts its MSU tailgate party. On our way back from Portland, Janet and I spent one night at the Paradise Lodge at Mount Rainer in Washington State. I had not been to the mountain for a number of years. It is a spectacular area in terms of scenery, and I highly recommend it to everyone. We assumed that on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of September, the mountain would not be crowded. Wow, were we wrong! The visitors center and parking lots were packed. I probably should have gotten a reservation ahead of time, but that’s not my style. Things always work out and the lodge had two rooms left. Janet and I went on a hike on the Skyline Trail. For the first half mile it was a steep asphalt trail with a lot of people. Once we got well above the lodge the people thinned out. The views of Mount Rainier and the surrounding areas were gorgeous. We saw a number of marmots and they were accustomed to people. We ended up on a very empty section of the trail in the early evening. As luck would have it, we got to see a bear! It was several hundred yards from the trail eating wild flowers and grass in an open field. I would have liked to get closer, but Janet was opposed to that plan. We watched him for a while and then continued down the trail back towards the lodge. We ran into a millennial couple a short time later headed up the trail. I told them that we had been lucky enough to see a bear and if they paid attention, they might get a chance to see it. Janet ran into them later that evening in the lodge and found out they had chickened out and turned around shortly after they saw us. Clearly, they weren’t Griz fans! As this is the last edition of the magazine before the end of 2018, just a reminder that MIB dues notices will be going out at the end of December. Be sure to return your dues to Jim at the association as soon as you get your membership invoice. Don’t forget that 2019 is a Montana legislative session year. As such, we will be co-hosting the semi-annual legislative dinner with MBA. The dates for the joint meeting and dinner are January 8th and 9th. I hope to see you at that great event in January.