Pub. 6 2018 Issue 3

6 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org Executive Director’s Report W elcome to our final 2018 edition of The Community Banker. It seems like only yesterday I was putting together the January 2018 edition of our magazine. Where does time go? As I write this article, I am preparing for the final MIB board meeting of the year. By the time you have read this article, the board will have met in Bozeman to discuss, among other things, the financial performance of the association in 2018, the outcome of the annual state convention, the association’s five year strategic plan, and the investment in Montana State University’s community banking program. The board meeting was held in conjunction with the MSU tailgate party hosted by the association. The tailgate was held before the Cats’ homecoming game with the University of Idaho. The MIB football tailgate parties are a relatively new member benefit, being kicked off in 2017. This year, United Bankers Bank (UBB) partnered with us to host both the Cat and Griz game tailgate parties. We thank UBB for continuing to be a strong supporter of the Association. We also thank Bill Coffee of Stockman Bank for graciously allowing the association to use property owned by Stockman Bank as the location for our MSU tailgate party. You will find within this edition photos from the two social events. As you can see from the photos, we had excellent atten- dance at both the UM and MSU games. Given the success of the tailgates, the association will be making the tailgate parties an annual membership event moving forward. So, be on the lookout for next year’s tailgate party dates and associated games. In addition to hosting the tailgate, the association also joined the MSU Commu- nity Banking program in participating in the homecoming parade. The association entered an antique car in the parade, which carried two student program participants -- Andrea Fairchild, who interned with Stock- man Bank, and Sam Hatfield, who interned with American Bank. The MSU community banking program has been a great success to date. If you are interested in having your bank participate in the program, please feel free to contact me or contact Tim Harvey, the Director of the program at the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Speaking of association events, the as- sociation reminds you that the annual state convention is always held around the third week of July. 2019 will be no different; and the State Convention will be held in Butte next year. The venue will be the Copper King Inn. MIB has not hosted our annual conven- tion in Butte for many, many years, and we are excited to be returning to the ‘Mile High City.’ The theme for the 2019 convention will be Evil Knievel. In August, I had the privilege of welcoming my banking association peers to Montana as part of my duties as the 2018 Chairman of the Council of Community Banking Associations. The CCBA is made up of the executive direc- tors of the various state banking associations. I chose the Grouse Mountain Lodge located in Whitefish as the venue for CCBA’s annual meeting. I thought the venue and location would show off our beautiful state well. Whitefish didn’t disappoint. As part of the meeting, my banking associ- ation peers were able to golf, whitewater raft and take a guided fishing trip. In addition, the final night’s dinner was held at the very neat Cypress Yard in Whitefish. The ‘Yard’ is an Aperitivo venue. If you bank in the Flathead, I highly recommend it as a place to hold events for your customers and employees.