Pub. 7 2019 Issue 1

8 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org Executive Director’s Report W elcome to our spring edition of the Community Banker. I write this ar- ticle just as the winter has officially moved into spring. What a cold winter this one has been. In fact, the month of February was record breaking in terms of cold weather. I, for one, am glad to see the longer days and warmer temperatures. And I am certainly looking forward to a long, warm summer. As you probably determined from reading the front cover of the magazine, this edition of the Community Banker is dedicated to Jack King, who passed away in February of this year at the age of 90. Most of our readership will know Jack from his many years of leader- ship both in Montana’s community banking industry and in the national community banking community. We honor Jack as he was one of the found- ers of the Montana Independent Bankers. In addition, he is only one of two Montana bank- ers to ever serve as chair of the Independent Community Bankers of America. Jack had an amazing life, and his gigantic presence in Mon- tana’s banking industry will be missed. As you can also see from reading the pages of this magazine, it is almost time for our annual state convention and trade show to be held. You will find herein all the information you need to attend our 52nd annual state convention. For the first time in almost 15 years, we will be hosting our MIB convention this year in the Mining City – Butte. As long as we are on the topic of Montana legends, our theme for this year will be ‘Evel Knievel’. So, bring your motorcycle gear to wear at our annual vendor night reception. We are very pleased with the great lineup of speakers, activities and programs we have put together. I am pleased to write that current ICBA CEO and President Rebeca Romero Rainey will be one of our guest speakers. This is the second time in three years that MIB will have ICBA’s President join us at our state convention, with now retired President Cam Fine joining us in 2017 in Helena. If you have not had the chance to meet Rebeca personally, she is a dynamic and engaging person who wears the mantle of ICBA’s leadership role well. Also, in keeping with our Evel Knievel theme, our other featured speaker will be Mike Pat- terson. Mike is the curator of the Evel Knievel museum located in Topeka, Kansas. Mike will tell us a bit about how the Knievel museum came to be located in Topeka and will tell us evenmore about the man himself – Evel. In addition to these great speakers, the convention contains great education pro- grams and even better recreational activities. Of course, we will have our annual golf tour- nament. The tournament will be held at the Butte Country Club course this year – which is fun course to play. Further, we will be trying out a new activity this year – trap shooting! The one consistent piece of feedback we here at the MIB receive each year after host- ing the convention is that Montana bankers identify the convention as the single best place to mingle and talk with their colleagues in the industry. The MIB convention is the Montana banking event of the year, and, as such I hope to see you in Butte in July. Speaking of annual events, I write this article on the heels of returning from the ICBA National Convention, which was held in beautiful Nashville, Tennessee. As it does every year, the Association hosted its annual Montana reception at the event. The turnout at the reception was as high as I can recall during my tenure as Executive Director. I lost count of attendees at around 85, which consisted of a strong showing of Montana bankers, ICBA staff, and representatives from our MIB associate member partners. Late in April, the MIB traveled toWashing- ton D.C. for the annual federal policy summit. During the trip, we meet with Montana Sena- tors Daines and Tester, as well as Representative Gianforte. During our meetings we discussed with Montana’s congressional delegation the need for federal agencies to quickly and correctly implement SB 2155 – the Dodd- Frank Community Banking relief bill passed by Congress last year. In addition, MIB carried the message toWashington that federal regulation is doing considerable damage to the communi- ty banking industry, and that Congress needs to continue to advance a duel regulatory system – with banks having $10 billion in assets and below being freed from regulations designed to regulate the too-big-to-fail institutions. Despite the continued trend of consolida- tion within the industry, 2018 was a great year to be a community banker. According to the FDIC, net income for FDIC-insured institutions for the fourth quarter of 2018 was up $33.8 billion from the 4th quarter of 2017. What is more, the percentage of unprofitable banks in the fourth quarter declined by almost 10 percent from the previous year. These numbers show that despite regula- tory challenges being faced by community banks across Montana and across the coun- try, the industry continues to perceiver and prosper. For that, we owe our many thanks to previous community banking leaders, such as Jack King, who helped blaze the path forward for today’s community bankers. Though the naysayers may say differently, I believe the community banking industry is also entering a springtime in its history. I hope you enjoy this edition of the Community Banker. I thank you for being a part of our small, but vibrant and growing Association. And I look forward to seeing you in Butte in July of 2019 for our annual state convention.