Pub. 7 2019 Issue 1

6 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org President’s Address TomChristnacht H ello community banking friends. Wel- come to our latest edition of the Com- munity Banker. You will notice from reading the pages within and from looking at the cover, this edition of the magazine is dedicated to community banking giant, Jack King, who passed away in February. Jack was a founder of the MIB, and we hope the stories and photos herein do him honor. This article will be the last I write as Presi- dent of the MIB. My two-year term of office ends at the conclusion of this year’s state convention. It’s been a fun, productive, and learning experience serving as MIB’s Presi- dent for the last two years. One of the better parts of the job as Pres- ident has been to attend the ICBA National Convention. And, speaking of the same, I write this article on the heels of returning from the ICBA Convention, which was held in Nashville this year. Janet and I had a wonderful time in the ‘Music City’. I highly recommend that every- one attend the national convention at least once in their lifetime. To help our mem- bers attend the event, the MIB is currently offering, a scholarship for first time attendees to go. The scholarship covers the cost of the convention registration. The 2020 ICBA Convention will be in Orlando, Florida. If you are interested in going, please apply for MIB’s scholarship. Turning back to this year’s convention, Janet and I had never traveled to Nashville. I just assumed the city was filled with a bunch of country music singers. I am a rock and roll kind of guy; and I was more than pleasantly surprised about the variety of music. Our hotel was within walking distance to the Music Row located on Broadway Street. The street is filled with narrow two and three story buildings with music playing every- where. All kinds of music; rock, rap, blues, blue grass, plus some country! The amazing thing is it’s all really good music! I don't think Janet or I heard a bad band. None of the bars have a cover charge, so you can listen to one band for a few songs and then move on to the next one. All the bands play for only tips. If you want, the band will play a song at your request. You just drop a $20 note in their tip bucket, and they will play almost any song. I say almost any song, because NOBODY would play Bob Seger "Like a Rock" for yours truly. I was turned down by three different bands’ in one night. Many of the bars had two or three floors with different music playing on each floor. It was also common to have a roof patio. We had a wonderful sunset drink on the 4th floor patio of the Famous Bar. The rooftop overlooks the Cumberland River and Nissan Stadium. I hate to keep recommending plac- es for my banker friends to visit, but here I go again. Nashville is a great place to visit. Our tour guide said it is the fifth fastest growing city in the Nation and I believe it. There was construction and cranes everywhere. One of the main speakers during the ICBA Convention was John O’Leary. If you have never heard his story, it is definitely worth reading or listening to. At the age of nine, he watched the neighbor kids messing around with gas. They would pour some on the sidewalk and then toss a match at it. John thought that it looked like fun. He decided to try it himself in the family garage by himself. He tried to light paper and then touch the gas can with the paper. The explo- sion burned 100%of his body. He was not expected to survive. John is an unbelievable motivational speaker. That's all I'm going to tell you. You will have to find our the rest on your own. You can find his story here: http:// johnolearyinspires.com/johns-story/ Another benefit and privilege of serving as MIB’s president has been to travel to Washing- ton D.C. to advocate on behalf of Montana’s community banking industry. By the time you read this, I will have returned fromWashington D.C. where I attended the annual ICBA D.C. Capital Summit. During the summit, MIB’s representatives met with Senator Jon Tester, Senator Steve Daines and Representative Greg Gianforte. All three members of our congres- sional delegation have been strong supporters of the community banking industry in the past, and I expect they will be supportive this time around as well. During our trip, we worked toward the goal of reducing the regu- latory burden on small banks’, and pushing for a tiered and proportionate regulatory system. Every US citizen needs to go to D.C. at least once in their life. Yes, there is definitely a swamp literally and figuratively, but there is so much history to see. The Capitol Building, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Washington and Lincoln Monuments, the Smithsonian Museum, etc. There is no way you can see it all in three days. For this trip, Janet and I had tickets to the White House and the Holocaust Museum. Ask me about either one next time you see me and I will give you the story. Or you can see this amazing city for yourself by applying for the other new MIB member benefit – a scholarship to attend the D.C. Summit. Re- member that great opportunity for next year. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President. It truly has been a memora- ble experience. I look forward to seeing you at our state convention to be held in Butte in July. In this vein, I encourage you to take a moments to review the convention schedule, speaker, and registration information set forth in these pages.