Pub. 7 2019 Issue 2

2 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org President’s Address AndrewWest H ello, Montana Bankers! I am writing my first article on the heels of the Montana Independent Banker’s annu- al convention and I am pleased to relay the great success the convention has become. I hear the same thing from our guests year after year; this convention is the best event of the year. I wholeheartedly agree. Just like community bankers across the country, Mon- tana community bankers know hospitality and fun, and it shows. I saw so many smiles and heard so much laughter. It’s easy to see why so many of my best friends are bankers. I truly had a wonderful time re-connecting with colleagues and friends and meeting vendors who bring us new products to help us do our jobs more effectively. I am truly honored to be the president of the MIB for the next two years. I really want to get to know each and every one of you to the extent I can in the upcoming years. I believe strongly in the MIB’s mission and also the absolute importance of indepen- dent community banks in Montana. First, however, I’ll tell you a bit about my- self. I was born and raised in Colorado. I did a couple semesters at Colorado State Univer- sity before I moved to Flaming Gorge, Utah, to become a fly fishing guide on the Green River. I wasn’t really cut out for school and spending my days in the Green River canyon suited me fine. I loved that job. In fact, it taught me many valuable things about cus- tomer service and work ethic. For example, if you are on your 27th fourteen-hour day in a row and your client just got his 10th tangle in the first quarter mile of river, you must remain calm. Calm is good. In guiding and banking. Ah, those were the days …. Eventually, with encouragement from many clients, I decided to get serious about my education. I had some friends who were forest service fire fighters and they told me, “You belong in Missoula, Montana!” So, I applied for school and moved to Missoula in January of 1997. I decided to get a business degree and fell in love with accounting after my first introductory class (nerd alert!). I thought I’d become a CPA. Somehow, however, through a weird combination of a marriage, a baby on the way and the need for money, I took a job as a credit manager with Wells Fargo Financial. It was not my dream of being a CPA, but at least I was employed and had health insurance. That was the beginning of my love affair with lending and banking. I’ve had the pleasure of working with three great com- munity banks in my career and have settled as the President and CEO of Eagle Bank in Polson, Montana. Eagle Bank is one of 17 tribally owned banks in the country. I've lived on the Flathead Reservation for 18 years now and that baby just graduated valedictorian of her high school class. Time flies when you are having fun, I guess. Now, I hope to give back to the industry I love so much. I had the pleasure of meeting and sitting with Ms. Rebecca Romero Rainey at the MIB convention in July. She is the new CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America and I could tell from the start we shared a love for, and commitment to, independent community banks. I am grateful for this opportunity and grateful to be a part of such a wonderful organization that is mindful of its constituency and the valuable role community banks play in Montana. I am a firm believer community banks are unques- tionably vital to local economies. I believe we have unique capabilities to help those who otherwise might be underserved without us. We know our customers and we love our communities, and we demonstrate this daily. My hope is to represent the MIB and the community bankers of Montana in a way that draws in more membership and a greater comradery among those of us who are already members. We do something special with our days, and I love our journey. I am excited to advocate on your behalf, ensuring our message of unity and friendship is heard not only statewide but in our nation’s capital as well. You and your people make your com- munities and Montana an amazing place to live, and I’m happy to call you friends. Thank you for being a part of the MIB, and thank you for all you do for those you serve.