Pub. 8 2020 Issue 1

4 The Community Banker www.mibonline.org Executive Director’s Report “May you live in interesting times.” According to Wikipedia, that quotation may or may not have its origins in China as the same is commonly understood. The phrase does seem to apply to the present. As I write this article, we are in the midst of the fallout from the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus a pandemic. Montana is presently seeing school closures, public events cancelled, and govern- ment restrictions as a result. And, on March 12, 2020, Montana Governor Steve Bullock declared a state-wide emergency due to the risk of coro- navirus spreading in Montana. In turn, the Commissioner of Banking in Montana, Melanie Hall issued a Supervisory Memorandum and Proclamation to Montana state-chartered banks in which the Commis- sioner authorized any Montana state-chartered bank or credit union to physically close any office in order to protect the health and safety of the institution’s employees or its custom- ers. However, the Commissioner directed that financial institutions had to continue to provide essential services to its customers through the use of ATMs, drive -through windows and/or mobile banking apps. As stated, we are living through an interesting time. What does the coronavirus situation mean for the MIB and its activities? At this point in time, the Association will be moving forward with hosting the 2020 MIB Convention and Tradeshow in Billings. The convention is slated to be held July 23rd-25th — dates which are, hopefully, far enough out that the state-wide emergency will be vacated and our normal routines resumed. MIB will certainly monitor the virus developments closely. And, if it appears that the public health situation has not improved by late Spring, a decision will be made at that time to cancel or scale-down the event. All this being written, MIB’s staff and its board are excited about the annual gath- ering of our Association members and the celebration of community banking in Mon- tana. As such, you will find within the pages of this edition of the Community Banker all the great programs and presentations we have lined up for the 2020 State Conven- tion. Our convention kicks off, as it always does, with the annual Opening Reception. The opening mixer will be held on the eve- ning of July 23rd. The convention will close, as it always does, with the member dinner and gala. Our dinner speaker will be Ken Woody, Chief of Interpretation for the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We have also lined out a great group of educational speakers. ICBA Chairman, Pres Kennedy, will be joining us this year. In ad- dition, Dory Wiley will speak on the topic of succession planning and Bill Elliott will cover the timely topic of banking cannabis. Also, we are excited to have Steve Beck joining us to inform us how we can have “our best day, every day.” What is more, convention favorites Melanie Hall and Pat Barkey will be joining us once again. The Friday recreational activities include: 1. The annual golfing tournament, which will be held at the Yengen Golf Course in Billings; and 2. Trap shooting at the Billings Trap Club. The trap shooting proved to be a wildly pop- ular activity last year. And, the good news is that the event is open to all as no experience is required to engage in this fun activity. MIB’s convention is known as the biggest little banking convention in the West. In light of the high quality of our education speakers, our conference events, and our ‘fun activities’, you can see why. You can quickly and conveniently register for the convention on our MIB webpage by typing in the following address into your web browser — http://mibonline.org/conven- tion/. All of us look forward to seeing you in Billings this summer. In addition to finalizing our annual con- vention details and plans, the Association also hosted its annual Montana Reception at the ICBA National Convention. The ICBA Convention was held in Orlando this year. And, much to our pleasure, the Reception was well attended, despite the drop in attendance due to coronavirus concerns. By my estimation, some 45 folks stopped by our reception room to rub elbows and talk community banking. Our reception would not be the annual success it is without the financial support of our sponsors. I wish to thank our long-time partners and association members, United Bankers’ Bank, Bell Bank and Bankers Bank of the West for their financial support! Also, in February, ICBA CEO and Presi- dent Rebeca Romero Rainey joined us in Bozeman for the MSU Community Banking Dinner. Rebeca was the keynote speaker for the event, which brought together students interested in a career in community banking with MIB member banks interested in employing them. Endowed by MIB, the MSU community banking program has, since its inception, far exceeded expectations in terms of growth and success. Turning now to industry developments, statewide consolidation within the indus- try continues apace. As of the end of 2019, there are now 39-state chartered banks in Montana. This drop in state-chartered banks is something to keep an eye on, particularly with the growing trend of credit unions seeking to purchase community banks. Although I am not aware of any ef- fort by a credit union to purchase a bank in Montana, the last several weeks have seen regulators in Colorado and Iowa reject such deals. As stated, we live in interesting times. Finally, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your continued membership in the MIB. Our mission here at the MIB remains consistent, simple and timeless — that is, to simply be a Montana community banking association for Montana’s commu- nity banks. The membership dues you have paid in 2020 are a key financial resource by which we achieve that mission. On behalf of the MIB Board and its officers, we wish you a healthy and prosperous spring 2020 and we look forward to seeing you in Billings in July!