FROM THE PRESIDENTS DESK
“Like a Rock!” Bob Segar (and the Silver Bullet Band) recorded many fantastic songs. One the most well-known is the song “Like a Rock.” The song centers around youth and its innocence as well as the end of a long-time relationship. “Twenty years now, where they go? Twenty years, I don’t know. I sit and I wonder sometimes, where they’ve gone.” While I have been in and around community banking my entire career, 2024 marks my 20th year in direct service to the community banking industry. Fourteen fantastic years at the ICBA and now, 2024 starts my sixth year at the CBA of Georgia. After 20 years doing anything, I believe reflection is appropriate; therefore, I offer several based on my experience serving this wonderful industry: -I have had the pleasure of traveling across the country and have been to every corner of Georgia. I have visited with literally thousands of community bankers in dozens of cities and towns. From major metropolitan cities to small towns without traffic lights and less than 3,000 people. I have been in large community banks, the very smallest community banks, and banks with all charter types and ownership structures. The common thread throughout, regardless of location, size, charter type, or other is that community banks are woven into the fabric of the communities they serve. They are “The Rocks” of their communities! The service first mentality is the core reason for their collective success. This core philosophy provides vital banking services and capital to local communities and funds the dreams of thousands of people across the country every day. One community banker I visited with in rural Georgia summed it up best. He stated that “if you don’t have a community bank, you don’t have a community.” -I still think a lot about “the crash” and the flawed Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. a.k.a. Dodd/Frank. Regrettably, many community banks were forced to close or merge due to the financial crash and Dodd/Frank only exacerbated the challenges by heaping many new rules and regulations on community banks. The result was (and still is) the drastic decline of the number of community banks and the virtual elimination of new charter formations for well over a decade. The large, Too Big to Fail banks got bigger and community banks got run out of business. For a fraction of the amount spent to prop up larger and virtually insolvent banks, every community bank that failed could have been recapitalized. I remain frustrated to this day about Dodd Frank because we are still dealing with the ramifications of the bill notably in the form of 1071 reporting. While at ICBA and under the leadership of Cam Fine, I am proud of all that ICBA did to fight on behalf of community banks. ICBA and the exceptional government relations team fought day and 2 | w w w.c b ao fga.co m | Win te r 2 02 4
John McNair President & CEO Community Bankers Association of Georgia
night and did secure generational reform regarding deposit insurance. This one change saved the community banking industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually and still does to this day. Additionally, it solidified ICBA’s position as the nation’s exclusive advocate for the community banking industry in D.C. and highlighted the importance of having a community bank-only state association like CBA of Georgia. -PPP left a positive, indelible imprint on me as a longtime servant to the community banking industry. What I witnessed and participated in was the single greatest financial deployment of funds by the nation’s banking sector. Regrettably, there were many bad actors participating in PPP loans and unfortunately, that is all our esteemed media outlets seem to focus on. What is not often talked about is the millions of jobs that the nation’s community banks helped save because of the around-theclock work that was done by the hard-working community bank employees of these small institutions. In Georgia alone, community banks did over 60% of all the PPP loans which ultimately saved the jobs of 1 million Georgians. The effort drove home for many the fact that the community banking industry is the single greatest provider of capital and banking services for the nation’s small businesses. I hope that all will remember this fact when the next call for increased regulation comes down the pike. -The broad-based adaptation of technology by the community banking industry has arrived… well, almost. Over the years, I have watched the transition occur from serverbased technology solutions to full cloud and other real time ones. Community banks have almost fully recognized that to compete, they must embrace technology solutions that help lower the efficiency ratio, improve margins, and enhance the customer delivery experience. Additionally, over the seven to ten years, I have seen more community banks make core processor conversions than in all my previous years combined. The recognition that technology can improve while enhancing (not replacing) employee effectiveness is finally taking hold. As most will say that are my age and older, time flies when you are having fun… and it does for sure! I have enjoyed every minute of the last 20 years serving and representing the community banking industry. It has been a privilege to serve, and I am grateful to both the ICBA and the CBA Board of Directors for the opportunity to be a part of this great industry.