Federal Delegate’s Report

by emily Hofer, iCBa national director, Merchants state Bank, Freeman, sd

We did it! We made it to the end of the year! remember last year when we talked about getting “back to normal in 2021?” in my opinion, 2021 has been anything but normal! i’m slowly coming to the realization that the “new normal” and the only constant – is change. in the past decade, we have banked through good and bad times, interest highs and lows, droughts and floods, PPP, regulators’ whims and whimsies, and constantly changing regulations that force us to police not only ourselves, but our customers also. as an industry, Community Bankers have always pulled up our boot straps and proven ourselves to be nimble, flexible, and the best resources for our communities, Main street businesses, and family farms. Community banks build stronger communities.

at a local level and at specific moments in time, it can seem like we are each fighting the good fight on our own. i’m reminded of stories of lenders working around the clock to ensure that their customers’ PPP applications were accepted before the money ran out. i’ve talked with bankers in southern Louisiana who worked tirelessly to help employees, customers, and their communities after the devastating effects of a hurricane and to ensure near-seamless access for those communities to accounts, cash, and other resources. i’m sure each and every one of us has stories like these to tell.

the one constant in all of those stories is that we are nOt fighting those fights alone. iCBa is always working in the background, championing our industry. the staff of iCBa are constantly finding ways to advocate and innovate for the industry and to provide education for members and their staffs.

On the advocacy front, iCBa engages Congress and federal regulators to ensure they understand our industry and concerns. iCBa is leading the effort to protect bank customer privacy and stop the irs reporting proposal. the association’s campaign has generated nearly a million messages to Congress from hundreds of thousands of Community Bankers and their customers. iCBa secured more than $60 billion in PPP funding exclusively for Community Bank lenders. in my recent iCBa safety & soundness Committee meeting, we spent a significant amount of time discussing recent climate risk mandates and the effect those will have for our banks. iCBa will oppose proposals under consideration in the administration, the agencies, and Congress to create new mandates regarding climate risk.

On the innovation front, iCBa continues to provide services and solutions to best meet your bank’s needs. in addition to partnering with vendors to provide best-in-class solutions and prices, iCBa has several solutions in-house such as iCBa Bancard® , tCM Bank n.a., iCBa securities® , iCBa reinsurance® and Cra Partners®. Finally, the association has developed the thinkteCH accelerator program to connect Community Bankers with emerging fintech providers to collaborate on products designed to best meet the needs of Community Banks. i encourage you to find out more about all of these solutions.

When it comes to education, iCBa’s Community Banker University® is secondto-none to serve Community Banks of all sizes, providing practical, relevant, and timely education to bankers at every level and stage of their careers. Community Banker University® has eleven professional development tracks, nine nationally recognized certification programs, and more than 350 timely online courses.

as my time as south dakota’s Federal delegate to iCBa comes to an end, i have been reflecting on all of the meetings, emails, and conversations i’ve had with leadership bankers and iCBa staff members across the country. Certainly, i have learned a lot about the industry. i have witnessed first-hand how hard iCBa is working on our behalf. it has been exciting to work with so many passionate and intelligent leadership bankers that give their time and talents to benefit our industry. Meeting those bankers, working with them, and developing friendships with them has been the highlight of my tenure as Federal delegate. thank you to you – south dakota Community Bankers – that have allowed me to serve you and our industry.

“ICBA is always working in the background, championing our industry. The staff of ICBA are constantly finding ways to advocate and innovate for the industry and to provide education for members and their staffs.”