After we assemble at LIVE, it’s about coming collectively to ignite the eagerness for neighborhood banking on behalf of our communities in a manner that strikes the business ahead.

The Hawaiian phrase for household is ‘ohana, and as we put together to move to Honolulu for ICBA LIVE subsequent month, I’m struck by how a lot that phrase describes this neighborhood. We’re a household of neighborhood bankers, supporting each other and our communities by our shared mission, imaginative and prescient and values.

In lots of instances, we’re not solely a selected household; we’re associated by blood as effectively. Many people are fourth- or fifth-generation neighborhood bankers, embodying a protracted household custom of caring for neighborhood. We’re passing that ethos down, too. Actually, we now have extra kids attending LIVE this 12 months than we now have prior to now, and I can’t assist however consider the rising neighborhood financial institution leaders that could be proper in entrance of us and all they’ll carry to the business.

The place I’ll be this month

I’ll be sharing the neighborhood financial institution perspective and talking on the Federal Reserve Financial institution of Atlanta’s Again to the Future: 2023 Banking Outlook Convention.

So, it’s becoming that this 12 months’s theme for ICBA LIVE is “Gentle the Fireplace. Gentle the Approach.” Not solely are we trying on the subsequent technology of leaders amongst us; we’re additionally specializing in what we will do at this time to protect and develop neighborhood banks’ impression. It’s by no means been extra essential to maintain that flame of neighborhood banking spreading all through the nation.

Our communities want our continued assist by these sophisticated financial occasions. They want us to stay advocates for his or her wants. They want us to proceed to serve them as individuals, not as transactions. So, after we assemble at LIVE, it’s about coming collectively to ignite the eagerness for neighborhood banking on behalf of our communities in a manner that strikes the business ahead.

As we take a look at the continued tempo of change, we’re met with our fair proportion of challenges but additionally nice alternatives. After we come collectively, the power that arises helps us collectively establish the trail ahead. Then, we carry our heads up and handle the technical and nuanced elements of what we do with a concentrate on the long-term way forward for the business. We create progress and momentum.

However probably probably the most rewarding a part of LIVE is the chance to satisfy fellow neighborhood bankers from across the nation. These hallway conversations the place we share anecdotes and make new connections exemplify who we’re as neighborhood bankers. That sense of ‘ohana shines by, as a result of in neighborhood banking we’re extra than simply enterprise leaders. We’re a household, and I hope to see you at LIVE to assist us construct the relationships that may form the way forward for the business.

Rebeca Romero Rainey
President and CEO, ICBA
Join with Rebeca @romerorainey