Taking Pride in Successful Capital Summit

Community bankers have many reasons to stand proud after last week’s seminal ICBA Capital Summit in Washington. More than 1,000 community bankers from across the country received the royal treatment in the White House and on Capitol Hill while advocating vitally important policy reforms in meetings with key policymakers.

Among the many high-profile activities:

• More than 100 community bankers attended a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon.
• House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) addressed the full crowd moments before his panel took up and later passed his comprehensive Financial CHOICE Act reform bill.
• Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin joined me on stage for a policy discussion in which he reiterated the administration’s support for community bank regulatory and tax relief.
• Community bankers engaged in advocacy meetings with more than 300 members of Congress.
• At one of the meetings, the Kansas delegation joined Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) for the formal signing and introduction of his CLEAR Relief Act regulatory relief bill.

Washington really did lay out the red carpet for the community banking industry. It truly was an amazing week. And for me, personally, it was a very significant week, in which I announced my plans to retire next year. Effective May 5, 2018—my 15th anniversary—I will retire as your ICBA president and CEO.

At the summit, ICBA announced that former ICBA Chairman Rebeca Romero Rainey will be my successor. Rebeca is chairman and CEO of Centinel Bank of Taos, N.M. She is a career community banker with many years of distinguished service to ICBA and the nation’s community bankers. She will join ICBA as president-elect in January 2018 and become president and CEO upon my retirement. By selecting Rebeca, ICBA’s leadership has ensured that our association will be in very capable hands—not only now, but for a generation to come.

Until then, I look forward to continuing to lead this great association over the next year. After a historic week in Washington, I have never been more encouraged and optimistic about the future of our beloved industry. I plan to thank many of you in person over the coming year for the great privilege of serving you as ICBA president. And I pledge that before I depart, we will deliver meaningful regulatory relief to community banks nationwide.