After three years of retirement I decided to come back the Community Bankers of Washington at the request of the Board of Directors. The decision was not difficult since I have a passion for community banking. Community bankers are some of the greatest people in the world. Their passion for their communities, their customers and their employees inspired me to return. The Community Bankers of Washington continues to be a strong and important association for the State of Washington. We also have the support of the Independent Community Bankers of America because they know CBW is a vital part of their success.
 
The strength of the membership, the makeup of the Board, the resources available to us and the management team also helped me decide to return. Our future is bright and I am happy to be part of the team again. We will continue to bring you quality products and services, including our excellent educational opportunities for you and your employees, and of course, government relations remains one of our most important focal points.
 
One of the programs we are going to reinstate is the “TRUE Community Bank” program. There is no cost to you since we provide all of the marketing literature, as well as, window and counter signs. The program is designed to differentiate your bank from those institutions who claim to be a community bank.
 
Here is what it looks like:

• TRUE Community banks focus attention on the needs of local families and local businesses

• TRUE Community banks balance the needs of customers, employees and shareholders

• TRUE Community banks use local deposits to make loans to the neighborhoods where their depositors live and work

• TRUE Community bank officers are accessible to their customers on site and loan decisions are made locally

• TRUE Community Bank employees are deeply involved in local community affairs

• TRUE Community Banks are willing to consider important attributes such as a person’s character when making loan decisions

• TRUE Community Banks are themselves small businesses, so they understand the needs of small businesses

• TRUE Community Banks’ boards of directors are made up of local citizens who want to advance the interest of the towns and cities where they live and where the bank does business

By Jim Haley, CBW Chairman, President & CEO Thurston First Bank

The more that I become involved in the legislative and decision making process, the more concerned I get. What I am discovering is that if we don’t speak up for Community Banking, no one will.

The DNA of a Community Banker typically contains the “Nice” gene. This gene allows us to be compassionate, involved in our communities and have a deep sense of pride in what we do every day. Because we are well intended in all that we do, a threat to our existence seems unthinkable. We are the good guys, we wear the white hats and we are the bedrock of small business that drives our nation’s economy.

Let there be no doubt about it that we are under attack on three fronts! Too Big To Fail Banks to the left, Credit Unions to the right and regulatory burdens to the center!

We have lost banks to a consolidating industry due to regulatory burden and we are getting hammered by the large Credit Unions with advantaged costs and lax efforts to comply with regulation. The regulators are slow to acknowledge our plight.  Credit Unions want our business and they demonstrate it daily through undisciplined pricing, ever increasing demands for expanded power that over reach their charter, and all in the name of “people before profit”.  The Too Big To Fail Banks have feasted on their preferred status, growing to a size and at a rate that pose massive systemic threat to our country.

The big guys are out growing us and the Credit Unions are out numbering us and the regulators are focused on such minutia at community banks that they run the risk of missing the next big financial cycle. 

By Jim Haley, CBW Chairman, President & CEO Thurston First Bank

First of all, I want to thank Hal Russell for his outstanding service to CBW as chairman over the past year. With someone who is as passionate about Community Banking as Hal, his will be a tough act to follow. Thank you, Hal.

There have been several questions that have come my way since taking the chairmanship. The one repeated most often is “What is our biggest strength, and what is our biggest weakness as community bankers?”

I can say without hesitation that our biggest strength is our fierce independence. We are committed to our communities, we are loyal to our customers, and we are proud and protective of our staff members. Without exception, community bankers are leaders and independent thinkers.

Our weakness? Our fierce independence. We focus locally, and perhaps less on industry issues that are critical to our survival. Our priorities are with taking care of our valued customers and loving what we do in serving our communities.

But why should any of us care? Let’s take a look at just some of the issues at hand:

·         Growing Call Reports

·         ALLL calculations on expected losses

·         Rulemaking that threatens bank liquidity

·         Credit Union tax exemption and continued encroachment into the banking space

·         And my favorite, the loss of the exclusive use of the term of what we are and what we do…Bank, Banker and Banking, to Credit Unions

The reason that this organization was formed was to have a voice because we were not being heard. We need to stand up and speak up, or we will die of complacency.

I have made the commitment to become more active in critical industry issues and take the time to understand their importance; to become more involved in the ICBA and the Community Bankers of Washington; to invest in building relationships with our lawmakers with “nose to nose” conversations. Invest in trips to Olympia and Washington DC to demonstrate my commitment to the industry and to invest in the PAC to support lawmakers that support community banking and give them the tools to make informed decisions.

You can help by joining me for Community Bankers Day on the Hill on January 22, 2015. Register at communitybankers-wa.org.

Our neighbors need community banks. The alternative is “1-800 too big to fail and too big to care.”

Let’s get to work!