Independent Banker - April 2018 - 9

Fine Points
By Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of ICBA
Goodbye, farewell
and thank you
E
very month for nearly 15 years, I have
shared my thoughts with you on the top
issues of the day in my monthly column.
With this column, I pen my last message to you.
It boggles my mind that 15 years have passed
since my first monthly message, but here we
are. Such a different world today than then. But
community banking remains and is in many
ways stronger today than it was when I arrived
at ICBA in May 2003.
I could write a thesis on the myriad ways the
world has changed over the past decade and a
half. In my view, one word best captures our
changed world: technology! Technology has
affected every facet of our lives for both good
and ill. And it will continue to impact our lives,
our culture and society in ways we cannot even
imagine today.
Whether those changes will work for the better
or worse depends on how we relate and adapt
to them. If community banking can adapt and
assimilate to the ever-changing technological
landscape, community banks and banking will
flourish. And I believe community banks can and
will adapt, because the greatest strength of community
banks is their ability to evolve.
Community banks have been adapting to
their changing environments for more than two
centuries, and they will continue to do so. That
is what makes our nation's community banks
unique. And it is what makes representing community
banks so much fun and such an honor.
No other nation on earth has a community
banking system like that of the United States.
It is our nation's secret economic weapon. It is
what has separated the U.S. economic system
from all other nations and made ours the
greatest economic force on earth. Community
banks are the engines that create jobs, enable
small communities and the rural countryside to
thrive, and help entrepreneurs to get their start.
Some of the greatest companies in the United
States got their start from a community bank.
And our community banking system has
held to its principles while at the same time
adapting to its environment. That is why we
continue to survive and thrive. Relationship
banking, adaptability and a willingness to take
chances are the hallmarks of community banks.
These qualities will
serve the community
banking industry well
as our financial world
continues to evolve in
the years ahead.
I leave ICBA in
the hands of my
very able successor
and the most
outstanding staff
in the association
world. It has been the greatest honor of
my life to represent and advocate for our
nation's community banks. I will never be
able to adequately thank all the thousands
of community bankers who have helped and
encouraged me over the years. Just know that I
will always be grateful to you and hold a special
place for you in my heart. You are the greatest
men and women in America. And always know
that it is you who make all of this work.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I wish all of you well and great success.
Farewell,
Follow Camden R. Fine on Twitter,
@Cam_Fine
It has been the
greatest honor
of my life to
represent and
advocate for
our nation's
community
banks.
independentbanker.org ICBA Independent Banker 7
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - April 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - April 2018
