NEWS BANKER'S HOURS BY CHRISTOPHER WEYANT Capital Summit goes virtual The 2021 ICBA Capital Summit is going virtual this year. That means community bankers don't have to worry about travel expenses or taking time away from their bank to join the April 27 kickoff event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern. Register at icba.org/capitalsummit so that you can tell your story and voice your needs to policymakers and regulators in Washington. See page 42 for details. " Do you have any loans that are organic and locally sourced? " Community banker testifies on PPP applications Ahead of a March 31 deadline, ICBA and its members urged Congress and the Small Business Administration to make sure all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications are processed. Alice P. Frazier, president and CEO of Bank of Charles Town in Charles Town, W.Va., testified March 10 before a House Small Business Committee hearing. She called on policymakers to clear thousands of PPP loan applications already submitted before the program expires. " Under current law, any application not approved by March 31-even if it was submitted prior to that date-cannot receive [PPP] funds, " she said. " With community banks providing more than 60% of PPP loans and saving an estimated 33.7 million jobs, we believe that any application submitted by March 31 should be eligible for approval and funding. No applicant should be left stranded because of bureaucratic red tape. " Frazier also called for a number of PPP reforms regarding firstdraw increase eligibility to providing agricultural partnerships with equitable access to PPP funding. Go to icba.org/ppp for updates about the PPP, service providers and more. independentbanker.org Q 11 Photo by Stephen Goslinghttp://www.icba.org/capitalsummit http://www.icba.org/ppp http://www.independentbanker.org