Independent Banker - August 2019 - 97

" You have to keep constant pressure on the
politicians if you're ever going to make any
headway, and that's what ICBA does for us.
Slow, steady pressure is what ultimately
helps you get change. "
-Guy Sims, Shamrock Bank
to benefit from-and
support-ICBA' s
advocacy activities
and to stay up to date
on the most pressing
issues facing today's
community financial
institutions.
An organization
that will fight for
community banks
Community bankers
at several of ICBA's
newest member banks say at the core of their
reason for joining is advocacy: the opportunity to
support a national network of relationship bankers
in legislative battles in Washington, D.C., and
in legislatures across the country.
ICBA is fighting battles worth fighting and
has generated wins for community banks, these
members say. Guy Sims, chairman, president
and CEO of $305 million-asset Shamrock Bank
in Coalgate, Okla., called out ICBA's efforts to
get S.2155, or the Economic Growth, Regulatory
Relief and Consumer Protection Act, passed in
2018 as a success for member banks.
" [ICBA] laid a lot of the groundwork for that,
and I think that was a major win for the community
banking industry, " he says. " We all know
how it is Washington. Things turn slowly. It's
not going to happen overnight. You have to keep
constant pressure on the politicians if you're
ever going to make any headway, and that's what
ICBA does for us. Slow, steady pressure is what
ultimately helps you get change. "
Quick stat
$3.4
trillion
of loans have
been funneled
to consumers,
small businesses
and farmers
by community
banks
Source: ICBA
Those battles are worth fighting, because community
banks play an integral role in the lives
of the farmers, small-business owners and other
customers they serve, Sims says. Community
banks serve as the only physical financial institution
in one in five U.S. counties, with a vast
majority located in rural areas of the country,
according to the FDIC.
" Community banks are the lifeblood of rural
America, " Sims says. " We're the only game
in town in most of these communities, and if
we're gone, there's no economic engine to drive
it. Whatever we can do to protect our industry
and our franchise, we all have to play a part in
that, and ICBA gives us a way to have a national
voice. "
'We need industry people to guide us'
Many of ICBA's newest members look to ICBA for
leadership and guidance in today's rapidly evolving
banking industry.
Alan Hargett, president and chief operating
officer of $1.1 billion-asset Planters Bank in Indianola,
Miss., says his community bank benefits
from ICBA staff and partners learning the ins and
outs of regulation, such as those surrounding the
Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) standard,
Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering
(BSA/AML), and the Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA). When changes are on the horizon,
Hargett says, he needs to be able to prepare, and
industry leaders like ICBA help community bankers
like him to do that.
" We need industry people to guide us, to tell
us what's coming, " he says. " I don't have the
manpower to go out and learn every single
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Independent Banker - August 2019

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