Independent Banker - July 2022 - 24

PORTFOLIO INNOVATION STATION
Fueling growth
through innovation
By Charles Potts, ICBA
to foster community bank fi ntech
collaborations through our ThinkTECH
Accelerator program.
Each year, we ask community
bankers about the challenges they're
facing, and their responses inform and
drive the selection criteria and process
for our ThinkTECH Accelerator
program and participants. This
year, our community bank members
expressed interest in growing their
revenue and profi tability, customer
base and markets, and their businesses
across the board. And we responded
with an exceptional group of partners
through our Accelerator program and
a collaborative community willing to
share their experiences, knowledge
and expertise for the benefi t of the
overall industry.
D
emand for digital solutions
continues to accelerate,
making innovation an imperative for
community banks looking to excel in
today's evolving market.
That's why ICBA makes innovation
a priority and provides community
banks with the information and tools
necessary to grow and succeed in
today's competitive landscape. More
than new solutions, culture change
and mindset shifts, innovation is a
journey that requires iterative steps
toward sustainable growth.
Business thought leader Gary
Hamel got it right when he said,
" Innovation is the fuel for growth. "
Greg Ohlendorf, president and
CEO at $200 million-asset First
Community Bank and Trust in
Beecher, Ill., understands this well.
As a three-time participant in ICBA's
ThinkTECH Accelerator program,
Ohlendorf has had a front row seat to
community bank innovation through
collaborative fi ntech partnerships.
In fact, First Community Bank and
Trust has partnered with eight of our
ThinkTECH Accelerator program's
alumni with impressive results.
Take its partnership with Surfl y,
which uses technology to personalize
and innovate digital interactions in
real-time cut call times from 30 to 60
minutes down to fi ve minutes per call.
Rockland Trust Company, with
$20 billion in assets and branches in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, also
partnered with one of the companies
that came through our Accelerator
program: Agent IQ. Agent IQ off ers a
platform designed to integrate with
a bank's digital banking platform
to deepen customer relationships
through increased engagement.
Rockland Trust had more than 57,000
logins and 500 to 600 conversations
at its soft launch, managed seamlessly
through Agent IQ's platform.
It's stories like these that keep
ICBA and its members pushing
their limits, and why we continue
Bringing innovation to you
Another step ICBA is taking to help
community bankers meet their growth
goals through innovation is engaging
more bankers where they are. We are
taking aspects of our programs to state
associations, growing our educational
outreach program to include new
webinars and podcasts and working to
raise awareness through new initiatives
in development.
The demands on community
banks in this evolving economic
environment to grow, attract and
retain quality business will only get
more challenging. We've developed
an ecosystem to foster growth
through innovative partnerships and
community involvement. Innovation
is taking place all around us at a
pace unlike anything we have ever
experienced. It's time to get on board. 
Charles Potts (charles.potts@icba.org)
is ICBA executive vice president and
chief innovation off icer
24 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q July 2022
Image by Antonio Solano/iStock
Independent Banker - July 2022

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