PORTFOLIO Jennifer Johnson Greg Schaller Andrew Stines Josh Hofer ā—ˇFOCUS RISK MANAGEMENT Chief risk officer roundtable: Managing today's risks The more community banks grow, the more risk they take on. Chief risk off icers are the ones behind the scenes making growth possible. Four CROs sound off on their increasingly important role within community banks. By Kelly Pike R isk management is meant to be proactive, but it's not always easy. From the pandemic to cybersecurity, risks are constantly emerging-creating both threats and opportunities. No one knows this better than community bank chief risk offi cers (CRO). Independent Banker convened a discussion between four CROs to learn what it takes to stay on the right side of risk. What are your top challenges as a chief risk off icer of a community bank? Greg Schaller: One of the biggest challenges is dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic. We moved 80% of our workforce to remote, and the fallout of that is all those operational risks. We changed processes and procedures overnight, and we have to ensure we have our arms completely around all those changes and the risk. At this point, we feel we have a good handle on it. It was a challenge, but it also led to some great effi ciencies. It made us reassess our processes. 16 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q June 2021