Independent Banker - March 2020 - 52

Noah, Julie
and several
Grand
Rapids State
Bank team
members
volunteered
bagging
cereal at
a local
food bank.
had participants from 18 to early 30s, and the message
was the same from all of them: When I need something, I
appreciate that [my bank knows] who I am, that they care,
that I'm not a number, that I get the help I need.
" As long as we can provide the tools [millennials] need
to access the bank in their preferred way, they're much
more driven to have a local banking relationship than a
megabank relationship. "
Maintaining a culture of family
The community banks' people-first mentality extends
beyond the customer to inside the branch. For Wilcox, his
employees serve a critical role of setting the culture and
creating a personal connection with customers.
" We really operate as one big family, " he says. " It's not
lost on me that the decisions I make day in and day out
affect the lives of almost 100 families, and I take that
responsibility very seriously. "
" I've never met a community
banker who's not willing to
win it on the field, just as
long as the rules are the
same, so I'll keep advocating
for that. "
52 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q March 2020
His family shares in that belief, seeing the bank as
an extension of their own home. In fact, when Wilcox's
eldest daughter came home from college for the first time,
her initial stop was the community bank, so she could
visit the friends she made when she worked there as a
teller before she went to school. It's this same sense of
connected community Wilcox hopes to inspire in his role as
ICBA chairman.
" I really want to see more active engagement from
community bankers across the country, " Wilcox says.
" Active engagement in my mind is [where] they're going
to write their own letter or they are going to pick up the
phone and make their own call. Make it custom, make it
count. [With] even just a 5% increase in engagement, you'd
really move the needle in ways I don't think a lot of people
stop to think about. "
For example, he sees these advocacy efforts yielding
progress on creating a level regulatory playing field for
community banks.
" I have no problem with competition in our industry
whatsoever, as long as the rules are the same for everybody,
and that's just not the case right now, " Wilcox says. " I've
never met a community banker who's not willing to win it
on the field, just as long as the rules are the same, so I'll
keep advocating for that. "
The future is bright
Despite the challenges community banks face, Wilcox
believes they are well-positioned for the future.
" I don't think the future has ever been brighter, " he says.
" Every year I think that, and then I reflect on the current

Independent Banker - March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - March 2020

Table of Contents
Independent Banker - March 2020 - Intro
Independent Banker - March 2020 - Cover1
Independent Banker - March 2020 - Cover2
Independent Banker - March 2020 - Table of Contents
Independent Banker - March 2020 - 2
Independent Banker - March 2020 - 3
Independent Banker - March 2020 - 4
Independent Banker - March 2020 - 5
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Independent Banker - March 2020 - Cover3
Independent Banker - March 2020 - Cover4
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