Independent Banker - November 2017 - 7

Fine Points
By Camden R. Fine, president and CEO of ICBA
Dutiful service
P
olling places open this month for one of
the fundamental rights afforded to us
as Americans: voting in free and open
elections. I encourage all citizens, particularly
my community banker colleagues, to exercise
on Election Day a right that many have died to
preserve and many more have never had.
In fact, I was taught years ago that voting
is not only our right, but our duty. In a nation
established on the principle of self-government,
voting is the very least of our civic obligations.
This is something well understood by many
community bankers, a collection of individuals
whose careers are based on service.
Community bankers are outspoken advocates
on a litany of policy issues. That is apparent in
We must remain committed to
our local communities and to a
nation whose rights, freedoms
and, indeed, obligations we will
never abandon.
the industry's response to ICBA grassroots advocacy
alerts, in your facetime with policymakers
at our annual ICBA Capital Summit, and in the
rising number of meetings with members of
Congress that community bankers hosted during
the August recess. In the face of so many legislative
and regulatory challenges, the industry's
grassroots engagement is rising to new heights.
This dedication to advocacy is grounded in
a deep commitment to our local communities.
Community bankers dutifully serve their
customers in good times and bad, employing
a business model that relies on relationships
and accountability. This local commitment and
leadership was on display in the wake of Hurricanes
Harvey and Irma. Community bankers
in Texas and Florida have shown what it means
to be locally invested by helping residents and
businesses recover and rebuild while keeping
their banks up and running amid the storms and
flooding. These financial first responders have
provided not just an economic lifeline but also a
source of hope to those suffering from the very
worst that Mother Nature has to offer.
Meanwhile, with Bank of America, Wells
Fargo and other megabanks actively pulling out
of many rural communities across the nation,
community banks face new challenges in
keeping local economies thriving. While megabank
executives ask why they should rebuild
in less-populated areas when they can earn
higher margins at big-city branches, community
bankers ask how they can fill the vacuum with
desperately needed capital. Whereas other firms
ask what's in it for them, community bankers ask
what more can they do: reinvesting local dollars
in their communities, contributing to public
infrastructure and social services, and serving
on local governance and economic development
boards. This hometown commitment-this civic
duty to entire communities of friends and neighbors-is
absent in the high-rise boardrooms of
Wall Street, Charlotte, San Francisco and, too
often, in the legislative chambers of Washington.
I ask community bankers to continue that
dedication to public service by remaining steadfast
advocates in the remaining weeks of 2017.
As Congress considers various legislative issues
affecting community banks and the communities
we serve-regulatory relief, flood insurance,
housing-finance reform and more-we must
remain committed to our local communities and
to a nation whose rights, freedoms and, indeed,
obligations we will never abandon.
Follow Camden R. Fine on Twitter,
@Cam_Fine.
independentbanker.org
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Independent Banker - November 2017

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