Pub. 2 2012-2013 Issue 1

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S July • August 2012 5 CBA is Taking a Leadership Role We will work to ensure that your involvement and membership support adds value to you, your bank and to the state of Colorado. Dear CBA Members, I am honored to begin my term as Chairman of the Colorado Bankers Association. It is an important respon- sibility and one that I take very seriously. I am a fifth generation Colorado banker and have served our industry personally for over 30 years. I truly believe, in spite of all the criticism our industry has received in the past few years, that banking is crucial to the health of our economy and our community. By providing loans to consumers, real estate investors and developers and Colorado businesses, we are in essence the grease of the economy and are a critical part of job creation. Our industry is not well understood. Consumers, in general, don’t understand how we make money or manage risk. They do not understand how we are regulated, have to set aside reserves for potential loss, or have to build and maintain minimum levels of capital. If a bank achieves a 1% return on assets, solid but not exceptional perfor- mance, it means that we have to be right on 99% of the loans we make. We must be creative and entrepreneurial to support our customers, but we must also be disciplined and not take undue risk. As we look forward, our agenda over the next 12 months will be to continue to do the work CBA has done over the past two to three years. We will continue to address all legislative issues at the state capitol. We will con- tinue to monitor federal legislation and build solid relationships with our Colorado delegation. We will work to educate the Colorado public about our industry and how that we are part of the solution of addressing our current recession and the need to help create jobs. We will defend our industry against attacks, especially in the areas of unfair competition and too much regulation. One item very important to me is to ensure that small businesses and startup businesses have access to capital. The CBA is taking a leadership role in working with community partners like community development financial institutions, the Federal Reserve, the SBA and the Office of Eco- nomic Development to educate small business about the complete range of capital and lending sources and which ones might be best for their particular situation. Be sure to check out our website which addresses this topic at www.SMALLBIZLENDING.org. As we move through the rest of this year, I would ask your continued support of the Colorado Bankers Associa- tion and the important work we are doing. We will work to ensure that your involvement and membership support adds value to you, your bank and to the state of Colorado.  Bruce Alexander CBA Chairman President & CEO, Vectra Bank Colorado