Pub. 3 2013-2014 Issue 6

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 May• June 2014 5 Whither the Innovators? In the early 1960’s a young Nebraska native, armed with a dream, made his way to Colorado to join an innovative group of community leaders to start a different kind of bank…one that Colorado had never seen. The new bank would create long term value for its shareholders by truly putting its cus- tomers and employees first. This upstart banker envisioned a privately owned bank that would thrive by delicately balanc- ing the interests of its customers, employees, the community, and yes, its shareholders. It is not quite accurate to say that this youngman was only armed with a dream. While he did not have the financial re - sources to start a bank on his own, he brought so much more to this new venture. Born and raised on a hard scrabble farm in western Nebraska, this young man learned early the value of hard work and that opportunity comes to those who make it. After being the first in his family to graduate from college, he crafted his skills as both a banker and a bank regulator. In his early thirties, this agent of change was ready for his next adventure…and what an adventure the next fifty years brought. From the early days of carving a niche, to its current position as a $13 billion juggernaut, Roger Reisher’s vision guided the FirstBank ascension. Roger’s leadership created an organization that built shareholder value through an un- wavering commitment to finding, training and developing a team who were fully dedicated to, surprise, satisfying their customer’s needs. The result was early Colorado banking innovations like Saturday hours, 24-hour call centers, in- store grocery banks and low cost banking products. This new fangled banking was viewed with skepticism, and often disdain, by the big downtown banks. FirstBank was a nice little consumer bank in Lakewood, a fad really. Of course, virtually all of those banks are now long gone. WilliamIsaacs, in his excellent piece in theMarch 21, 2014 American Banker, points out that “History teaches that when government bureaucracies try to direct economies, stifled creativity, distorted markets and low economic growth are the results”. Certainly, banking by necessity is and should be regulated, but the pendulum has swung far beyond prudent regulation. Today, numerous regulatory tools (including current DOJ initiatives like Operation Choke Point, the ho- mogenizingmortgage rules and numerous other mandates in Dodd-Frank) are forcing a bureaucratic and regulator driven allocation of loans and bank resources. The current regulatory environment layers cost upon cost to banks (counter to the goal of eliminating too big to fail) and is driving a wave of consolidation that threatens com- munity banks across the country. In an attempt to help the consumer, competition and innovation are being driven out of the already highly regulated banking industry and into the lightly regulated shadow banking. Ironically, not only does this feel very much a repeat of past mistakes, but the consumer is already faced with fewer and higher cost options. Roger Reisher passed away in 2013 and Colorado bank- ing, no Colorado, lost a treasured member of its community. Roger left behind a legacy in FirstBank that engenders great admiration and thanks from its many employees and its hundreds of thousands of customers. Our community is better because of Roger Reisher and what he built. Sadly, in the current environment, with so few prospects for innova- tion and return, what will inspire the next Roger Reisher to enter our critically important industry? While the current prospects are challenging, we must continue to push back on over-regulation to ensure continued innovation and growth in community banking…to ensure that there is another Roger Reisher. Adieu to a wonderful and unique Colorado banker. n Koger Propst, CBA Chairman President, Sturm Financial and ANB Bank