Pub. 9 2019-2020 Issue 2

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 September • October 2019 5 In October, the 2019 class – our biggest yet – will trav- el to Washington D.C. to meet with regulators and Mem- bers of Congress. This wi l l prov ide the par t icipants with the oppor tunit y to tr y their hands at advocacy. is a Center for Bank Advocacy graduate – and graduates of this program comprise one-third of CBA’s Board of Directors and Government Affairs Committee. Many of those bankers have been promoted since their participation in the program and have become trusted advisors to their peers and to CBA. The program is so successful, in fact, that it has become a model for other state bankers associations. In October, the 2019 class – our biggest yet – will travel to Washington D.C. to meet with regulators and Members of Congress. This will provide the participants with the opportunity to try their hands at advocacy. The advocates will begin honing new skills by providing firsthand information about the industry to decisionmakers. We know that personal stories from bankers but more importantly their customers demonstrate the challenges on how they have been affected by rules and laws. These examples are the most valuable currency we have to affect positive policy change. The 2020 program will begin in January and spots fill up quickly. I encourage you to learn more about the program and sign up or encourage others at your bank to do so. The need for advocacy by bankers themselves, not just their association advocates, cannot be overstated. We have proof of that following the SBC committee on July 23 when Chairman Mike Crapo said, “I think a case has been made pretty strongly here about the need to get the banking industry issues relating to cannabis resolved.” To learn more about the Center for Bank Advocacy, visit www.coloradobankers.org n