Hello, my community banking friends, Lately, I have been reflecting on what a fabulous Montana winter I was able to enjoy before being interrupted by an amazing trip to the ICBA LIVE Convention held in Nashville! I love the snow. This winter I was able to spend a lot of days on my snowmobile, my snowbike and my skis — which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also enjoyed the week spent in Nashville with many of my banking friends from Montana and across the country. My reflections caused me to pause and think deeply about the name of our national partner association that advocates for all of us, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). I also thought about our own association name, the Montana Independent Bankers. As a result, I decided to look up the words “community” and “independent.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “community” as a noun with three primary definitions. The definition that stands out to me is “a unified body of individuals.” The dictionary goes on to explain that this unification could be because individuals live in a geographically common area or because individuals share professional interests, among other things. The same dictionary defines “independent” as an adjective or a noun; but for our purposes, the adjective is what I want you to consider. Again, the dictionary provides three definitions of the word. The first of which is very simply put as “not dependent” with five sub-definitions, including two that I found very interesting. Those two sub-definitions are “not subject to control by others” and “showing a desire for freedom.” When I look at these definitions, they reflect perfectly on both who I am as a banker and what the ICBA and MIB represent. All of us who are part of MIB are dedicated to making the local communities that we live in and the community that is made up of independent bankers better by the belief that we can best serve our local customers. And, we believe we can benefit our localities even in the face of competition from too-large-to-fail institutions headquartered outside of Montana. To this end, both the ICBA and MIB host annual events that I have attended many times, such as ICBA LIVE or the MIB State Convention, which strengthen this belief that community banking is the heart of small-town USA. 2025 ICBA LIVE was a fabulous example of a group of unified banking professionals coming together to share in their beliefs in the freedom of helping the people where they live in the way that each bank feels best serves its customers. This year’s ICBA LIVE was held at the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center at Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee. A few thousand bankers, along with some of their families, attended the event to meet with vendors, attend classes on a whole variety of banking topics, mix and mingle with other bankers from all over the country, and hear from the ICBA on what is happening in D.C. with regards to community banking. At the national event, the MIB hosted a joint reception with the Missouri Independent Bankers Association (MIBA) one evening so we could all spend a little more time with other bankers who are from a little closer to home. The joint reception offered a great opportunity for Montana’s community bankers, including myself, to meet some other community bankers in a smaller group setting. For the closing of the event, some attendees, including my wife, Michelle, and I, were able to attend a show at the Grand Ole Opry. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many other Montana bankers in a different part of this great country. If you have never attended ICBA LIVE, I would highly encourage you to do so in the future. Next year’s national convention will be held in San Diego, and I hope to see you there. The next event I want to talk about is something that I would ask every reader of this letter to attend. You have an opportunity to make yourself a better banker and, in turn, a better community member by attending the Montana Independent Bankers Convention and Trade Show. The convention will be held July 16-18, 2025, at Big Sky Resort. If you are in bank management, please consider attending yourself and sending some of your board members and staff to the convention. If you are not, please ask your bank’s management to send you. If they won’t, then shoot me an email at lbrown@ascentbank.com, and I will personally ask them for you. The annual convention is where we, as Montana bankers, really get a chance to connect with each other to see how we can help other Montana banks grow and thrive along with our own! Every bank there is a true independent community bank. We bring in great speakers to update us on regulatory, economic, product, technology and more changes. We make sure to throw in fun event opportunities, including golfing, rafting and social time to make sure you get to know other bankers and vendors on a more personal level. And if you are not a banker, we would still love to have you attend and participate in all the sessions and activities. As much as I love winter sports, I am super excited for summer. I am hoping to use the “better” weather to travel the state and spend some time in your local community in order to get to know each of you a little better. But, no golf courses for me — a lunch or dinner will do. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing all of you in Big Sky in July for some big fun under Lone Mountain. Loren Community Banker 5
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