Let’s Dive Deeper These wins are only the tip of the iceberg; there’s a whole foundation of issues that we need to dive deeper into to address. That’s why we implore you to get involved in our advocacy efforts. When you speak up on behalf of community bankers, you truly make an impact. For instance, on trigger leads, I heard from a bank leader who said he had a residential lender in the bank who was appalled at what was happening. This lender became involved with ICBA, attended ICBA’s Capital Summit and met with her legislators to discuss the issue. As a result, she helped resolve the issue, in part because she took the time to speak up. Now she has shared with me that she’ll be a community bank advocate for life. In a world where everyone wants to call themselves a bank, we must ensure that legislators and regulators understand what makes community banks different. Pushing Into the Future We should take a moment to reflect with pride on our successes, but then we must move on to what’s next. We cannot and will not let up on the pressure we must exert on policymakers to ensure we have a level playing field to better support our communities. We must lean in further and harder to represent the industry. In a world where everyone wants to call themselves a bank, we must ensure that legislators and regulators understand what makes community banks different. We need you to engage and become even bigger advocates to ensure that all our communities have access to the financial services they deserve. We look forward to seeing you in the starting lineup in the weeks to come. On behalf of everyone at ICBA, I wish you a prosperous year. NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER 5
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