Legislature should enact state legislation to prohibit Montana’s banks from being purchased by tax-exempt credit unions. Second, Jack Hopkins, current ICBA Vice-Chair, provided the convention’s keynote address. Mr. Hopkins gave an overview of the numerous services, both member and legislative, provided by ICBA. Mr. Hopkins noted that one of the most important roles that ICBA and, correspondingly, MIB perform on behalf of community bankers is to provide legislative and policy advocacy on their behalf. Mr. Hopkins highlighted the fact that, due to ICBA’s efforts, Montana’s community banks have been exempted from FDIC’s special assessment resulting from the Signature and Silicon Valley bank failures of early 2023. Mr. Hopkins noted that both ABA and MBA were notably silent on this topic — demonstrating the difference between the two banking associations. Third, during the annual MIB members meeting, I provided the membership in attendance with a recap of MIB’s financials for the year 2023. I also covered the annual audit performed on the association. For those members of the association who were not in attendance, the association’s audit for 2023 was, once again, clean. The auditors determined that MIB was able to provide authoritative guidance for all fiscal transactions entered into by MIB during the fiscal year and that all transactions of the organization were verified. As to the organization’s finances, the financial health of the MIB remains excellent. As of Dec. 31, 2023, the total consolidated assets for the MIB and its subsidiary, CBM, was $722,000. Compare this amount with the total amount at the end of 2022, which was $720,000 roughly. The bulk of the association’s assets are contained in various certificates of deposit owned by the association. The vast majority of the association’s expenditures are for member benefit purposes, such as for hosting the state convention, for the CBC regulatory compliance program, and for congressional and state advocacy. All member banks have been mailed the financials and audit of MIB and CBM for the year 2023. If you are a MIB member and you have not yet received your copies of the documents referenced immediately above, please give me a call and I will get those documents to you for your review. Finally, this year’s convention saw a new slate of officers sworn in to serve for the next two-year period. Loren Brown will take over for Tim Schreiber as MIB president. Amber Brown will step into the vice president’s role. Clinton Gerst will serve as the association’s secretary. Laura Clark will be MIB’s treasurer. Kenny Martin remains in his role as Montana’s ICBA representative. We thank Loren, Amber, Clinton, Laura and Kenny for their commitment to MIB and for their service to Montana’s community banking industry. For those wondering, the 2025 MIB annual state convention will likely be held, once again, at Big Sky Resort. We are looking at dates falling within the middle of July 2025. I encourage you to mark those dates in your calendars now, and I hope to see you there for another great convention. In conclusion, as was highlighted during this year’s state convention and in keeping with over 55 years of excellent member services, MIB remains the only financial association in Montana whose sole mission is to truly represent Montana’s community banks. And, with that in mind, on behalf of the MIB Board and staff, I thank all of you who attended the 2024 convention. We hope you enjoyed your time with us in Missoula. We thank you for your continued support of the “biggest little banking association in the West.” Sincerely, James Brown Executive Director THANKING OUR SPONSOR, UNITED BANKERS’ BANK UBB.COM At United Bankers’ Bank, “First for Your Success” is more than just our tagline; it’s a promise and a guiding principle that establishes the success of each and every customer as our number one priority. UBB pioneered the bankers’ bank model and for more than 47 years we have placed the needs and success of our community bank customers first and above all else. You can count on UBB to be a dedicated ally for community banking today, tomorrow and into the future. Your success is our success, and at UBB, we are always First for Your Success. Community Banker 7
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