Pub. 18 2021 Issue 2

6 T his will be my last article as the President of the NMBA for what unforeseeably ended up as a two-year term. Satirically, my tenure might best be articulated through the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Although I was named President in June 2019, my tenure truly began in the fall of 2019 when John Anderson, EVP, and I completed the annual road trip around the state visiting with bankers and legislators on subjects mainly pertaining to the state of our industry and our economy at the time. Eddy and Lea counties were experiencing one of the largest oil booms in history. The State of New Mexico was enjoying record tax revenues as a result of that boom. The national economy was exceptionally strong, inflation was under control, and the unemployment rate was at its lowest levels since 1969. Our biggest problems included finding qualified employees at reasonable wages, dealing with the growing pains of the boom and lobbying Santa Fe to return some of those tax dollars to bolster the failing infrastructure in the southern part of the state. We warned legislators of the volatile nature of the oil industry and suggested that they be extremely cautious when deciding the allocation of the additional tax revenue. Little did I know that advice would become more of a premonition than a recommendation. Within six months after our trip, the entire world would be stricken with a viral pandemic resulting in the shutdown of the national economy, oil prices would fall below $0 for the first time in history, interest rates would decrease to all-time lows and unemployment would skyrocket; not to mention the millions of people who became sick and many thousands lost their lives. Who could have imagined that in such a short period of time, we would change the way we work, the way we think and the way we socialize? During this time, JASON WYATT PRESIDENT NEW MEXICO BANKERS ASSOCIATION I would like to sincerely thank John Anderson for the guidance, wisdom, patience, and kindness that he has shown me over the last two years. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: NMBANKERS.COM TWO YEAR REVIEW AS NMBA PRESIDENT