ICBA Chair brings can-do message to Upper Midwest.Rebeca Romero Rainey, chair and CEO of the $215 million Centinel Bank of Taos, N.M., is traveling the country this year as chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America. She was in Duluth with her husband John and two daughters recently to address Minnesota community bankers. Two weeks earlier, she addressed Iowa bankers in Okoboji..Romero Rainey set the stage, telling the story of Centinel Bank's founding.."Come back in time with me to northern New Mexico, 1959, where a man grew up herding sheep and speaking Spanish. He had moved away to get an education, served his country in the Navy and Merchant Marines, put himself through law school, coming back home to start a law practice. He was willing to do whatever he could to help this struggling, rural community. He went to a bank seeking a $50 loan to buy furniture for the law office. He was denied the loan. At that point, he vowed to one day start a bank that would serve all people in the community. March 1, 1969, the doors of Centinel Bank opened in Taos for the first time. That man was my grandfather, Eliu Romero.".Noting that community banks "make more than half of all small business loans in the country and more than 90 percent of all ag loans," Romero Rainey emphasized the people side of the business as a community banking strength. "We have relationships with our communities. And it is this relationship model that runs deep in our blood, allows us to make a real difference in the lives of our customers and in the health of our communities," she said. "This is what makes a community bank as unique as a fingerprint.".Romero Rainey talked about industry policy advancements community bankers have achieved in the last year. "ICBA's Plan for Prosperity made progress," she said. "Provisions that allow more community banks to qualify as rural lenders, eliminating redundant privacy notices, and expanding eligibility for the 18-month exam cycle were all put into law as part of the highway bill." She explained that lawmakers turned to the banking industry to partially fund the highway bill last December. Congress had proposed taking the dividend the Federal Reserve pays shareholder banks to fund highways. ICBA and other industry advocates worked to win an exemption which preserved the dividend for 1,830 banks, saving them some $200 million per year, Romero Rainey explained..Romero Rainey said the ICBA's actions were an example of the industry turning obstacles into opportunities, as ICBMs' convention theme suggested. .Romero Rainey also noted other achievements of ICBA and other industry advocates. "Congress restored funds cut from the federal crop insurance program, and dropped ICBA-opposed language that would have extended higher Fannie and Freddie guarantee fees," she said. "As part of the Omnibus bill, we were able to include in it the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act." Furthermore there was increased funding for the SBA 7(a) program.."We will always have to fight twice as hard as the megabanks to get a seat at the policy table," Romero Rainey said. "But we have shown time and time again that we can accomplish what we set out to do. Just as my grandfather did, we are fighting for what we believe in, to protect and promote our industry.."As we navigate our future together for this industry, the communities and customers we serve," Romero Rainey urged bankers to recall "we are unique, we are authentic and our work truly matters."
