Passing the baton: Reflections from an association chair

Andy Schornack wrapped up his term as 2024-25 chair of the Minnesota Bankers Association in June during the MBA annual convention in Brainerd. Schornack, president of Glencoe, Minn.-based Security Bank & Trust, passed on the chair position to Chris Ryan, president of First Security Bank in Byron. Schornack discussed his time as MBA chair and outlook for the association in a recent interview with BankBeat Digital Managing Editor Sam Wilmes..Sam Wilmes: You just recently wrapped up your 12 months as MBA chair. How did it go?Andy Schornack: It was great. The Minnesota Bankers Association, under the leadership of Joe Witt, has a great team. Ninety-plus percent of the banks are represented with the MBA. The smaller banks are the most active in the association. MBA does a great job of trying to reach out and think through some of the changes that are coming now with banking and regulation.In late April when we went out to Washington, D.C., we were able to meet with [Acting Chair of the FDIC] Travis Hill. We were able to meet with our two Senators and a lot of our House of Representative members. And it was interesting to hear that dialogue and how everything has changed. What the Minnesota Bankers Association has done to advocate on our behalf in this changing time has been beneficial for the industry.S.W.: Is there one accomplishment you are most proud of?A.S.: The ACRE Act was included in part of the Senate bill that just passed. We’ve had many discussions with our congresspeople, so to get that through is huge for Minnesota banks, particularly the banks in rural and agricultural markets. I had conversations directly with my representative, Angie Craig, about that in the past. I know she’s not part of the group who will be probably approving it this go around, but she did support it in prior years. That’s a huge item that I’m pretty excited about, something that came through with a lot of conversations that we’re having, obviously with (House Majority Whip Tom Emmer R-MN) being an influential person in the House. Having those conversations across the political spectrum helps get that done. Assuming (the ACRE Act) gets done, it is going to be a good win.Increasing attendance and activity and engagement across our representative banks has been amazing to watch. We launched a new conference last year, the Bankers Conference, that had a great first year showing. We’ve seen continued growth in the existing programs and education that Minnesota bankers have been providing.Those are great ways that we’re seeing a broader spectrum of bankers getting active again, which is important as we move forward to not only have the bank CEOs and presidents and senior leadership, but also having a lot of our staff getting involved and engaged. The Women’s Conference is one of the highest attended conferences, and that has a broad spectrum of attendees as well. That’s been several years ongoing, but is one of the highest attended events.S.W.: What will be the biggest issue for the MBA in the coming year?A.S.: Continued engagement amongst the bankers across the state. We have thousands of bankers in the state of Minnesota — from the largest banks to the smallest — and continuing to get engagement and involvement, not only on the Bankers Association, but being an advocate and being supportive of the industry in a way that shows a positive light. We’ve gone through some tough times in years past, and we’re still recovering from the views in the public that have been portrayed, but we’re doing good work many times over. And just continuing to demonstrate, to show, to share our stories of how we’re impacting people’s lives every day on the individual level, on the business level, on the municipality, nonprofit level, it’s important.S.W.: Thoughts on the easing of bank regulations under the Trump administration?A.S.: I don’t think we’ve felt the impact yet. It’ll be a good thing for the industry to have more flexibility, because most bankers are out there to help people. We do well when our clients do well. We want our customers to succeed. We are not out there to play a game of ‘get ’em’ or put them in a tough situation. As regulations come down, that gives us more flexibility to help our customers grow and build. Ultimately, that’s what we need to do as a banking industry, is help our communities, our cities, our state grow, because we need more business. The more successful our businesses are, our individuals are, the more economic growth we can have in the state of Minnesota. It’ll put our state in a much better position, especially given the fiscal challenges we’re going to have.