Former ICBA president remembered for his leadership among community bankers

It is always exciting when a local banker becomes president of one of the national banking trade associations. In 1999, Minnesota bankers headed both the Independent Community Bankers of America and the American Bankers Association. It was the first time that two bankers from the same state led the ICBA and the ABA during the same year..R. Scott Jones was the leader of the Goodhue County National Bank in Red Wing, which was purchased by Signal Bank of West St. Paul in a merger of equals to form United Community Bancshares, Inc. Associated Bank of Green Bay, Wis., purchased the organization in 2001. Robert N. Barsness, who joined the Prior Lake State Bank in 1969, was president until the bank was sold to Klein Bank in 2014. Klein was sold to Old National Bank, which is based in Indiana.Red Wing and Prior Lake are only about 50 miles apart, and Jones and Barsness appeared on stage together at the Bank Holding Company Association Spring Seminar in May of 1999. The pair gave an industry update, taking turns sharing their thoughts with some 270 bankers in an industry dialogue through a Town Hall format, a favorite of Jones. Their message was one of unity, with both leaders expressing support for financial reform legislation that was working its way through Congress at the time.“We decided it makes sense to see if there are ways for us to work together,” Jones told the group. “We decided we want to stay in touch.”Calling credit unions “community banks that don’t pay taxes,” Barsness described ICBA’s efforts to level the playing field between banks and credit unions. Jones said ABA is equally committed to obtaining parity between the two kinds of financial institutions.But the leadership path at the industry trade groups can be bumpy; when Barsness and Jones presented on successive days the following month at a joint convention for the Minnesota and Wisconsin Bankers Associations, Barness took a different tone, emphasizing the differences between the ICBA and ABA.Barsness said “it is becoming increasingly difficult” for a single trade group to represent both large and small banks. “With the ABA, it wouldn’t be totally accurate to say that the community bankers are making the decisions,” said Barsness, whose bank had $75 million in assets in 1999. “When there are issues that pit small banks against large banks, I hope you will side with the ICBA, not just ABA.”That was a quarter of a century ago and a lot has changed in financial services since then. While the ABA and ICBA are still competitive with each other, they have many issues today on which to work together, although each is focused on the needs of their members.The Barsness family hosted a beautiful celebration of life service for Bob Barsness on March 28, 10 days after he died after a short battle with cancer. He was 81 years old. He was a veteran, serving in Vietnam for three years as a U.S. Marine, and then serving in the reserves for 15 years. I will always remember him as an energetic person, and in fact he ran 40 marathons during his life. After the religious service, the Veterans of Foreign Wars provided a color guard for him, making a 21-gun salute in front of the church building in Prior Lake. As a member played Taps on a bugle under a clear blue sky, a bald eagle circled over our gathering.