Pub. 4 2015 Issue 2

The CommunityBanker 6 s I write this letter it is hard to believe that spring has flown by and summer is fast bearing down upon us. It has been a busy spring for your Executive Committee at the Virginia Association of Community Banks. First, as your chairman, I along with several other Virginia bank- ers had the privilege of attending the ICBA Community Banking Live National Convention in Orlando, Florida. What an exciting, yet challenging event to educate and encourage us as community bankers. We had the op- portunity to attend various educational seminars and hear many engaging speakers such as Cam Fine, Presi- dent and CEO of the ICBA; Kat Cole, CEO of Cinnabon; Cal Ripken, Jr, baseball great; and Carly Fiorina, Former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard just to name a few. Current ICBA Chairman, John Buhrmaster and ICBA Chairman-Elect Jack Hartings challenged us to stand together and proclaim our story to further the legislative efforts of community banking. We are after all a part of a noble profession, rich in history. We have helped build communities. We are a primary lender to the small businesses and we need to make our story known. If you have never attended an ICBA Convention, I hope that you will consider taking advantage of this great opportunity to network with other bankers and be encouraged in our profession. Second, VACB Board of Directors met and began a Strategic Planning process to ensure that our organization continues our mission of serving Virginia’s community bankers. We are committed to building on our history with a watchful eye to the future. We are excited about ways we have to enhance the VACB experience for bank- ers and vendors alike. We hear loud and clear the value that our educational seminars and webinars bring to your institutions and we pledge to continue our exceptional Chairman’s Message M E S S A G E President’s Message A A By John Caldwell VACB Chairman The Farmers Bank of Appomattox By Steve Yeakel, CAE VACB President & CEO Summer 2015 fter reading the Chairman’s Message, you can see that life at VACB continues to get busier and busier. Every time I ponder a little concern, I simply refocus on two facts. First, all of our major projects are going very well. Sec- ond, the increased demands of the job are being imposed by us, on us. We are becoming the change we want to see! Let me provide some finite examples of the success we are enjoying. First and foremost, every bank that could renew their VACB membership this year did so, and two additional banks have joined our ranks. Second, our education programs have been seeing record numbers of attendees. Third, the VACB Delegation at this year’s ICBA Washington Policy Summit was more than twice the size of last year’s group. Finally, we recently hosted a call with Senator Mark Warner regarding the regulatory relief legislation pending in the Senate, and nearly fifty VACB banks were on the line, with multiple participants in several locations. These numbers tell us something of critical impor- tance, not so much about your leadership and staff, but more about your own willingness to engage. Thank you for responding, for being available, for showing up! Now, help us keep the ball rolling. Stay focused on our battle for regulatory relief. Don’t let the politics and the process dampen your spirits. Keep involved with VACB planning for the months and years ahead. In the short run, what are your edu- cation needs? We are always on the lookout for new Continued on page 13... Continued on page 13...