Pub. 5 2016 Issue 1

The CommunityBanker 6 Chairman’s Message M E S S A G E President’s Message By Mike Ewing VACB Chairman Oakview National Bank By Steve Yeakel, CAE VACB President & CEO New Approach to Regulation is Needed Continued on page 11 n end to the exponential growth of onerous regula- tory mandates is critical to the mission of community banking. Regulation is suffocating nearly every aspect of community banks and changing the very nature of the industry, away from community investment and community building, toward ever more paperwork, compliance, and examination. A fundamentally new approach is needed: Regulation must be calibrated to the size, lower-risk profile, and traditional business model of community banking. It is necessary that we continue to stay in front of our legislators, and remind them of the fact that commu- nity banks were not the cause of the Great Recession, yet regulation intended to reign in the activities of the large banks is adversely affecting us. ICBA’s Plan for Prosper- ity provides targeted regulatory relief that will allow community banks to thrive by doing what we do best – serving and growing our communities. By reducing unsustainable regulatory burden, the Plan for Prosperity will ensure that scarce capital and labor resources are used productively, not sunk into unnecessary compli- ance costs, allowing community banks to better focus on lending and investing that will directly improve the quality of life in our communities. Not only do we sup- port small businesses, we ARE small businesses! The upcoming ICBA Washington Policy Summit presents an opportunity for community bankers to join in the fight for fairness. Please consider joining us in Washington on April 24-27. To register for the event go to www.icba.org/wps16/ . I hope to see you there. A s I write this, hundreds of Virginia families are fac- ing enormous challenges due to the impacts of the six tornados that touched down in the Commonwealth on February 24. It’s heartbreaking to think that so many families have lost their homes. Some of those are fami- lies of bank employees. And the random nature of these storms is always mystifying. It’s not lost on us here that the tornados touched down both east of Richmond and west of Richmond. One small counterbalance to the tragedy is hear- ing of the community response, and in particular, the community bank response, in the affected communities and beyond. In some communities, community bankers set up community relief supply drives that drew over- whelming response. Others held burger fries in affected areas. Others emptied their store rooms of needed sup- plies and bought even more for the cause. I’m sure there are many more stories of community bankers stepping up as a foundation for the communities that have been shaken by this tragedy. Rebuilding damaged communities transcends our everyday workplace challenges. But for the rest of us, A full life is incomplete without challenges. We are best known by how we respond to them. A