Join Jeff Simpkins of Community Bank Consulting, Inc. (www.CommunityBankConsulting.com) as he interviews regulatory compliance consultant Don Blaine of Young & Associates (www.Young.com). Don and Jeff will the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and its application in community banks.

Jeff Simpkins of Community Bank Consulting, Inc. (http://www.communitybankconsulting.com/)and Jean Pike of Bank Midwest (http://www.bankmidwest.com/) will be discussing MATSERMINDING in this episode of BankTalkRadio.net. Masterminding is a process introduced by Napoleon Hill in his classic book Think and Grow Rich, first published in 1937. Masterminding is a process used extensively by US business legend Andrew Carnegie. Jean has been participating in a Mastermind group composed of chief operating officers of community banks located throughout the US. She will describe what the experience has been like for her.

Jeannette Paladino (http://writespeaksell.com) is a former community banker. She has transitioned into the Writer-in-Chief at Write Speak Sell, a public relations and communications based in New York City. Join Jeannette and BankTalkRadio host Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/) as they discuss successful strategies Jeannette has found for community banks.

After a lengthy real estate boom in the US, the past year or more has experienced a significant market adjustment downward in most areas. Real estate loans make up a significant part of the loan portfolio in most community banks. Many banks are being called upon by regulators to get updated appraisals on collateral on a very frequent basis. In some markets appraisers are challenged to find a true market value because of lack of comparable sale data; often distress situations are the only data available. Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/) as he talks with Certified Residential Appraiser, Elizabeth Buchanan (http://buchananappraisals.com/) about what is currently going on in the real estate market from the perspective of an appraiser.

Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/) as he talks with Penni Wild (http://reallifemagic.com/) about what an average American family looks for from their bank. Penni is a married professional in her forties, operating a service business. She and her husband have teenage children that have reached an age that they need banking services of their own. Join us as we hear first hand what someone in our target market looks for in a bank.

Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/)as he talks with Suzanne Dahms, Executive Vice President & COO of Union Bank, Lake Odessa MI (http://www.ubmich.com/). Union Bank recenlty initiated a project to evaluate in-house core processing vs. outsourced processing. Sue and Jeff will discuss the approach Union Bank used in their research, the goals of doing the evaluation, and successful aspects of the project.

Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/)as he talks with Jamie Smoker, Senior Vice President of Monarch Community Bank (http://www.monarchcb.com/) in Coldwater MI. Monarch is a leader in residential mortgage lending in their markets. Jamie leads the mortgage group at Monarch and will discuss the trends they have seen in mortgage over this year and hear his insights into successes in a challenging economy.

Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/)as he talks with Kirby Davidson, President & CEO of Graduate School of Banking (https://www.gsb.org/) in Madison WI. In this conversation, Jeff and Kirby will discuss what the Graduate School of Banking offers, who participation is open to, and hear the direction of GSB from an insiders point of view. Graduate School of Banking operates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Join Jeff Simpkins (http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/)as he talks with Eric Cook (http://www.poweredbywsi.com/) of WSI Internet Consulting about the use of social media and blogging in community banks. We have discussed the topic of social media a number of times recently and have seen significant interest. Eric is former regional president of a community bank in Michigan; he now operates an internet consulting company that specializes in making community banks and financial services companies successful online.