The Correspondent

March is Women's History Month, and at ICBB, we've declared it women in banking month. This month's episodes of The Correspondent will highlight women who are making waves in banking. In this episode, host Madison Caplinger has a conversation with Ilaria Rawlins and Lisa Berger, part of the team founding Fortuna Bank: Ohio's first woman-owned bank and one of three of its kind in the country. Listen for a discussion on the process of founding a de novo bank, the unique financial needs of women and female entrepreneurs, and what community banks can do to help meet them.

Helpful Links:

Register for the Credit Conference: https://www.icbbcreditconference.com/event-details/breaking-barriers-icbb-annual-credit-conference-2024-1?utm_source=the-correspondent&utm_medium=podcast-ad&utm_campaign=credit-conference-2024

Follow Fortuna Bank (in organization) on LinkedIn: (2) Fortuna Bank (in organization): Overview | LinkedIn

Follow Ilaria Rawlins on LinkedIn: (2) Ilaria Rawlins | LinkedIn

Follow Lisa Berger on LinkedIn: (2) Lisa Berger | LinkedIn

ICBB De Novo Services: De Novo Banking Services | ICBB

Many community banks express hesitation about embracing social media, citing compliance concerns, resources, reputational risk, and more. But for some community banks, the benefits have far outweighed the risk. For example, Paducah Bank in Paducah, Kentucky, was an early adopter of social media marketing and has gained attention from The Financial Brand for their efforts. In this episode, Susan Guess, chief marketing officer at Paducah Bank, and Madison Caplinger discuss the benefits of investing in social media and other creative marketing strategies for community banks.

Register for the Credit Conference: icbbcreditconference.com

The Financial Brand Article on Susan and Paducah Bank: Social Media Savvy Stokes Outsize Customer Engagement for This Bank (thefinancialbrand.com)

Follow Susan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-guess-16bb7913/

Follow Paducah Bank on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PaducahBank

Learn More About Paducah Bank: Paducah Bank | KY Mortgage Loans | Checking & Savings Accounts

Community banks aren't just competing with other banks for deposits, but with fintechs, neobanks, and other non-bank challengers. How can a community bank remain competitive with limited resources in such a rapidly changing environment? Maybe it's not the platform, but the product. In this episode, Ron Shevlin, chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors and author of the Forbes column, Fintech SnarkTank, highlights a growing need to redefine banking products, community, strategy, and innovation.

Follow Ron Shevlin on LinkedIn: (3) Ron Shevlin | LinkedIn

Cornerstone Advisors: Expert Banking Consultants - Cornerstone Advisors (crnrstone.com)

Follow Ron Shevlin on Forbes: Ron Shevlin (forbes.com)

Ron's "What's Going on in Banking" Podcast: What's Going On In Banking on Apple Podcasts

Providing for the financial wellness of staff is an important retention and recruitment tool for community banks. Navigating retirement savings offerings can be so complex and costly that it seems out of reach. However, ICBB is partnering with Lincoln Financial and Envisage Wealth Advisors to offer community banks a solution called a MEAP Plan. This plan can alleviate administrative burden while remaining cost effective for your institution. Listen as Madison discusses that option with Britney Leach, Chief Human Resource Officer for ICBB; Aaron Wiseman, from Lincoln Financial; and Neil Howard from Envisage Wealth Advisors.

Helpful Links:

Discovering FedNow Instant Payments: Insights for Community Banks with the Payments Professor: https://www.icbbcourses.online/event-details/discover-fednow-instant-payments-insights-for-community-banks-with-the-payments-professor?utm_source=the-correspondent&utm_medium=podcast-ad&utm_campaign=fednow-event-2024

Follow Aaron Wiseman on LinkedIn: (4) Aaron Wiseman, QKA, QPFC | LinkedIn

Follow Neil Howard on LinkedIn: (4) Neil H. | LinkedIn

Envisage Wealth Advisors: Envisage | Your Wealth Experts | Lexington KY (envisagewealthadvisors.com)

Contact Britney Leach: [email protected]

January is Financial Wellness Month, and financial wellness for community banks starts with strategic planning. But how can you get more out of your strategic planning process than just checking a box for the regulators? CEO Derek Hetherington, who solidified a proactive approach to strategic planning at ICBB after becoming CEO in 2020; and CFO Eli Barber, who served a community bank as an executive during the Great Recession, the pandemic, and an acquisition, discussed the ins and outs of effective, proactive strategic planning. Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Helpful Links:

Discover FedNow Instant Payments: Insights for Community Banks with the Payments Professor: https://www.icbbcourses.online/event-details/discover-fednow-instant-payments-insights-for-community-banks-with-the-payments-professor?utm_source=the-correspondent&utm_medium=podcast-ad&utm_campaign=fednow-event-2024&utm_content=s2-e1

Follow Derek Hetherington on LinkedIn: (1) Derek Hetherington | LinkedIn

Follow Eli Barber on LinkedIn: (1) Eli Barber | LinkedIn

In the final episode of 2023, Madison Caplinger is joined by chief credit officer Stephanie Oerther, CEO and president Derek Hetherington, and Scott Kimel from our partners at FNBB Capital Markets to discuss the trends of Q3 and the outlook for Q4 of 2023.

Talent acquisition and retention have recently been a challenge for organizations across all industries, and uniquely so for community banks. How can community banks attract and keep young, entry-level talent? Maggie Abney, director of the Evans Banking & Financial Services program at Eastern Kentucky University, and Britney Leach, human resources director at ICBB, discuss this question in this week's episode.

Since the launch of the Federal Reserve's FedNow instant payments rail, the topic of faster payments has been front and center on bankers' radars. Some institutions have enthusiastically embraced it, while others have taken a more cautious approach. In this episode, Madison joins ICBB chief operations officer Becky Sisco, product development specialist Todd Beers, and payments influencer and executive, Kevin Olsen to discuss the implications of FedNow from its benefits to its challenges and strategies to implementation. In addition to his role as a senior vice president of innovation and strategy at Pidgin, Kevin Olsen creates content on social media as "The Payments Professor," explaining complex payments topics in an engaging, down-to-earth way.

Kevin's Webiste:

FedNow, RTP, and ACH Electronic payments Education simplified (paymentsprofessor.com)

Follow Kevin on Social Media:

Payments Professor "Kevin Olsen" | LinkedIn

Payments Professor - YouTube

Learn More about Pidgin:

Pidgin - Faster Payments Platform

Our friends and customers and Richwood Bank in Richwood, Ohio recently received national recognitiont as one of the Independent Community Bankers' Association's Top Agriculture Lenders for 2023. Chief operations officer Brian Gehres and senior agriculture lender Kent Kramer share some of their expertise on the unique technical aspects of agriculture lending, such as the market, risk management, and concentration risk. But mostly, this lending specialty is build on the same foundation as all community banking: trust and relationships.

Richwood Bank Agriculture Lending: Agriculture Loans - Richwood Bank

Bankers' Agricultural Finance Service: Agricultural Mortgage Financing Options - Independent Community Bankers Bank (icbb.bank)

September in National Mortgage Professionals Month, and we're taking the month to celebrate and empower community bank mortgage professionals. The current rate and economic environment present significant challenges to mortgage professionals. In this episode of the Correspondent, we're joined by ICBB's Missy Harrod, assistant vice president of mortgage, and Zack Stanifer, vice president of residential lending at Citizens Bank in Mount Vernon, Kentucky, to discuss secondary market mortgages, a complex but important part of community bank mortgage lending.