Pub. 2 2011 Issue 2

www.wvbankers.org 4 A M essage from the P resident and CEO By Joe L. Ellison M ost of you know that one of my priorities since becoming your President has been to regularly visit with every member bank in the state. Actually, my first year I visited with every bank CEO, including non- members. Since then I have tried to do about forty visits per year. It has been a wonderful experience traveling around the great state of WV despite getting lost a few times. (I have learned not to fully trust GPS.) The purpose of these bank visits is two-fold. First, I want to say “thanks” for membership and support of the WVBA and the industry. Second, I want to listen and learn. I know that face-to-face meetings provide the best opportunity for bankers to share their thoughts on the association and the issues that they are facing. In my last round of visits, I heard a number of instructive comments about our asso- ciation and how we might do a better job. I also got a good sense of what the priorities are for our bank members. In every instance, I gained valuable insight into how I can better represent all of WV’s banks and bankers. At every stop, I encountered bankers who were focused on their business and working hard to create success for their customers and their local community. I was pleased to see some positive signs, but I also witnessed a great deal of concern over legislative and regulatory developments that threaten to make it harder for tradi- tional banks to fulfill their mission. At every visit I encouraged bankers to get involved and join in the grassroots efforts to try to create change in the regulatory arena – the Durbin Amend- ment and its impact on all our banks has been the number one issue on everyone’s mind. However, one of my biggest “take- aways” from the visits was the confirmation of something I already knew. Banking in WV is a “people business” – always has been, always will be. In every community I visited, I found bankers who were heavily invested in the community. These traditional bankers are committed to seeing their customers prosper. These bankers know that’s the business they’re in. Traditional banking – in WV and across the nation – has always been based on this solid foundation. Banks do well when their customers and communities do well. As I have written a number of times in this space, it is very frustrating to hear the media bash “banks” or “bankers” when, often, they are not talking about banks and bankers at all. Unfortunate- ly, policymakers hear (and engage in) such misleading communication – and it impacts legislative and regulatory actions. It is critical that we let the public, the media, and government officials understand the difference between traditional banks and other entities. While these non-traditional entities engaged in activities that creat- ed the current economic environment, WV banks continued to do what they have always done. And we are better for it. It would be ironic and tragic if these sound institutions – and their customers – were hurt by a misguided political response to current events. My recent bank visits confirmed that the tradition of hometown banking remains alive and well, and successful in WV. We must unite in our fight to preserve this great tradition. Our most effective weapon in this battle is the story of traditional banking. Let’s keep telling it. n Banking Still Traditional in West Virginia “It is critical that we let the public, the media, and government officials understand the difference between traditional banks and other entities.”