February 4, 2021

1. Where are your main bank and branches located? What is the market like?
Our main bank is in Versailles, Missouri, just north of the Lake of the Ozarks. We have branches along the west side of the Lake, in Laurie, Sunrise Beach and Greenview. These locations allow us to serve a diverse group of people. Versailles is a small, rural town surrounded by family farms and small businesses, but the Lake area is populated with young families, people who live full-time in Kansas City and St. Louis and throughout the Midwest who have a second home in the Lake area, and retirees starting the next chapter of their lives.

The 2021 edition of the Missouri General Assembly is underway. Forty-nine new State Representative and 11 new State Senators were sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at noon. There is new leadership in the House, a new Speaker of the House: Rob Vescovo, (R) from Jefferson County, and a new Majority Floor Leader, Dean Plocher, (R) from St. Louis County. Leadership in the Senate remained the same with Dave Schatz, (R) Sullivan, reelected as President Pro-Tem and Caleb Rowden, (R) Columbia, reelected as Majority Floor Leader.

The MIBA’s employee/dependent scholarship program provides greater penetration to and more benefit for our member banks and their employees. This year, the MIBA will award 16 $500 scholarships again, with four awarded to member banks in each of the four membership regions.

In In re Thurmon, the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri held that debtors who had ceased operation of their business and sold its assets pre-petition were not “engaged in commercial or business activities,” and therefore could not proceed under new subchapter V of Chapter 11. Despite its order, the Court nonetheless signaled its willingness to confirm the debtors’ subchapter V plan with a modification, although the debtor had never sought approval of or distributed a disclosure statement as required for non-subchapter V Chapter 11 debtors.

As the calendar flipped to 2021, we didn’t magically return to a simpler, pre-pandemic era, unfortunately. We are still grappling with a global health crisis and a hefty amount of ambiguity around what comes next. Amid such uncertainty, it’s easy to focus on what we don’t know. But, as community bankers, we have a North Star in our mission, and we can find consistency in what we know to be true in this rapidly changing world: Community banks serve the needs of their communities.

The new year brings with it a fresh start. We continue to face no shortage of challenges in 2021, from a divided nation to an ongoing health crisis. Yet, as community bank leaders, we need to flip our perspectives and find the potential in the moment. I recognize that’s easier said than done, and that’s precisely why we must lead by example, inspiring our teams and communities to keep moving forward. It’s our job to raise spirits so we can keep advancing in support of our communities.

Well, another year has passed, and I am sure you will be glad in waving goodbye to 2020. Not sure what to say about 2020 other than if there is a checkmark box next to it, I would select the one that reads, “would not recommend.”