February 5, 2021

A few weeks ago, I was out in our pasture and watched some of our cattle chowing down on a bale of hay. I chuckled as I snapped this picture of that young Black Angus heifer sitting there relaxing, without a care in the world. As hay fell all over her, she appeared to be in heaven, happy and at peace.

This year has been a year of unknowns. For financial institutions, marketers and everyday consumers, 2020 has presented challenges that are simply enormous. And as we look forward to 2021 — which, in its best-case scenario, offers a long-awaited return to normalcy — it seems like there’s no such thing as a prediction these days that’s too bold, crazy or straight-out-of-a-dystopian-fiction-novel.

As breaking news to absolutely nobody, the events last spring with the spread of COVID-19 in the United States threw a curveball to virtually every business industry and banking was not an exception. Lobbies closed, the number of employees coming into the bank was minimized at best and working from home became an immediate area of adjustment. Couple those changes with the Fed’s decision to bottom out rates, and the business forecasts for many banks were now pretty much useless. Throw the budgets you made one year ago out. With the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program soon following, the focus of banks shifted. Despite little initial guidance and a few hiccups along the way, community banking came together and tackled PPP to help their customers and communities.

On Nov. 2, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued final rules that became effective at the start of 2021. These rule changes affected many of the regulations pertaining to the offering of securities under various “exemptions.” Some of the more important changes are discussed below. In this discussion, those raising capital are referred to as “issuers” because they issue stock or other securities to investors as the means of raising capital.

To start the year, I’d like to both properly memorialize the late, great Alex Trebek and provide some helpful suggestions for investment management for this challenging rate environment in which we find ourselves. And I’d like to do it in the space of this column, so let’s pick up our signaling devices and see what answers we have in front of us.

Over the last several years, our world has been leaning further into the digital realm, largely thanks to a younger, more tech-dependent generation. To stay competitive, community banks must digitize and develop strategies for digital-first customers.

Proud. Overwhelmed. Frustrated.
These sentiments and others expressed by bankers come from the 2020 National Survey of Community Banks, conducted annually by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and state banking regulators for the past seven years. The survey is released each year during the annual Community Banking in the 21st century research and policy conference; the event is sponsored by the Federal Reserve, the CSBS and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In this year’s survey, the effects of COVID-19 dominated and colored typical industry concerns related to regulatory burden, small business lending, industry consolidation, competition and technological innovation.

Andrew Lee has a favorite quote by John Lennon: “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.” According to Andrew, it’s been a mantra he lives by, “If things are not so great, something great comes along. If things are going really well for too long, I get checked with a learning experience. Things balance. It makes the good and the bad make sense, and I think it helps me keep perspective in my life and the banking industry as well, for that matter.”

John Waller, Jr. was born up in Leasburg, Missouri, where his father was one of 14 men who started the Bank of Leasburg. The family moved to Sullivan during the 1930s. He “had his eye on” Esther Matthews from first grade and began dating her during high school. He excelled in sports such as basketball, baseball and track; the school didn’t have a football team. He set an unbroken pole vaulting record that was only retired in 1976 when flexible poles became standard. John was named a charter member of the Sullivan Sports Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments. He was also president of his junior class and student body president his senior year.

(Liberty, Missouri)
January 1, 2021 – Scott Page, President/CEO of Pony Express Bank, welcomes Dave Hinck as Senior Vice President of Lending. “We are pleased to have Dave in this role for our bank,” said Page. “With 3 local banks recently selling to large conglomerates, we felt it was the perfect time to have Dave join our team and let businesses in our community know that we are ready and willing to help them with their financial needs.”