Independent Banker Ranks 2021 Top Community Bank Lenders

In July, Independent Banker, the flagship publication of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), released its “2021 Top Lenders” list. “Our top lenders made the most of one of the toughest years in recent memory through personal connection, ingenuity and dedication to their communities,” ICBA notes in a recent press release. The survey ranks the … Read more

A Review of the 2021 Paycheck Protection Program

The 2021 release of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020. The new release of the program arrived at the right time, as the health of small businesses had deteriorated toward the end of 2020. In this report, we first … Read more

Let Me Tell You a Story

Let me tell you a story. It’s not my story, but it is one I seem to be hearing a lot these days: The world of financial services is changing. It is changing fast. Everything is shifting overnight. Even while you sleep, someone is getting a leg up on you. As a banker, you are … Read more

FDIC Releases 2020 Community Banking Study

In mid-December, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) released the 2020 Community Banking Study, a new large-scale study on the state of the nation’s community banks. The study finds community banks played a critical role in providing access to credit in several key areas of the U.S. economy, particularly through lending to support commercial real … Read more

Latest Beige Book Reveals ‘Generally Positive, but Uncertain’ Outlook in the 11th District

The economy expanded at a modest pace in the Federal Reserve System’s 11th District in recent months, but activity in most industries remained below normal levels. That’s one of the key findings reported in the Fed’s latest edition of the Beige Book, published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic … Read more