Celebrating our 37th year, over 425 bankers and their guests joined the KBA staff for the 2022 KBA CEO Summit and Annual Meeting held at the beautiful Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, CO.

KBA President and CEO Doug Wareham welcomed the attendees on the afternoon of Thursday, August 4. He shared some highlights of the conference ahead and introduced officers, other special guests, staff, and sponsors. Chairman Mike Ewy from Community State Bank in Coffeyville also welcomed the group, took a few moments to share some insights from his year as chairman, and showcased the “I am a Kansas banker” video featured in a statewide talent recruitment campaign.

ABA Chairman-Elect Dan Robb, who also serves as President & CEO of Jonesburg State Bank in East Central Missouri, provided attendees of KBA’s CEO Summit with an overview of federal legislative initiatives and federal regulatory challenges at the top of the ABA’s priority list. Robb challenged the leaders of Kansas banks to engage all their bank employees in the policy and political processes that ABA works to spearhead in Washington, D.C., and he stressed the importance of having strength in numbers when delivering our message and how important maintaining a strong and diverse banking industry is to our nation. Following Robb, Missouri Bankers Association CEO Max Cook and Ewy joined Wareham and Robb on stage for a Mountainside Chat where they entertained questions from the audience on a variety of topics affecting bankers.

Retiring Kansas City Federal Reserve Board President, Esther George, provided remarks looking back at her 40-year career at the Federal Reserve. She shared the dramatic changes to the financial system and the broader economic landscape. Yet, despite this tremendous change, it remains as true today as it did in 1982 that access to credit and other financial services is essential to the success of local communities, households, and small businesses.

The opening day of the conference concluded with a thought-provoking presentation by Dave DeFazio of Strategy Corps, entitled “King of the Hill: Mobile App Edition.” DeFazio shared that the secret to improving your future deposit growth lies in understanding the changing role of banking products in the financial lives of today’s consumers. He dove into ongoing research that explains these trends — including which mobile features matter most to each generation, from millennials to baby boomers. Immediately following his presentation, the evening concluded with a reception on the Mountain View Terrace.

Friday morning dawned, full of sunshine and beautiful Colorado weather for the golfers who played in the Jim Maag Golf Scramble. Meanwhile, those who chose not to play golf were treated to our annual banker/spouse/guest breakfast and program, which featured Deadra Stanton and her presentation, “Don’t Shoot Skinny Rabbits.” Before we can grow professionally, we need to learn to survive personally. As the pace of change quickens every day, we sometimes end up chasing too many skinny rabbits. When we do this, we lose our energy and our focus on what’s really important. Be open to new ideas, a revitalized sense of self, and let go of the stress that causes you to chase SKINNY RABBITS!

The afternoon featured two breakout sessions for bankers to choose from, including “Technology — The Best Defense and a Good Offense,” led by Robert Mendez with BankOnIt, as well as “Cryptocurrency and the Blockchain: Digital Dollars or Counterfeit Currency” by Steve Stasiukonis from Secure Technology Solutions.

After the breakouts, U.S. Secretary of State and former Kansas 4th District Congressman Mike Pompeo made a special appearance at this year’s summit, reflecting on his time at the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. State Department. Following his keynote address, Secretary Pompeo joined KBA President and CEO Doug Wareham for a question/answer session that covered issues ranging from national security to cybersecurity to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) movement. Friday evening closed with the KBA Leadership Reception and dinner at Broadmoor’s Cheyenne Lodge.
Saturday morning, it was back to the business at hand as the golf awards were given out following breakfast. After this, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt made a guest appearance before getting back on the road campaigning for Kansas Governor.

Wareham inducted five individuals into the 50-Year Club: Ernie Beaudet, James Berglund, James Berkley, John Berkley, and Tom McGavran. In addition, 16 others who could not attend were acknowledged for achieving this milestone since the previous year’s CEO Summit.

Next, the annual business meeting was held, which included the election of officers. Your 2022-2023 KBA elected officers are Chairman Shan Hanes, Heartland Tri-State Bank, Elkhart; Chairman-Elect, Mark Schifferdecker, GNBank, Girard; Vice Chairman Gene Dikeman, The Plains State Bank, Plains; and Past Chairman Mike Ewy, Community State Bank, Coffeyville.

Following the annual meeting, Kansas native Miki Bowman, who serves as the community bank designee on the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., provided insight into her perspectives on the economy, inflation, and ever-evolving bank regulation. After her featured remarks, Bowman joined newly installed KBA Chairman Shan Hanes for a Q&A session focused on the many regulatory headwinds facing community banks.

Closing this year’s Summit was Chris Low, Chief Economist at FHN Financial. Low provided information on the slowing economy, including tight financial conditions, that odds favor a recession this year, and Americans are saving the least in years. Despite the dismal message, Low gave us some excellent takeaways.

Thank you to all our bankers and associate members who attended this year and made this conference such a huge success! We want to remind you to mark your calendars for August 3-5, 2023, for next year’s CEO Forum, and be sure to make your Broadmoor reservations now, as our room block will sell out early.