February 24 - CBA Today eNewsletter - COMMUNITY BANKERS ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA

If you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate Community Banking Month and support PAC at the same time, we’re pleased to reveal the 2021 Community Bank T-shirt. Watch for an email to order your very own shirt.

The order form will be on our website soon, so be sure to get your bank’s order ready by determining how many shirts and the sizes you need. You will want to order by March 12th to receive shipment for Community Banking Month in April.

A few details:

Order shirts for everyone in your bank and pay only $20 per shirt, must use coupon code to receive the $5 discount.
Individual shirt cost: $25
Special perks when you wear your t-shirt to certain CBA events!
Same soft fabric & style you love from our 2020 convention t-shirt.
Celebrate Community Banking Month in Style! (April 2021)
Share photos and videos wearing your shirts to CBA's Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter for a chance to be featured in publications!

Click here for more photos and details. All proceeds benefit CBA’s PAC/PR Fund working exclusively for Georgia’s Community Banks.

SBA Prioritizes Smallest of Small Businesses in PPP
Building on a month of strong results, the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration are taking steps with the Paycheck Protection Program to further promote equitable relief for America’s mom-and-pop businesses. The latest round of Paycheck Protection Program funding opened one month ago and the Administration has succeeded in making major improvements to the program’s implementation:

For businesses with fewer than ten employees, the share of funding is up nearly 60%
For businesses in rural communities, the share of funding is up nearly 30%
The share of funding distributed through Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions is up more than 40%

The SBA will:

Establish a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees
Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s funding formula for these categories of applicants
Eliminate an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non-fraud felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal
Eliminate PPP access restrictions on small business owners who have struggled to make federal student loan payments by eliminating federal student loan debt delinquency and default as disqualifiers to participating in the PPP; and
Ensure access for non-citizen small business owners who are lawful U.S. residents by clarifying that they may use Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for the PPP.

The 14-day exclusivity period will start on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 9 a.m., while the other four changes will be implemented by the first week of March. Read entire press release here.

Community Banks: 21.2 % Increase in Quarterly Net Income Year-Over-Year
Community banks reported annual net income growth of $1.3 billion, a 38.1 percent increase in provision expense, and a narrower net interest margin from a year ago. Increased income from loan sales (up $1.8 billion or 159.1 percent) drove the improvement in quarterly net income and offset the increase in provision expense year-over-year. More than half of the 4,559 FDIC–insured community banks (56.7 percent) reported higher quarterly net income. Click here for the FDIC Q4 report.

CBA PAC Fund: Thank you!
At CBA, we must constantly build and renew relationships with legislators that understand and support community banking.

Thank you to the following banks for their generous contributions to CBA’s PAC Fund:

Atlantic Capital Bank, Atlanta – Mr. Doug Williams

Shazam Selected to Help Shape the Future of Instant Payments
SHAZAM, Inc., a nationwide provider of financial services to community financial institutions, has been selected to participate in a pilot program to guide development of the Federal Reserve’s instant payments offering, the FedNowSM Service. FedNow will offer community financial institutions another network through which to access faster payments infrastructure. SHAZAM is a CBA Diamond Preferred Service Provider.

The FedNow Service will provide an important payments infrastructure when it becomes available in 2023. Financial institutions and their service providers will be able to use the service as a springboard to bring the benefits of safe, efficient instant payments to communities across the country. Click here to read the press release.

Attention Bank Employees Enrolled in College – Apply for the Walraven Memorial Scholarship!
CBA is proud to offer the 2021 Walraven Scholarship, named for the late J. Steven Walraven, a former community bank president who dedicated much of his life to his community and community banking. This $500 scholarship is awarded to a Georgia community bank employee attending a college or university within the state of Georgia. The goal of the scholarship is to assist those employees interested in furthering their education to enhance their career in community banking. All completed applications should be submitted to CBA no later than Friday, April 9, 2021. Winners will be announced in late April 2021. Click here for more details and to download the application. Contact Lindsay Greene for more information.

Celebrate a Lifetime of Service
Community Bankers Association of Georgia (CBA) is proud to honor bankers who
have reached a significant milestone in the banking industry with the Lifetime Service Awards. CBA pays tribute to bankers reaching a milestone of 30, 40 or 50 years in the community banking industry. The presentation will be made during the 53rd Annual Convention & Mini-Trade Show. The 2021 deadline to submit honorees is Monday, May 3, 2021.

Honorees receive a commemorative plaque, and CBA will feature the honorees in various CBA publications. Honorees with 50 or more years of service also receive a customized gold and diamond lapel pin. If you or someone in your bank is celebrating 30, 40 or 50 years of service as a banker during this calendar year, please contact Lindsay Greene, 770-541-0376, or visit CBA’s website.

Georgia’s community bankers do great things in their communities every day. Here is the latest on community outreach and news from CBA Members:

Oconee State Bank team members were excited to be onsite at the bank’s new OSB Headquarters for a “behind the walls” tour. Team members also had the opportunity to #LeaveTheirMark by writing words of wisdom and inspiration prior to sheetrock installation in an effort to bless the bank’s new home.
Oconee State Bank, Watkinsville, recently celebrated team members in true 2021 Mardi Gras style... we had plenty of masks, beads, and socially distanced food and fun for all!

Heath Gilbert has joined Colony Bank, Albany as Senior Vice President, Regional Credit Officer.

Read more here.

Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC, Atlanta, has been designated as a HITRUST Authorized External Assessor and is now approved to provide services using the HITRUST CSF, a comprehensive security framework that addresses the multitude of security, privacy and regulatory challenges facing organizations in order to comply with healthcare (HIPAA, HITECH), third-party (PCI, COBIT), government (NIST, FTC) and other industry specific regulations and standards. Read more here.

Think CBA First for Your Professional Development Needs!
Be sure to think of CBA first when it comes to your training and Professional Development needs. Here are some upcoming CBA events:

One Day and Done!
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM | STREAM
If you are new to banking, need a refresher, or need to broaden your knowledge of regulatory compliance, this is the program for you. Now’s the time to learn the “why’s” behind the key banking regulations that impact our community banks. This full-day, fast-paced program goes beyond the “alphabet soup” regulations and provides updated highlights of lending, deposit, and consumer regulations and compliance management.

Target Audience: New bankers and directors, bankers in support areas, those needing a refresher. Finish your annual required compliance in one day.

Register here.

Instructor:
Dianne Barton
Performance Solutions Inc.

Instructor:
Lisa Berry
Warren Averrett

FREE Webinar: Exclusively for Minority Depository Institutions
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 | 10:00 AM
ICBA's Minority Bank Council, will be hosting a FREE webinar that is exclusively for minority banks, members and non-members. The webinar, Capital and Liquidity Opportunities for MDI's , is designed to help MDI's evaluate investment opportunities and determine what is best for their bank.

Investments in Minority Depository Institutions are rapidly growing, and many MDIs have received unsolicited interest from investors to provide capital and funding in a variety of forms. As a community banker, how should you evaluate these opportunities and determine what is best for your bank? Pursuing potential capital without a full understanding of your bank's optimal capital composition, anticipated use of new capital, or the anticipated bank performance could lead to undesirable outcomes.

Click Here to access more information.

FREE Webinar: A Year in the Making: Where the Bond Market Stands Today
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | 10:00 AM - 11:00
The past 12 months have been a non-stop ride through first-ever events related to the bond market. Unprecedented stimulus programs, aggressive Federal Reserve actions, and an institutional investors’ changing demands have produced an entirely new paradigm for portfolio management.

This one-hour webinar, co-hosted by Community Bankers of Georgia and ICBA Securities, will discuss the current state of investing, and highlight sectors that have appeared or have become more popular over the past year. We will also comment on the makeup of a typical community bank’s bond portfolio in 2021. Jim Reber, President and CEO of ICBA Securities, will be the presenter.

Warren Averett has grown substantially over the last few years to become one of the largest accounting firms in the Southeastern region, ranking among the top 30 firms in the United States. With more than 800 employees and 340 CPAs across 15 offices, Warren Averett offers depth and experience in financial services, with services that span beyond audit and tax to include wealth management, staffing and recruiting, technology consulting, financial outsourcing, retirement plan administration and investments. We go beyond the typical audit, accounting and tax return functions to find unique ways to improve your overall operational efficiencies.

Contact Lisa Small at 770-393-6151, by email or visit their website.

Here are some of the latest news stories relevant to community banking and the financial services industry: