ICBND hosts 54th Annual Convention in Bismarck

ICBND hosts 54th Annual Convention in Bismarck | KX NEWS (kxnet.com)

BISMARCK, N.D. — This week is the ICBND 54th Annual Convention. The convention will last Monday through Wednesday.

Jessie Pfaff, who is the vice president for the ICBND says this is a chance for community bankers and associate members vendors across the nation to get together.

“It’s just a time to reconnect with eachother and to celebrate everything they have accomplished last year” “

Pfaff says conventions such as this one is extremely important to have in the state.

“North Dakota in general is a tight knit rural community and community banks across our state are what provide the funding for a lot of main street, and we are excited about bringing them together.”

According to Pfaff, ICBND is the only association in the state of North Dakota that excessively represents Community Banks.
The convention always has a theme and for this years theme it’s the roaring 20’s.

“We figured it’s the 20’s. We are roaring forward and everything that banks have had to overcome with their customers and COVID the last couple of years,” said Pfaff. “They keep charging forward into the future.”

And the big topic on everyone’s mind is inflation.

“It’s front and center. The man on the street and the lady on the street mind’s these days is on how much things are costing,” said Reber. “When they go to the grocery store, when they go buy clothes. When they fill up their gas tank.”

As far as what interest rates could do in the next six months, Jim Reber, President and CEO of ICBA Securities, says it’s impossible to predict.
Despite not being able to predict how long the inflation will last, Reber says community banks are built to benefit from rising rates.

“If this is a long term scenario, where rates are higher than normal, community banks should do just fine.”

They say no matter what the economy looks like… they will continue to reach out and help their neighbors from rural to cities here in North Dakota.