Thankful for community bankers
I urge all of us to support the Foundation again this year so we can continue this outstanding work into 2024.”
We are quickly headed to the end of 2023. It has been a challenging year for Texas banks and bankers. However, as we get ready to celebrate both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I am reminded of how thankful I am for our Texas community bankers. In my continued travels around Texas representing TBA, I have had the privilege to meet so many outstanding bankers and hear many stories about your impact on both your customers and communities. So I have a list of things that I am thankful for now, in 2023:
- Texas community banks and all of our employees
- Texas bank’s board of directors
- TBA and our outstanding staff
- Our wonderful communities
- Our outstanding customers
- Our friendships and relationships across Texas
I pray for continued blessings on all of you as you represent our banks, our employees and our Texas communities. I hope we can all enjoy some time with our families and friends around the Thanksgiving table this year. We all have much to be thankful for once again.
Texas Bankers Foundation
This is the time of year during the fourth quarter when our Texas Bankers Foundation and its board really do a lot of work, highlighting the Foundation’s accomplishments, focusing on contributions for 2023–2024 and holding their annual meeting in October. I want to recognize and thank Jocelyn Carby (our Foundation Director) for the great work she does leading this effort.
I also appreciate the Foundation board members who are led this year by Hazel Davis (Jefferson Bank), our Foundation chair. The Foundation is what Texas bankers are all about — giving of our resources so that we may help others in need and provide a brighter future for Texas. A few examples of that over the past 12 months are as follows:
- Unprecedented contributions to university banking and graduate programs across Texas
- Scholarships for deserving banking students
- Disaster relief for tornado, storm and wildfire ravaged communities
- 50-Year Banker Awards and Emerging Leader recognition
- 4-H and FFA chapter grants
- The Texas Financial Literacy Summit and community outreach
Every dollar raised helps communicate the commitment of the banking industry to communities in need, families in crisis and future bankers and leaders. I urge all of us to support the Foundation again this year so we can continue this outstanding work into 2024.
2023 year in review
January and February started off as what seemed to be another good year for Texas banks as many of us had record net income in 2022. Then there were three large bank failures, along with a very sharp rise in interest rates and our banking world got turned upside down. Both our banks and our customers were affected. All of a sudden, uncertainty and new challenges were thrown at Texas bankers.
We turned our focus to liquidity, uninsured deposits and capital levels, just to name a few items. However, as we all get ready to close out 2023 at our banks, we have pulled our teams together to get through and face these challenges that came upon all of us so quickly.
You all have worked hard and adapted to this new environment. Texas bankers have met these challenges head-on and revised our plans going forward. This will not be a year in banking that is soon forgotten.
We head into 2024 with many challenges and opportunities ahead. The same is true for TBA and our great staff who are working alongside Texas bankers to get through these extraordinary times.
Happy holidays
I wish you all happy holidays as we close out 2023. I hope you enjoy time and fellowship with your employees, customers and families. Once again, I pray for blessings on Texas bankers as we end 2023 and prepare for 2024.