2020 Community Banking Virtual Conference Starts Today

Attendees from around the world will participate in the eighth annual Community Banking in the 21st Century research and policy conference, which will begins today at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.  The conference is being held virtually via the Webex meeting platform this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also being livestreamed and can be viewed via this website's homepage. Today's conference ends at 4 p.m. Tomorrow's sessions will also be held from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET. Several post-plenary gatherings are scheduled for after the end of each day's sessions. (View the the full conference agenda.)

A brief look at each day's sessions:

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020

The first afternoon will start with the release and the discussion of the 2020 National Survey of Community Banks, following by opening keynote remarks from Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman. The conference’s first research paper discussions will be held concurrently, with Research Paper Session 1 delving into the topic of the future of community banking and Research Paper Session 2 focusing on the topic of community development and support.

As always, each research session will not only feature authors of the papers and an academic moderator, but a community bank discussant as well.

Following the first research paper session, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams will host a keynote conversation, moderated by Diane Ellis, director of the FDIC’s Division of Insurance and Research.

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020

The second afternoon of the conference will begin with this year’s community banker keynote speech, featuring Laurie Stewart, president and CEO of Seattle, Washington-based Sound Community Bank. Following Stewart will be a presentation by a team from Mississippi State University, the winners of the 2020 CSBS Case Study Competition. The conference’s second round of concurrent research paper discussions will then be held, with Research Paper Session 3 delving into the topic of the local lending and credit access and Research Paper Session 4 focusing on the topic of moral hazard issues in regulation and oversight.

The second afternoon will then feature a panel discussion on “Community Banking in the Time of COVID-19,” with Jill Castilla, president, vice chairman and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond, Edmond, Oklahoma; Kenneth Kelly, chairman and CEO, First Independence Bank of Detroit, Michigan; and Frank Scott, Jr., Mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas. Rhoshunda Kelly, interim commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance, will moderate the panel.

More details - including all speakers, bios and exact session times - can be found on the full conference agenda.

Questions? Please e-mail conference@communitybanking.org.

If you are unable to join the livestream, the video of the entire conference will be posted on the conference website at a later date.