IB A N YS PRESIDE N T ’S ME SSAG E
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B Y JO H N W IT KO W S K I
A STATUS C HEC K :
Surviving The Change, Protecting Our Future – Together Faced With The Pandemic, Community Banks Showed Great Initiative
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he value of a trade association is in its commitment to its member banks and constituents. That’s true day-to-day, and manifests itself in our advocacy and government relations representation, communications, educational programs, meetings and conferences, products and services and all of the things we try to provide New York community banks. But in times of crisis, we believe the value of a trade association increases exponentially – because that’s when our membership needs us to be the most proactive and innovative. The coronavirus pandemic and the enormous impact it has had on our industry illustrated the importance of having a community bank trade association working for and representing your interests.
4 | Banking New York | Issue Three 2020
Photo credt: Getty Images / nensuria
During these times of disruption, community banks needed to focus on their day-to-day business operations, taking care of their customers and employees, and simultaneously immersing themselves in the huge new challenge of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help save local small businesses and jobs in their communities. We’ve all had to change our business process because of COVID-19, and all too often dealing with those changes felt like we were drinking water from a firehose. Banks, small businesses, federal and state governments, regulatory agencies, and trade associations alike had to turn on a dime to meet the needs of their constituent communities and the economy. Yet, business disruption doesn’t mean that
