President’s Message

We’re not quite out of the woods,

BUT WE ARE GETTING CLOSER…

Fred L. Green III, President & CEO South Carolina Bankers Association

We were all optimistic that we would begin the New Year with an environment that was becoming more normal. As it turned out, about the only thing that was normal was both Clemson and Alabama played in the NCAA football playoffs. Between politics, COVID, more PPP, and even bad weather, 2021 started as a continuation of the long hard 2020 that we all worked through.

With the approach of spring, though, things are starting to become more normal. The balance of power in Washington has changed, but bankers are resilient and have worked through similar changes many times in the past.

The second round of PPP loans is going smoother than the first. Congress and the Treasury implemented the initial round so quickly they essentially handed it to the bankers and said “you guys figure it out.” Even though there were a lot of changes along the way, we did figure it out. When the second round was started, we were ready because we had established the process and procedures to handle these unique loans to our small business clients. I suspect that when this round of allocated dollars is exhausted, South Carolina bankers will have made over $8 billion in PPP loans. These loans, of course, kept businesses open and allowed them to continue to make payroll. Although bankers always play an essential role in building communities, the tremendous results of the PPP activities is the greatest example of what we do.

Although COVID is a long way from being eradicated, we are much better off than the dark days of late winter. The new cases per day trends are improving each week. The vaccination roll out might have been inconsistent in the early days, but it is rolling like a well-oiled machine now. I suspect that sometime in May everyone that wants a vaccination will have had the chance to get it. When it was my turn I showed up with my sleeve rolled up. I think we should all encourage everyone we know to get vaccinated, not only for their safety but for all of those they come in contact with.

When we look back over these last twelve months, it is really amazing the changes we worked through. In March, 2020 we had our annual Young Bankers Conference. As it turned out, that was the last big in-person event we had. It is only fitting that with the improving trends, the first in-person event in over a year was the 2021 Young Bankers Conference held last week at the Grove Park Inn. It was different, as you can imagine. Everyone wore mask and the meeting rooms were very large to allow for proper spacing. Our attendance was about 70% of prior years, but less people allowed us to have the proper safety precautions.

As we look to future events on the calendar, our Annual Meeting will be held June 6-9 at The Cloisters at Sea Island. I think our challenge this year will be finding rooms to accommodate everyone that plans to attend. We encourage you to register and make room reservations now before it sells out.

We had to cancel our Bankers School last July, but fully expect to resume it this year. Based on the flow of applications, I think it, too, will be at full capacity.

I can’t wait to see everyone in the upcoming months. All of us will continue to be cautious and do the right things to protect each other’s health, but it sure will be good to see friends I’ve missed seeing in over a year.

We have come a long way, and things will continue to be different for a while to come. I am thrilled, though, that we are “coming out of the woods.”