Mike Ellenburg

49 years of community banking

[Preston Kennedy @BankPres]

“The challenge with the try, fail, and try again method in banking is that we are not chartering very many new banks as the cost to entry has risen to $40 million or more to start one.”

We are down to 4,000 banks in the United States not because of some overwhelming need for scale and consolidation - despite the overheated and self-serving claims of the voracious M&A industry. Waves of consolidation have *always* been met with corresponding waves of de novo formation of community banks - until the rules changed after the 2008 financial crisis when regulators raised nearly unobtainable barriers to entry. Thousands of communities across America have lost their locally owned, locally managed, and locally capitalized financial institutions due not to a lack of interest but to an incredibly high level of capital and other disincentives for potential community bank founders.

Jeff Marsico is a keen observer of trends in banking. He is both a realist and an optimist when it comes to his opinions on community banking. Follow him on X, and read “Jeff on Banks”. You will not be disappointed.

[Brad Bolton @BradMBolton]

The @ICBA #ICBASUMMIT is underway and Alabama Bankers Association #CommunityBankers are well
Represented starting with an early breakfast with Emory Cox of
@SenTuberville office
@troutguide81611
@John_R_Ramage
@davidapatterson
@jonesjchad
@sk_eberhart

[Missy Ramage @MissyRamage]

This is awesome! So proud of you!

[Brad Bolton @BradMBolton]

#CommunityBank legend @BankPres re-emerges!

[Sage Steele @sagesteele]

Grateful that the @IWF & @SenTuberville are including me in this fight for Title IX & women's sports. Leagues, commissioners, coaches & parents--don't force girls/women to do this alone! Actions not words (and elections) mean more now than ever before. Silence is compliance. 🙏🏽

[Tim Zimmerman @TimZimPgh]

Derek, you have done an incredible job as Chairman of ICBA and representing Community Banking. You and Karen generously gave your time and talent to support community banks. You helped to ensure there is a bright future for community banks and the communities they serve.

[Jill Castilla @JillCastilla]

Wow, the depositors of the selling bank were FDIC insured and the purchasing credit union has elected to not be federally insured. That’s a tough disclosure & seems crazy that you can even do that. 🤷‍♀️

[Riley Gaines @Riley_Gaines_]

Trans-identified male player for Kipp Academy in MA injured 3 girls before half time causing Lowell Collegiate Charter School to forfeit.

A man hitting a woman used to be called domestic abuse. Now it's called brave.

Who watches this & actually thinks this is "compassionate, kind, and inclusive"?

[John R Ramage @John_R_Ramage]

Can’t imagine a more impassioned advocate for the #CommunityBanking franchise than @BradMBolton. He presented the @ICBA message at this morning’s #BankDirectorsCollege.

[Barry Kennedy @barrywkennedy]

@RepCohen The exclusive title of the song explains why I don't stand. @RepCohen there are many diverse cultures in this country and singling out one doesn't warrant my attention just because "National" is tossed into the mix. However if it makes you feel good, go ahead and cater.

[Nick Sortor @nicksortor]

🚨 SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON TO BLOCK SENATE’S MASSIVE UKRAINE AID PACKAGE

@SpeakerJohnson just came out saying that the House will NOT take up the overblown Ukraine bill because the focus MUST be on our own border security before even talking about foreign aid.

Johnson says the House will be working on its own bill.

HOLD THE LINE! NO MORE MONEY TO UKRAINE. FIX OUR OWN FREAKING BORDER.

[Mike Ellenburg @mikefssb]

I agree 100% McConnell needs to go.

[Leading Report @LeadingReport]

BREAKING: Sen. Mike Lee calls for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to step down from his leadership post.

“Why do you want Mitch McConnell to step down?” Fox News host Maria Bartiromo asked Lee.

“Look, Republican senators are not part of some feudal system. We each are represented to — we’re each representing our own states. And in occasion after occasion, bill after bill, we have seen Senate Republican leadership joining ranks with all or most Democrats, sharply dividing Republicans, actively alienating most Republican voters and taking a different position than most Republican senators in order to enact Democratic priorities and things that unite the Senate Democratic conference.”

“This is nothing personal against any individual in leadership,” Lee continued.

“And yet we do have to deal with this issue because this is how we alienate our voters. This is how we lose elections that should be won. We have got a real opportunity, Maria, for Republicans to take the majority this November. But if we keep doing things through our leadership that end up enacting priorities for the Democrats, we’re going to have brand confusion. And the voters who we need to show up to vote for Republican candidates in Senate races all over the country are going to be less likely to do that if they can’t tell which team is responsible for what policy.”

[Mike Ellenburg @mikefssb]

As far as I am concerned they should kick MacFee off

[Graham Coffey @GrahamCoffeyDC]

@MikeB49611740 Better than what? I’m not making a conclusion on what those events mean. I’m just laying out a timeline that I’d imagine many others have already thought about

[Steve Fleming @bigaub]

@AuburnMBB 99
@AlabamaMBB 81

I’m so proud and happy that @coachbrucepearl is our coach. He’s made Auburn basketball fun again (for a decade now). Let’s go for another decade, Bruce. 🐐

[Derek B. Williams @DerekBWilliams]

It's not just about banks complaining about the tax exemption out of fairness anymore. It's about common sense. No common bonds, no commitment to people of "modest means", no CRA-type accountability, and billions in lost tax revenue. #WakeUP Washington, DC! @ICBA

After 90 Years, It Is Time to Wean Credit Unions off Taxpayer Subsidies https://t.co/WQfFPlupdY

[Mike Ellenburg @mikefssb]

@TTuberville I think McConnell needs to leave the senate, or switch to Dem.

[Rebeca Romero Rainey @romerorainey]

Another day, another historically large acquisition of a tax-paying community bank by a tax-exempt credit union. Consumers, tell Congress to investigate how credit unions are leveraging your tax dollars. https://t.co/j7MDbHLECH

[Mike Ellenburg @mikefssb]

I agree McConnell needs to go

[Wendy Patterson @wendyp4545]

Breaking News: in the Senate Omnibus, Mitch McConnell agrees to allow the Biden administration to bring in 5,000 illegals per day. No wall $735 million in funding for a path to citizenship.

McConnell is on Biden's side of illegal immigration.

This is what these Republican fools agreed to last spring.

[Mike Ellenburg @mikefssb]

Call out national guard

[Independent Community Bankers of America @ICBA]

In advocacy, education and innovation, we are working alongside you to power your potential and help you surmount the trials you face along the journey. More from @romerorainey in the January issue of #IndependentBanker magazine: https://t.co/LIL8SH3thQ