Both of these sessions provided cause for optimism about the future relevance and importance of community banks while simultaneously raising concerns about the viability of the very smallest banking organizations. In my remarks today, I would like to explore this mixed message a bit further and ask what the observed trends in the data imply for today’s community bankers and the communities they serve.
In doing so, I will look at changes in the community banking sector at a national level and will also look at geographic patterns of community bank growth and decline.