Executing on a strategy to expand its membership and reach, the Bank Holding Company Association is preparing to host its first major seminar in a location other than the Twin Cities. The BHCA has teamed with the Stinson Leonard Street law firm and Bell Bank to present a one-day bank owners’ seminar called “Fundamentals of Success,” April 17. The event takes place in the conference center of the Stinson Leonard Street offices in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
The Bank Holding Company Association was formed in 1981 to give bank holding company professionals and bank owners education and networking opportunities. Every spring and fall since its founding, the association has hosted a two-day seminar in the Twin Cities, typically near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport. Those seminars continue with 2018 events planned for May 7-8 and Oct 1-2, both set for the Hyatt Regency Bloomington-Minneapolis. In addition to those traditional events, the association has planned the new event in Kansas City.
The Association, which currently has about 225 members, hopes to expand its membership base throughout the center part of the country where so many of the nation’s community banks are located. The Kansas City event is expected to draw holding company officers and bank owners from Kansas and Missouri.
Stinson Leonard Street attorneys Bob Monroe, Adam Maier and Karen Garrett will make presentations on the value of the bank holding company structure, the subchapter S versus C corp question, and cybersecurity. BKD accountants Brian Mall and Dodge Docheff will provide a tax update, based on the tax reform law passed in December. UMB’s KC Mathews will provide an economist’s view of the current business landscape. In addition, there will be a session on ownership succession presented by Tim Breitbach and Rhea Hemish of Eide Bailly, and a presentation on compensation strategies from David Shoemaker and Ken Derks of Equias Alliance.
“We have a good thing going at the Bank Holding Company Association and we are very excited about bringing our show on the road, so to speak,” said BHCA President Brenda Johnson, Charter Bankshares, Inc., Eau Claire, Wis. “We have strong membership in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, with members also in Iowa and Illinois. Holding company and owner education is so important that we feel strongly it should be expanded into other areas where there are many community banks.”