The future is fairly bright despite the current financial indicators because the working capital crunch that exists in agriculture now is temporary. The prospects for long-term growth in demand for products is actually quite positive. [Continue]
Industrial hemp was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is gathering information to develop regulations for an industrial hemp program. Here, we offer a quick introduction to the plant and issues around it. [Continue]
MK Decision is a tech company on the rise. Founded in 2015, the San Diego-based company offers an online loan application and security platform designed to help community banks compete. BankBeat talked to CEO Har Rai Khalsa about the company’s approach to online lending and its new partnership, launched in February, with Bankers’ Bank, Madison, Wis. [Continue]
Writers looking for a book deal or agent representation learn rather quickly that success hinges on two things: Name recognition and a marketable platform. Most bankers don’t have name recognition outside of their communities or institutions, but a platform is clearly within reach and building one can be good for business. Not only can a platform position you as a thought leader, it can raise the visibility of your institution. [Continue]
We want our teams to feel empowered to use their resources and take appropriate action to overcome obstacles. At the most basic level, this means keeping open the lines of communication. Communication challenges often first come to my attention during monthly one-on-one meetings with staff. [Continue]
Bankers often think of strategic planning in the fall, sometimes in conjunction with the annual budgeting process, but I want to encourage you to think about strategic planning now. If you want to conduct strategic planning successfully this fall, you really need to begin preparing now. [Continue]
Age should not matter. Employees from all generations should strive to work together as one team to accomplish the vision of the company. [Continue]
Increasing competition from tech-based innovators demonstrates the importance of the payments system to the banking industry. Connect payments with information and you’ve got a powerful basis for business success. Paul Waltz, president of Shazam, likes to say the historical value of the banking franchise was in loans; today it is in deposits and in the future it will be in information. [Continue]
The secure movement of delicate customer information has long been a concern for banks, but never more so than in the age of massive data breaches and numerous cyber threats. [Continue]
I received a solicitation in my personal mail recently. It was a letter from Unison, which offered me money based on my homeownership. I get a HELOC solicitation almost every week, but this was different, most notably because it wasn’t offering a credit product. [Continue]