Pub. 14 2017 Issue 2

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S 8 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE JOHN W. ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT New Mexico Bankers Association During the special session, the Legislature enacted and the Governor signed SB1 which increases the general fund by $100.4 million with $81.4 million in capital outlay swaps and $19 million in other state fund swaps. T he 106th Annual NMBA Conven- tion was a huge success. A special thanks to all those who attended the event, which was held at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso. This year’s theme was “Legends in the Field”. The event opened with a meet and greet cocktail party with former Major League Baseball star Shane Andrews, a Carlsbad native, who played seven years in the major leagues for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. Drafted out of Carlsbad High School, Shane was the first round pick (11th overall) of the Montreal Expos. A power hitter, Andrews is credited with hitting the first major league home run of themillenniumonMarch 29, 2000 in the first Major League game played outside of America in Japan. During the event, he enter- tained the crowd with stories about his baseball career including facing hard-throwing pitchers such as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. The questions included what was it like to be hit by a 100 mile per hour fastball? Awful. What was his favorite ballpark to play in? Fenway Park in Boston.Whowere the best all-around players he playedwith and against? Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez. Shane played his last games in 2002 while playing for the Boston Red Sox. He was forced to retire early in his career as he suffered from back surgery complications. The education sessions of the convention were very informative. James Ballentine, the ABA Executive Vice President for Congres- sional Relations and Public Policy, discussed life in the nation’s capital under the Trump administration. He discussed attempts to re- peal Dodd-Frank, the U.S. Senate’s position on the House’s version of the Financial CHOICE Act, and possible regulatory reform from Con- gress. He was optimistic some bank reform would be enacted this year, but not the Financial CHOICE Act. Joseph Navarrete, Chief Information Officer, NewMexico Mortgage Finance Authority, gave an excellent presentation on trends in cyber- security. His focus concerned current cyber- security trends that all businesses and other organizations should be aware of, including vulnerabilities associated with cloud services, ransomware, and spear phishing. Tom Siems and Marycruz De Leon, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, discusses how the na- tional economy has performed since the Great Recession of 2008-09, and where is it headed? What drives economic growth? What can be done to boost growth? Howhas the NewMexico economy performed relative to the rest of the nation? Not well. What are the differences in performance between northern and southern NewMexico? Southern NewMexico is substan- tially outperforming the North. Both speakers would not guess as to the future of interest rates. Chance and Claire Chase, Mack Energy Cor- poration, discussed how the transition between President Obama to President Trump has affect - ed the oil and gas industry. They also discussed how local and state politics can potentially dev- astate the industry. Chance reviewed what the oil industry means to New Mexico’s economy and how the industry’s downturn has impaired local communities. Finally, they addressedwhy the oil and gas service companies will be amajor game changer for the industry going forward. Finally, Craig DeForrest, President of De- Forrest Associates, LTD, Santa Fe, discussed regulating your business organization. He noted that many well-run businesses are low on spirit and aspiration. The “stick to their knitting,” but almost all work is focused on maintaining current (i.e.) past standards. Most of their people feel comfortable but somewhat lifeless in the workplace, and business results