Main Street Banking: A Podcast for Community Bankers

Any chance to chat with Eric Alexander is going to be a good one but when he told me he had written a book about Steward Leadership, I knew we had to get him on. I don't want to spend too much time talking because the episode is that full of great insights from Eric. Go ahead and pre-order the book here on his website: https://sixarrowsconsulting.com/book/

With Barret Grad School around the corner, the economy still continues to turn. A lot of news in the markets over the past week and when that happens...you already know...we bring in Jim Reber to break it down for us!

This past week, we put on a webinar about Practical AI for Community Banks. The engagement from the industry was amazing and it definitely won't be the last one we do. This episode is the AI summary of the webinar that I thought was absolutely amazing itself. If you want to view the webinar and get the handouts, check out https://barretbanking.org/practical-ai-for-community-banks/

In this episode of the Main Street Banking podcast, we sit down with industry veterans Brian Bauer, CEO of Revio Insight, and Randy Goggins, CEO of Banker Bounty. The trio discusses an innovative new partnership that combines Revio’s advanced AI data analytics with Banker Bounty’s robust referral tracking systems. By leveraging real-time customer data and actionable insights, community banks can n...

As we expand our ag lending curriculum here at Barret and seek to grow the knowledge base for a new generation of ag lenders, we have to understand the role of government programs and crop insurance (among a whole lot of other things!) Matthew Farrell is the Director of Ag Services for Arthur J. Gallagher and has a great deal of insight and expertise into this area. OBBB changed a the risk profile...

Main Street Banking Economic Update: December 12, 2025 by Barret School of Banking

Wanted to drop a quick Thanksgiving message to the community banking industry. Enjoy your holiday!!

Ever wanted to take another shot at bank sim? Have you ever heard about bank sim and wondered what it was? Regardless of whether you have no clue what we're talking about, were victorious in a graduate school of banking sim in the past, or (like me) tasted the sour taste of bitter defeat...you've never done sim like this. And that's the point. Now, you can take another shot at it, actually learn b...

Teslar Software has been a really cool company to watch. We were first introduced to them way back during one of the first ICBA ThinkTECH's and it's been a joy to see them grow and get to know them. Also, I've always believed that the merging of small business and consumer business banking is a path to profitable banking in most communities. These become sticky customers and brand evangelists. Joe...

Stable coins have gotten a lot of news lately...but what are they? Are they here to stay? Is this something community banks are going to have to deal with...whether we like it or not? I don't know, but it is always best to arm ourselves with information because, as my good friend Justin says, "we fear the unknown until we know the fear". I think it's a powerful statement as it pertains to all type...

With all the news this week, time to bring on Jim Reber, CEO of ICBA Securities. Be sure you sign up for Stifel's Quarterly Strategy Webinar for Banks at https://stifel.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Rk2fDcs1Q2iNsWFfT7iF6A#/registration

I have to be honest here...one of the things that I didn't fully understand in my time in production was treasury services. I understood what they were...but it was never really part of the strategic process. The more I'm around banking, I see the same thing with other banks and I don't think it's because it's a bad idea but rather it's because we don't understand it very well. Laura Wetherell wit...

Peter Stenehjem is the Pres/CEO of First International Bank and Trust in North Dakota. He's a returning guest, friend of Barret, and a fascinating banker to talk to. FIBT has been family owned for over 110 years now by Peter's family and has branched out into doing some really cool stuff in the world of fintech and payments. They've owned Kotapay (https://www.kotapay.com/) for years now and are a...

C.J. Tate and I connected a while back and just had some really interesting conversations around career advancement in community banking and the role of education. He made some great points about how it's a two-way street and the role of culture AND the role of the greener banker's attitude towards learning more. He's dead on right.... His story is really cool and I don't want to spoil it so, take...

Scale Link is a really cool CDFI that offers a secondary market for small business microloans and trading platform. Their CEO, Jonathan Brereton, stopped by the show to have a chat...and y'all know what a fan we are of CDFI's on Main St. Banking. Love meeting other true believers out there!!! Be sure to check out Scale Link at https://scalelink.org/ And many thanks to ICBA Securities for their spo...

Wrapping up our discussion with Eric and Brett this week. If you missed last week's, be sure you go back and check that out. Otherwise, you just landed right in the middle of a conversation and it probably doesn't make much sense! Thanks to ICBA Securities for their continued sponsorship.

One of the most important (and yet least discussed) relationships in the bank is the CEO/CFO relationship. When it works...it REALLY works but when it doesn't....it REALLY doesn't. It represents banking, in so many ways, in that these two positions have vastly different perspectives yet must work together. However, I think you'll find in this episode (and next week's Part 2) that there are more si...

With all the news and shake-ups we've seen over the last few days...I wanted to bring on Jim Reber to help banks understand what's going on.

Growing as a leader in a bank can be hard. Where do you even start? What does that even look like in practical terms? Eric Alexander with Six Arrows Consulting is a frequent guest of the show because these are questions we like to discuss! Be sure to check him out at https://sixarrowsconsulting.com/ as well as on LinkedIn And many thanks to ICBA Securities for their sponsorship. Check them out at...

Many thanks to Jim Reber, CEO of ICBA Securities, for continuing to sponsor the show as well as come on each quarter to shed light on economic news. I know it's a big help to all of us here and to many of you as well. Be sure to register for the webinar he mentions at the end on Enterprise Risk Management. Jeff Rigsby is a great speaker and it'll be worth your time. You can register at https://sti...

I was glad to bring back Tim Dively to discuss data and AI. Tim does a great job of cutting through buzzwords and help banks understand these very weighty topics. In this episode, we discussed more organizational change management than you'd expect on an AI podcast episode but I think you'll see the importance of understanding where to start with AI but also how to implement the change. Great conv...

The CRA has always been of interest to me. There's a lot of good that's come from it but recent changes have made the implementation of the law rather murky. Today, we sat down with David Lenoir, Pres/CEO of ICBA CRA Solutions and Steffani Jenkins, CRA Liaison, to discuss the foreseeable future of the law and also how important the law is to community banking in general. To learn more about them,...

We've done quite a bit of content over the last few years about ideas to use the space we have in out banks. I think it's a fascinating discussion because the ideas are wide ranging and have a HUGE amount of opportunity. I met Alaa and got to know Maptician's work and I like the way he approaches this topic...managing leases. I thought it spoke to bankers and the way he frames the discussion aroun...

It's been a long week this week with a ton of economic news....and you know us, when there's a news cycle like this, we bring on Jim Reber from ICBA Securities to give us a good comprehensive overview of what's going on. In the episode, he mentioned the webinar next week on Bank Strategy from Stifel. Register for that at https://stifel.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AxI4Bj-BRR62NjbUfxrneQ#/registrati...

There's an age-old question in bank management that I've heard all the nearly 25 years I've been in the business. How do we get more business referrals from our employees? And the next question is going to be something like..."why didn't this incentive plan work?!" If that situation sounds familiar (and I'm betting it does because, ya know...it's banking) then you might want to check out the episo...