Florida Banking November 2023

STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

PROUD OF THE FBA CULTURE I AM LEAVING BEHIND

BY ALEJANDRO “ALEX” SANCHEZ, FBA PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

A s my tenure as the FBA’s third CEO in our 136 year history comes to an end, I am proud of our many accomplishments, and of the people behind those accomplishments over these last 30 years. Years ago, I made a promise in memory of our second great leader, John Milstead, to leave a stronger and better FBA upon the end of my tenure. Since our founding in 1888, the FBA has created and benefited from a positive culture that continues today. What is the FBA culture? It is the 17 people at the FBA who are dedicated to serving you and the

bankers during those dark days: “We need the FBA now more than ever.” I had prepared the FBA team for the worst in those difficult years of 2008-11, and their response was to continue putting their noses to the grindstone and to work harder and smarter for the banking industry so that you could better serve your customers and communities. When COVID hit, and most banks were unfamiliar with joining the portal of the Small Business Administration to upload the PPP loans, the FBA team

banking industry. During the last 30 years, I have seen that culture at work for our industry every day. I am so proud to have had the honor of leading the men and women who make up our association who are so devoted in serving our bankers. Part of the FBA culture is that these 17 individuals are like family. We care for each other in good or bad times with a bond of trust. We travel together, eat together, and have spent many years together supporting one another

worked around the clock to help our industry assist their customers with these critical loans and help our state recover from the negative impacts of COVID. The FBA team is a family. And while this member of the family will soon be leaving them behind, they will continue in their dedication in serving our industry by helping the FBA’s fourth CEO, Kathy Kraninger, in her efforts. The FBA family is all about trust, unity, and knowing and believing in each other that no matter the obstacles

“NO MATTER THE OBSTACLES OUR INDUSTRY FACES, THE FBA TEAM WILL BE UNITED AND WORK TOWARD FINDING SOLUTIONS TO HELP OUR BANKERS DO WHAT THEY DO BEST.”

through the challenges of life. That unity translates into the strength of the FBA team, the best one in the association profession. That unity has led us to conquer hills and mountains together for the FBA and for our industry. For instance, during the Great Recession when 75 percent of Florida’s banks were not making a profit and laying off employees, the banks still paid the FBA dues. It was remarkable! This was the response we got from

our industry faces, the FBA team will be united and work toward finding solutions to help our bankers do what they do best, which is providing the capital to make the economy go. This FBA culture must and will continue. It has existed for 136 years, starting under the leadership of our first CEO, Floyd Call, and continued by our second CEO, John Milstead; I have had the honor of maintaining and enhancing this culture as FBA’s third CEO.

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