The community bank CEO and Most Powerful Women to Watch honoree sits for an exit interview on what bankers face as her term running the American Bankers Association ends.

As new hires generate low-cost deposits and higher-yielding business loans, the New York company's net interest margin is widening. Dime executives signaled the hiring will resume in 2025.

Other acquisitive executives, however, say that interest rate cuts have hastened already-active deal discussions, as more banks seek scale and business line diversity.

The merged company's footprint would cover what Atlantic Union CEO John Asbury has called the golden crescent, stretching from Baltimore south to Hampton Roads.

The Arkansas bank said CRE is no longer its principal growth driver, yet it is still the bank's most prominent business and a big part of its robust lending activity.

He will succeed Kevin Riley, who previously announced plans to step down this year. Reuter retired last spring after leading FirstBank Holding in Colorado since 2017.

First State Bank of Purdy is on the forefront of new technology from Jack Henry & Associates thanks to the decades-long relationship between the bank and Jack Henry himself.

The Honolulu-based bank's board continues to recommend selling to Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles, despite a competing offer that includes a higher price tag.

The veteran turnaround executive was hired in 2020 to salvage the troubled banking company after the Justice Department launched a far-reaching probe of its mortgage lending practices. It agreed to sell to Florida-based EverBank.

Financial institutions are on the front lines of relief efforts in Tennessee and North Carolina, while in Florida, Hurricane Milton threatens to deal a second blow.