For James "Jim" Ghiglieri Jr., who this week will become chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America, banking is more than a career — it's a family tradition.
A third-generation banker, he grew up watching his father run what was then Citizens National Bank of Toluca in Illinois and listening to stories passed down about his grandfather, who founded the bank, now Alpha Community Bank, in 1919. He observed the impact the bank and his father had on the 1,300-person community and realized early on what he would do with his life.
"It's a wonderful ability to serve your community," he said in an interview before traveling to Hawaii for the ICBA's annual convention. "It is something that drives me every day, as it does other community bankers across the country."
Mr. Ghiglieri started working at the family bank while in high school and joined full time when he finished college. Today, at 52, he is the president of the $200 million-asset subsidiary of Alpha Financial Group Inc., and his two sons work there with him.
Mr. Ghiglieri has been active in trade organizations, first at the state level with the Community Bankers Association of Illinois, where he was chairman once, and lately with the ICBA, where he has been on several committees, including a strategic planning committee he chaired.
He said one of his top priorities as chairman will be to strengthen the organization by recruiting new members and getting current ones more involved. "ICBA does so many wonderful things," he said. "We have a government staff that is second to none, and we have excellent education services, but none of those can be effective without actively engaged members throughout the country."
Camden Fine, the ICBA's president and chief executive officer, said that member recruitment was a key initiative under outgoing chairman Terry R. Jorde and that the group added roughly 300 member banks during Ms. Jorde's one-year tenure.
"Now that we have some forward momentum, I think Jim wants to deepen involvement of member banks and broaden direct involvement in leadership and advocacy," Mr. Fine said. "And I think he will be successful at that. All you have to do is hear him talk, and you catch his enthusiasm and passion."
Mr. Ghiglieri will also attend to policy issues. The ICBA has been a leading opponent of retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot seeking industrial loan charters, and Mr. Ghiglieri intends to keep up that fight.
He is also committed to stopping the Farm Credit System from expanding its lending authority, easing banks' regulatory burden, and preventing credit unions from gaining additional powers.
"The plate is full with a number of critical regulatory and legislative issues that need to be tackled," Mr. Fine said. "ICBA happens to be on a roll here with incredibly capable chairmen coming into leadership. They are articulate, passionate, and they know how to get the job done."
Cynthia Blankenship, vice chairman of the $203 million-asset Bank of the West in Irving, Tex., has been chosen to take over as the IBCA's chairman in 2008, followed by Mike Menzies, the president and CEO of the $134 million-asset Easton Bank and Trust Co. in Maryland, in 2009.
Mr. Ghiglieri will be sworn in as this year's chairman during a ceremony at the convention Wednesday. Among those who traveled to Hawaii for the occasion is his sister, Cathy, a former Texas banking commissioner. Ms. Ghiglieri worked for the Office of the Comptroller of Currency from 1974 to 1992 and was commissioner of the Texas Department of Banking from 1992 until 1999. She now runs a bank consulting company in Austin, Ghiglieri & Co.
