HAPPY THANKSGIVING

It’s Thanksgiving.?Already!?Someone once said the days go slowly but the years fly by.?As someone who is older than most of the readers of this Thanksgiving greeting, I can certainly attest to that!?

On the eve of Halloween, Connie and I were at a family wedding in Dallas.?The father of the bride gave an eloquent toast to his daughter.?While I take the liberty of paraphrasing here, he compared life to a river.?As he spoke to the bride and groom, one of his messages was that “you now have your own boat” as you set sail on the river.?He gave humorous and wise examples of “stops” on the river from their?family’s history.

?It occurred to me that our own “boat”, The Mighty MidWestOne, has encountered significant whitewater these past few years.?We’ve met the COVID challenge head-on and while we may have taken on a little water at times, we’ve continued down the river.?One of the challenges that we don’t often discuss has been the pace of change forced upon?all of us during this pandemic.?While some of that change is good in the long run, it has nonetheless been a somewhat staggering pace.?We’ve heard it said that ten years of change came during the past 18 months and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.?It makes me pause to give thanks for the many capable employees who helped us navigate these rough waters.

?“Hire and retain excellent employees” is one of MidWestOne’s core operating principles.?For years we’ve said that when someone leaves our company—for whatever reason—it is an opportunity to acquire talent and thereby incrementally improve our company.?And each person who boards our ship brings with them a story.?One of the fun parts of my job is to learn those stories.?Today, with permission, I share one with you.

?Gloria Inamagua?joined our company in 2019.?She is a talented banker and brings energy and passion to our company daily.?Many may not know that Gloria immigrated to Pennsylvania from Ecuador with her mother at the age of 11.?While she did not speak English, she was immediately enrolled in an elementary school in York.?This, of course, was difficult for young Gloria! ?She recalls that a turning point came when she was paired with an English-as-a-Second-Language teacher.?This was just the break she needed!?While in high school, Gloria gave birth to a beautiful girl and her life situation became understandably more?complicated.?She possessed a drive to succeed and after graduating high school, she began a long journey to receive an associate’s degree at a community college while managing the demands of work and family, and successfully finished last year.?She didn’t stop there, and she is now on track to receive her degree in Business Administration from Metro State next summer!?She accomplished this while raising three girls and rising in the banking world.?Her oldest daughter, Evelyn, is now following in her mother’s footsteps by studying business at a local community college.?Gloria is a tremendous leader in our company’s Retail Banking operation.?The?sky is the limit for Gloria.

?I think about Gloria’s path compared to my own and I am in awe of what she has accomplished.?Her desire to succeed, her passion for her customers and her community, and her commitment to her family make her a role model for us all.?Hire and retain excellent employees - indeed!?I am thankful?she is on our boat and leading positive change in our company.

?“Learn constantly so we continually improve”?is another operating principle that has never been more relevant than it is today.?Not only has the river been rough at times, but there have been nights when the fog rolled in and we could not see the lighthouse?on the distant?bluff.?We now might see our doctor on Zoom rather than in person.?We occasionally?work from home.?We are increasingly working in a paperless environment—when was the last time you saw an inter-office envelope??Our customers demand more technology that works seamlessly each time they use it.?Fewer of our customers are coming to see us on a regular basis.?Margins have narrowed.?We are rightfully under pressure to welcome more diverse people to our ship and to engage them and make them feel welcomed.?That’s my?partial list and you undoubtedly have your own—but I think we all agree that we must continue to do more, be faster, and get better

?The?boat will not sail?unless these “excellent employees”—all of you!—come together and work as One team.?Only by rowing together can we keep the boat moving down the river through whatever rapids that may come.

?So, this Thanksgiving, I say once again how proud I am to be a part of MidWestOne.?It’s the good people who make the journey worthwhile, isn’t it??The phrase “count your blessings” is probably one that is overused, yet this?phrase is most appropriate in this season of Thanksgiving.?We should all be thankful that we live in a place where Gloria Inamagua can bring her talent and hard work to our team and succeed!?We are thankful that we have a strong team here, one that supports each other and is committed to continual progress and becoming?“ever better”.?While in no way perfect, we live in a country that tackled COVID head-on and led the world in inventing and distributing effective vaccinations to very much slow down the ravages of the virus.?The list of blessings?is endless when we free our minds to really appreciate what we have.

?I close with a quick story.?I recently visited our fine Naples team while attending a conference.?On the plane trip home, I was seated next to a lovely woman who had just lost her husband of 45 years to COVID.?As I listened to her story, it was clear that the river she is on is suddenly turbulent and she finds herself in uncharted waters.?I grieved with her as I listened to her story and reminded myself to count my own blessings.

?We all know that every river ends someplace, though we don’t know when or where.?I submit that the best things we can do this Thanksgiving are to give thanks for our abundant blessings and to remember to stop and appreciate this journey.?Appreciate where we have been and anticipate what lies ahead on the river.?With the crew we’ve assembled, I know we are ready for whatever lies around the bend…..

?Happy Thanksgiving!