10/07/2026
Thank you Virginia Association of Community Banks for making our last convention of the year a great one! Here are a few highlights:
🍻 Barret Board member and VACB CEO Corey Connors fully committed to the Oktoberfest theme — lederhosen and all!
🏦 Michael Burke Jr of ChoiceOne Bank sharing his incredible banking journey — from teenage teller to community bank president, and soon-to-be ICBA Board Chair. A great story of what’s possible in this industry.
🎤 Mike sharing the stage with Alice P Frazier, CEO of Potomac Bank — Barret faculty member, and current ICBA Board Chair — to talk about the challenges facing community banks and how ICBA is helping our industry navigate them.
😂 Laughing and catching up with our buddy Leah Edwards Hosmer. Some of the best convention moments happen between the sessions.
👏 Celebrating Barret alum Bobby Hobbs of CornerStone Bank VA and getting to be there when he was elected to the VACB Board. Nothing better than watching our alums step up and lead.
📈 Ryan Hayhurst, President of The Baker Group LP giving us his take on the economy, rates, the Fed, and what it all means for our balance sheets.
It’s been a busy year of conventions, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The friendships. The new connections. The opportunity to educate and serve our industry. And especially, watching people we’ve help educate and worked with grow into bigger roles and make an impact.
That’s the part that makes it all worth it.
Here’s to a great year — and an even better group of people to share it with. 👏
