Download Your Guide to Addressing Disruption, Risk and Growth
Today, due to an increased regulatory burden and limited spending power, community banks face disproportionate challenges compared to large and online-only financial institutions. This collection of interviews with the Sageworks Client Advisory Board reveals shared pain points of community banks, from technology disruption and compliance issues to challenges tied to portfolio and staff growth. “Agile Bankers: How Community Banks are Addressing Disruption, Risk and Growth” provides an inside look into how executives from institutions ranging in asset size from $320 million to $1.9 billion are ably dealing with the pressing dilemmas you face every day as they steer their banks into the future.
Inside this eBook:
- Learn how robust technology solutions streamline daily tasks at community banks across the country
- Learn how community banks are tackling growth challenges, such as staffing and maintaining relationship management best practices
- Learn how your peers are conquering compliance burdens and keeping up with the many layers of bank regulatory requirements
Explore growth opportunities for your financial institution
Featuring insider interviews with:

Duane Abadie, First Bank & Trust
Duane is president and chief credit officer of First Bank & Trust, based in New Orleans. He is a 37-year career banker who joined the bank in 2011. Throughout his career, he has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, affordable housing and community support.

James Anthony, Martha’s Vineyard Bank
James Anthony has been president and chief executive officer of Martha’s Vineyard Bank since May 2017. Earlier, he was president and CEO of Chesapeake Bancorp and Chesapeake Bank and Trust in Maryland for more than a decade, and he served as chief operating officer and executive vice president of Severn Bank. He has served on the board of directors for the Atlantic Community Bankers Bank, the Maryland Bankers Association and numerous non-profit organizations.

Thomas Bugielski, Republic Bank of Chicago
Thomas Bugielski is president and chief executive officer of Republic Bank of Chicago, which he joined in 2015. With over three decades of experience in executive bank management, he draws from his professional knowledge and education to manage and direct financial institutions to success. He has been a director and chairman of the Illinois Bankers Association and served as a member of the Illinois State Banking Board.

K. John Jones, First National Bank of Layton
K. John Jones is chief executive officer and a director of the First National Bank of Layton in Layton, Utah. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Utah Bankers Association. He graduated in 1979 from the University of Utah and is also a 2002 graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School.

Karen Makowski, Chemung Canal Trust Company
Karen Makowski is executive vice president and chief risk officer of Chemung Canal Trust Company of Elmira, N.Y., New York State’s oldest, locally owned and managed community bank. She oversees the risk enterprise-wide for the bank and corporate subsidiaries. She held executive positions at Key Bank, Wachovia and SunTrust before helping to organize and serve as the inaugural CEO of Panther Community Bank, a Florida de novo bank chartered in 2007. She has served over 70 not-for-profits during her career and is currently VP of the Fund for Women of the Southern Tier.

Laurie Stewart, Sound Community Bank
Laurie Stewart is president and chief executive officer of Seattle-based Sound Community Bank, where over her 28 years with the institution she led its conversion from a $38 million dollar credit union to a $715 million publicly traded commercial bank. Recognized by American Banker as one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking in 2011, 2015, 2017 and once again in 2018, she also served as chair of the board of directors of the Washington Bankers Association and the Woodland Park Zoo, and was one of 14 bankers to serve on the inaugural FDIC Advisory Board and subsequently the CFPB Advisory Board. She is currently chair elect of the American Bankers Association and vice chair of the National Arthritis Foundation.