Workshop and Session Presenters
Patrick Barkey, PhD
Director, Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Montana
Patrick Barkey became director of the BBER in July 2008, after serving as director of health care research since April 2007. He has been involved with economic forecasting and health care policy research for twenty-four years, both in the private and public sector. He served previously as Director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University in Indiana for fourteen years, overseeing and participating in a wide variety of projects in labor market research, and state and regional economic policy issues. He attended the University of Michigan, receiving a B.A. (’79) and Ph.D. (’86) in economics.
Matthew Becker, ASA, CFA
BankValue Advisory Services, United Bankers’ Bank
Matthew Becker is Vice President of the BankValue Advisory Services division of United Bankers’ Bank. Matt oversees data collection, management, and analysis for bank stock valuations, financial projections and modeling, and market studies. Matt has been with BankValue and United Bankers’ Bank for over 10 years and has worked with dozens of community banks and their holding companies throughout the upper Midwest during that period. In addition to the valuations, Matt provides a variety of financial and data analysis services for internal and external clients and has spoken on the topics of community bank performance and valuation for various banking and business valuation seminars and conferences over the years.
Matt, a native of Bismarck, North Dakota, has a BA degree from the University of Montana, and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Matt is also a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute, and an Accredited Senior Appraiser and member of the American Society of Appraisers. He and his wife and two daughters live in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Melanie Hall
Commissioner, State of Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions
Melanie Hall is the Commissioner of the Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions. She provides the overall leadership to the Banking Division, which is responsible for the supervision of 64 state-chartered banks and 9 state-chartered credit unions with over 20 billion in total assets. In addition, her division licenses and examines over 1,000 non-bank financial entities including mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers, consumer loan companies, sales finance companies, title lenders, deferred deposit lenders and escrow businesses. In order to protect Montana consumers, the Division regularly assesses the safety and soundness of all state-chartered depository institutions as well as the compliance of all regulated entities according to Montana state law. Commissioner Hall obtained her B.A. in Economics from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and her juris doctor from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has been an attorney in private practice dealing with civil litigation in a wide variety of areas including maritime law, environmental regulation, commercial transactions and class action litigation.
Lori Fearon
Employee Benefits Licensed Consultant and Sales Executive, Payne Financial Group
Lori Fearon is an Employee Benefits Executive in the Helena office of Montana International Insurance, a member of Payne Financial Group Inc. Lori holds Montana State Insurance Licenses in life, health, property, casualty and disability insurance. In addition to holding state insurance licenses, Lori is a licensed Benefits Consultant. Lori is a Life Underwriting Training Council Fellow and is a past president of the Helena chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Fearon specializes in group health insurance, group life insurance, short and long term disability, and group dental insurance plan, in both the fully insured and self-funded arena. As an Employee Benefits Executive, Lori’s specialties include evaluation and strategic design and financial analysis of a client’s employee benefit programs. Among her accounts, she consults for the state-wide Montana Food Distributors Association Health Insurance Plan. Over the past six years, she has ranked in the top 2% of Payne Financial Group’s financial services sales executives.
Paul Merski
Executive Vice President, Congressional Relations & Chief Economist, ICBA
Paul Merski is executive vice president and chief economist for the Independent Community Bankers of America. He is the author of numerous policy studies and articles that have appeared in major media outlets. Before joining ICBA, Paul served as the chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and tax policy advisor to Sen. Connie Mack (R–Fla.) – a member of both the Senate Finance and Senate Banking committees and chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. Paul advised Sen. Mack on Senate Finance and Senate Banking committee matters. From 1992 to 1995, Paul served as director of fiscal policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), a research and advocacy group; from 1987 to 1992, he was director of fiscal affairs for the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based tax think tank. He also served as an economist with the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis during the administration of President Ronald Reagan where he helped produce the official gross domestic product (GDP) economic estimates. Paul earned his Masters of Business Administration with top honors from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. He completed graduate work in economics at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and received his Bachelors of Arts in economics from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Arne Monson
President and Co-founder, Holtmeyer & Monson
As President, Co-founder Arne Monson has led the successful development and evolution of Holtmeyer & Monson since 1982. Under his guidance, the company has gained prominence for its SBA lending expertise and growing customer base. With his original co-founder, Gene Holtmeyer, Arne started the firm bringing nine years of commercial banking experience with Norwest Banks (now part of Wells Fargo) and First Bank Systems. He is a Certified Management Accountant and a Lender Service Provider Committee Member of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders. Arne is recognized as an authority on SBA lending and is frequently asked for input by the Small Business Administration, Congressional bodies and regulatory agencies. A graduate of Southwest State University in Marshall, MN, he holds an MBA in business finance from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles and an MBA in business administration from Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN.
Greg Roll, CFA
Senior Vice President, Investment Strategies Group, ICBA Securities
As a Senior Vice President in the Investment Strategies Department, Greg works with financial institutions to assist them in optimizing their investment portfolio and balance sheet position incorporating the institution’s asset/liability and capital constraints. Prior to joining Vining Sparks, Greg spent over 15 years working in positions in the corporate strategy, private banking, and capital markets functions at a regional bank. He developed analytical models incorporating the asset/liability, asset quality, and capital adequacy functions to formulate income and balance sheet strategies. Greg holds BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Memphis and has earned the CFA designation.
Robert Wirtz
Assistant Regional Director, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Robert (Bob) Wirtz is an Assistant Regional Director with the FDIC’s Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection in the San Francisco Region. Bob has worked for the FDIC for 27 years, both in Risk Management and Consumer Protection. In his current position, Bob co-leads the region’s consumer protection examination program and has oversight responsibility for two field territories that examine institutions in five states. Prior to his appointment to his current position in 2007, Bob was a Field Supervisor in the New York Region and directed a staff of field examiners. Bob previously served as a Review Examiner in the San Francisco Regional Office. Throughout his career, Bob has served on numerous details and special assignments, including Acting Deputy Regional Director for Consumer Protection in San Francisco and New York, Acting Assistant Regional Director for Risk Management in New York, and Special Assistant to the Senior Deputy Director for Risk Management in the Washington Office. Bob earned his B.S. in business administration from the University of North Dakota in 1985.
Keynote Speakers
Monica Lindeen
Montana’s Commissioner of Securities and Insurance
Monica J. Lindeen was elected Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, Montana State Auditor, in November 2008. Monica was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in November 2011. Monica serves as Vice-Chair of the NAIC Health Insurance and Managed Care Committee, chairs the NAIC Designated Program Advisory Board, and is a member of the NAIC Executive Committee and Finance Committee. Recently, Monica was appointed to the Federal Insurance Office Advisory Board, which aids the office’s director in monitoring the insurance industry. Prior to public service, Monica founded a highly successful business, Montana Communications Network (MCN), one of the first Montana-based Internet providers. From 1994 to 1996, she was a part-time faculty member in the MSU-Billings English Department and taught as a graduate assistant in the Department of Educational Foundations. Monica and her husband, David, have a daughter, two sons, and seven grandchildren.
Peter Brookes
Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs, The Heritage Foundation
Peter Brookes is a Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation and is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He writes a weekly column for the New York Post and frequently appears on FOX, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and BBC. He is the author of: “A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Rogue States.” Mr. Brookes served in the U.S. Navy and is now a Commander in the naval reserves. He has over 1300 flight hours aboard Navy EP-3 aircraft. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; the Defense Language Institute; the Naval War College; the Johns Hopkins University; and is pursuing a Doctorate at Georgetown University. Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.
