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Search ECONOMY MATTERS ANNUAL REPORT As Fintech Transforms Payments, the Atlanta Fed Seeks to Guide Innovation April 30, 2020 Listen to fintechs talk about their experiences getting started in the industry and how they are seeking guidance, and to Atlanta Fed experts describe the work we are doing to help guide fintechs. Transcript A message from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president and CEO Raphael Bostic A A A The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is deeply concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound effects on the health and well-being of our staff and the citizens of the communities we serve. But even amid this global pandemic, business continues to be transacted. This is why we remain committed to serving the American people by continuing to do the job Congress gave us—promoting maximum employment and stable prices, and protecting the stability of the financial system. A key part of our mission is ensuring that the nation's payments system is accessible, safe, and efficient. As part of this, we work to understand the profound changes technology is bringing to our payments networks. Expanded computing power and communications capabilities are fueling an explosion in financial technology, or fintech. Recent years have witnessed the introduction of thousands of apps allowing consumers to make payments and manage their personal finances. These new payment options offer unprecedented convenience, to be sure. But they also raise new concerns about the safety of our payments and personal data. To better understand and mitigate those concerns, the Atlanta Fed adopted promoting safer payments innovation as a top strategic priority. Our 2019 annual report will explain the safer payments innovation strategic priority. We believe the Atlanta Fed is uniquely positioned to tackle this issue. As home to the Federal Reserve System's Retail Payments Office, the Atlanta Fed houses the largest assemblage of retail payments expertise in the Fed System. I believe this work is particularly important now. Lockdowns and concern about infection could increase the use of electronic payments in the long term, and so a deep understanding of these issues can help us make sure the payments system works for everyone. As you hopefully stay healthy and heed the advice of public health experts, I encourage you to take a few minutes to read our 2019 annual report. Listen to the accompanying podcast. I hope you learn about our work to encourage innovation that keeps our payments system safe and accessible to everyone. The Atlanta Fed aims to balance innovation and safety Atlanta Fed president Raphael Bostic often says that if the nation's payments system were to crash even for an hour, it would be a big problem for the Federal Reserve. Would it ever. Consider that every hour, people in the United States make on average about $11 billion in noncash retail payments. That's from nearly 400,000 retail transactions a minute, according to the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study. Driven mainly by debit and credit card purchases, the number of noncash payments in 2018 rose by 22 percent in just three years. A secure, efficient, and effective payment and settlement system is vital to the U.S. economy, and the Federal Reserve plays an important role in helping maintain its integrity. While the underlying "rails" that carry vast loads of electronic payment information have been in place since the 1970s, the number of entryways to those rails has soared with the proliferation of financial technology, or fintech. And each new doorway to the payments system is a new opportunity for fraud. In 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta launched a multipronged strategic priority aimed at helping to balance innovation and safety. This initiative—balancing innovation and security—encompasses business units across the Atlanta Fed. In collaboration with the payments industry, the Atlanta Fed aims to: safeguard consumers and the payments system amid rapid innovation understand the fintech landscape and emerging technologies most likely to affect the payments ecosystem and the new risks these innovations present engage with stakeholders to gather and share knowledge experiment with emerging financial technology to solve the Bank's own business problems We explore below how the Atlanta Fed plans to achieve these goals. Why the Atlanta Fed? First, though, why is the Atlanta Fed in particular trying to foster safer innovation in the payments industry? There are several reasons, but a couple stand out. For one, the Atlanta Fed is home to the Federal Reserve System's Retail Payments Office. The Retail Payments Office not only operates two major payments networks—the Fed Automated Clearinghouse (FedACH), which handles direct deposits among other payments, and Check Services, which processes the nation's checks—but it also guards the safety and efficiency of the nation's broader payments ecosystem. Thus, the Atlanta Fed houses the largest collection of retail payments expertise in the Federal Reserve System. Second, metropolitan Atlanta is a hub of the payments processing industry. Some two-thirds of payments processed in the United States pass through wires and computers operated by companies in Georgia, according to the Technology Association of Georgia, earning the metro area the nickname Transaction Alley. "There is a nexus that makes it imperative for us to be in this space," said André Anderson, first vice president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta Fed and head of the RPO. "This is an area where we can make a real difference." An influx of fintech firms is rapidly altering the payments ecosystem. This ecosystem comprises the FedACH and its rival, the Clearinghouse, major card processing networks, hundreds of payment processors, thousands of financial institutions and merchants, and an abundance of apps and other consumer payment services. To be sure, the surge in electronic payments coursing through that system has been driven in the very recent past in part by economic and population growth. The coronavirus pandemic has also changed people's behavior. Many people are now buying more stuff online or through contactless applications on their phones. And the explosion of fintech services that allow consumers to move funds with an app is also fueling the surge, noted Mary Kepler, senior vice president and head of the Atlanta Fed's Retail Payments Risk Forum. Thousands of fintech products have debuted in recent years, from widely used products like PayPal and Venmo to offerings from firms with five employees. In 2018 alone, more than 2,000 U.S. fintech startups combined to attract roughly $50 billion in venture capital, according to CB Insights, a technology industry analytics firm. Georgia by itself is home to about 170 fintech firms of various sizes, according to the Technology Association. Many of these companies offer services consumers use on the more than 250 million smartphones in use in the United States. For all the convenience the devices offer, each is also an opening for potential fraud that did not exist a decade or so ago. "They all attach to the payments system in one way or another," Kepler said of fintech products. "That broadens the landscape for payments, and it broadens the openings for fraud. So we have an obligation to do what we can to influence safer practices. This seems especially important right now given the growth in electronic payments during the coronavirus pandemic." What the Atlanta Fed is doing What is the Atlanta Fed doing to promote safer payments innovation? Much of the work focuses on relationships and research. A third focus involves experimenting with new technologies to solve internal business problems. Start with relationships. The Atlanta Fed is cultivating ties with the University System of Georgia and the payments and fintech community in the Southeast. The Reserve Bank is offering its regulatory and payments security expertise to help the university system craft a fintech-focused curriculum for a new fintech academy, as well as for traditional colleges and technical schools. The key there, Kepler said, is to help ensure an adequate talent pool for fintech firms and for the Fed, too. Through much of the recovery from the Great Recession, companies in various businesses consistently reported trouble finding and keeping technical employees such as software developers and engineers. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Fed and the Fed System are exchanging knowledge and building ties with fintech firms and banks that partner with fintechs. The mission: to influence the direction of innovation so that firms are more likely to incorporate security early in the development process. Many fintech firms are small and lack in-house expertise in payment and data security and regulatory affairs. Therefore, balancing speedy development of apps with sound security and regulatory compliance can be a quandary for young companies without deep pockets. Take Qoins, an Atlanta-based startup with five employees whose financial wellness app has helped users pay off more than $11 million in debt since 2017. The company had an early stumble navigating regulations that govern how firms set up accounts to handle customers' funds. The issue prompted Qoins to hire an experienced compliance officer, a significant financial commitment, said Christian Zimmerman, the company's founder and CEO. Zimmerman visited the Atlanta Fed for the Federal Reserve System's inaugural "innovation office hours" event. A couple dozen fintech entrepreneurs and bankers who work with fintechs discussed payments security, regulation, financial inclusion, and other matters with experts from the Atlanta Fed and the Fed Board of Governors. These sessions are part of the Fed's effort to establish relationships with the fintech industry and promote safe innovation. Sheena Allen also came to "innovation office hours" and described it as more of a back-and-forth conversation than she expected. Founder and CEO of Atlanta-based CapWay, which makes a mobile banking and financial education app, Allen said the discussion centered on financial inclusion and data security. Assembling people for substantive conversation is a core Fed duty, in payments and other policy areas. As Cheryl Venable, executive vice president and RPO product manager, said at the office hours event, "We don't have all the answers, but when we convene inclusive groups of parties involved with the issues, the right answers often reveal themselves." Financial inclusion and payments innovation Turning to research, the Atlanta Fed's Retail Payments Risk Forum and economic researchers are exploring the financial inclusion implications of payments and fintech advances. This work combines the Bank's safer payments innovation priority with another strategic focus—improving economic mobility and resilience, particularly for those born into poverty. Bostic has noted that some digital payment services effectively limit financial inclusion by locking out people who use cash. In a recent paper, Atlanta Fed research economist Oz Shy reported that lower-income people are less likely than the larger population to hold debit or credit cards. And without the option to use cash, they can find their access to goods and services constrained. Yet while technology can limit financial inclusion, it can also expand it. Technology can fundamentally ease access to the financial system, making payments more efficient, easier, and cheaper. So the circumstances enabled by fintech give rise to a new notion of financial inclusion that might encompass two elements. One element of a new approach to financial inclusion is "to make sure nobody's excluded by how we do things," Bostic said. Broad access to the payments system is critical to helping people, particularly low- to moderate-income individuals, avoid predatory financing entanglements, said Mike Johnson, executive vice president of the Supervision, Regulation, and Credit Division at the Atlanta Fed. Johnson's division plays a role in these matters in part by helping banks meet their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA. Enacted by Congress in 1977, the CRA is designed to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of their communities, including economically distressed neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. The economic effects of the shelter-in-place protocols implemented to protect communities from the proliferation of COVID-19 make safe and sound credit flow to distressed neighborhoods and small businesses even more critical. A second element is that the very definition of exclusion merits rethinking in today's marketplace, Kepler said. She noted that the traditional formulation of financial inclusion as simply moving people without bank accounts into the mainstream banking system might be obsolete when people can use smartphone apps to manage personal finances without a traditional bank account. Staff in the Risk Forum have begun work on a research paper meant to spur conversation and further research on redefining financial inclusion. Payments innovation nothing new for the Fed The pursuit of safer payments innovation is timely but not new for the Fed. Central bankers and other policymakers have long sought to help balance financial innovation and the safe, efficient operation of the financial and payments system. Indeed, before Congress established the Federal Reserve in 1913, check clearing fees—and banks' efforts to avoid them—often led to circuitous check routing, resulting in people and firms facing long, unpredictable delays in receiving their money. When they did eventually get funds, fees had often sliced off a chunk. In extreme instances, the contortions banks used to avoid clearing fees led to checks moving from city to city before eventually landing at their destination. Those inefficiencies were one of the reasons the Congress created the Federal Reserve. In its earliest days, the Fed helped to halve the average time it took to clear checks from 5.3 days in 1912 to 2.4 days six years later, according to research by Atlanta Fed economist Will Roberds and others. More recently, the Fed played a major role in digitizing the processing of paper checks. For several days after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the nation's airplanes were grounded, preventing paper checks worth billions of dollars from moving across the country for settlement. That disruption of the payments routine heightened the urgency to automate the check handling system. In response, Fed officials in Atlanta and elsewhere helped shape the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, which was enacted in 2003 and took effect in 2004. Also known as Check 21, the law allows a properly prepared substitute check—a copy of an original paper check—to hold the legal equivalence of that original paper check. This change enabled banks to handle more checks electronically, making check processing faster and more efficient. As the number of paper checks written rapidly declined since 2004, the Federal Reserve shrank its paper check processing apparatus from 45 facilities to only one, saving costs and streamlining the payments system. Then in 2016, the Fed helped to introduce same-day ACH processing. This allowed transactions such as direct paycheck deposits, retail payments, and vendor payments to clear and settle the day they are initiated, allowing recipients quicker access to their money. Another innovation is coming soon in the form of FedNow. FedNow is the Federal Reserve System's new round-the-clock realtime payment and settlement service. The service will be available in 2023 or 2024, allowing financial institutions of every size, in every community across America, to provide safe and efficient instant payment services. In addition, the Atlanta Fed is evaluating ways to employ fintech to serve the public and financial institutions that use its payment services. The RPO is studying artificial intelligence, machine learning, and distributed ledger technology to, for example, help pinpoint transactions that might be fraudulent. While the Fed has always monitored technological developments in payments, the RPO is more purposefully approaching outside groups such as fintech and other technology firms. A key in the Fed's adapting to technological evolution is to ensure that the rules for payments fit the new processes, said Nell Campbell-Drake, vice president in the RPO. The Fed has long played a pivotal role in shaping the adoption of payments technology. Of course, the payments system has evolved enormously since the early 1900s, alongside improvements in communications and computing technologies. Today, payments are one of the most important areas of innovation in the broad universe of fintech. The Fed will continue to play a role, as it has for more than a century. MORE ANNUAL REPORT PAGES Search ECONOMY MATTERS ANNUAL REPORT Directors & Officers JUMP TO: Management Committee & Officers • Advisory Councils SIXTH DISTRICT DIRECTORS Federal Reserve Banks each have a board of nine directors. Directors provide economic information, have broad oversight responsibility for their bank's operations, and, with the Board of Governors' approval, appoint the bank's president and first vice president. Six directors—three class A, representing the banking industry, and three class B—are elected by banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. Three class C directors (including the chair and deputy chair) are appointed by the Board of Governors. Class B and C directors represent agriculture, commerce, industry, labor, and consumers in the district; they cannot be officers, directors, or employees of a bank; class C directors cannot be bank stockholders. Fed branch office boards have five or seven directors; the majority are appointed by head-office directors and the rest by the Board of Governors. Atlanta Kessel D. Stelling Jr., Mary A. Laschinger, Claire W. Tucker, Myron A. Gray, Robert W. Dumas, Claire Lewis Arnold, Jonathan T.M. Reckford, Michael Russell Not pictured: Elizabeth A. Smith Myron A. Gray, Chair Former President, U. S. Operations United Parcel Service Atlanta, Georgia Jonathan T. M. Reckford Chief Executive Officer Habitat for Humanity International Atlanta, Georgia Elizabeth A. Smith, Deputy Chair Michael Russell Former Executive Chair Bloomin’ Brands Inc. Tampa, Florida Chief Executive Officer H.J. Russell & Company Atlanta, Georgia Claire Lewis Arnold Chief Executive Officer Leapfrog Services Inc. Atlanta, Georgia Kessel D. Stelling Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Synovus Financial Corporation Columbus, Georgia A A A Robert W. Dumas Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer AuburnBank Auburn, Alabama Claire W. Tucker Chief Executive Officer CapStar Financial Holdings Inc. Nashville, Tennessee Mary A. Laschinger Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Veritiv Corporation Atlanta, Georgia Birmingham Christy Thomas (as of January 2020), Brian C. Hamilton, Merrill H. Stewart Jr., Nancy C. Goedecke, David L. Nast, Herschell L. Hamilton Not pictured: David J. Fernandes, David M. Benck Nancy C. Goedecke, Chair Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mayer Electric Supply Company Inc. Birmingham, Alabama Herschell L. Hamilton Chief Strategic Officer BLOC Global Group Birmingham, Alabama David M. Benck Vice President and General Counsel Hibbett Sports Birmingham, Alabama David L. Nast President and Chief Executive Officer Progress Bank Huntsville, Alabama David J. Fernandes (resigned June 2019) President Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama Inc. Huntsville, Alabama Merrill H. Stewart Jr. President The Stewart/Perry Company Inc. Birmingham, Alabama Brian C. Hamilton President and Chief Executive Officer Trillion Communications Corp. Bessemer, Alabama Jacksonville Paul G. Boynton, Dawn Lockhart, John Hirabayashi, Cynthia A. Bioteau (resigned 2018), William O. West, Troy D. Taylor Not pictured: Timothy P. Cost, Nicole B. Thomas Nicole B. Thomas, Chair Hospital President Baptist Medical Center South Jacksonville, Florida Paul G. Boynton Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. Jacksonville, Florida Timothy P. Cost President Jacksonville University Jacksonville, Florida John Hirabayashi President and Chief Executive Officer Community First Credit Union of Florida Jacksonville, Florida Miami Dawn Lockhart Director of Strategic Partnerships Office of the Mayor City of Jacksonville Jacksonville, Florida Troy D. Taylor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Coca-Cola Beverages Florida LLC Tampa, Florida William O. West Chief Executive Officer The Bank of Tampa Tampa, Florida Michael A. Wynn, N. Maria Menendez, Abel L. Iglesias, Victoria E. Villalba, Ana M. Menendez Not pictured: Eduardo Arriola, Keith T. Koenig Ana M. Menendez, Chair Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Watsco Inc. Coconut Grove, Florida N. Maria Menendez Chief Financial Officer GL Homes of Florida Holding Sunrise, Florida Eduardo Arriola Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Apollo Bank Miami, Florida Victoria E. Villalba President and Chief Executive Officer Victoria & Associates Career Services Inc. Coral Gables, Florida Abel L. Iglesias President and Chief Operating Officer Professional Bank Coral Gables, Florida Michael A. Wynn Board Chairman and President Sunshine Ace Hardware Bonita Springs, Florida Keith T. Koenig President City Furniture Tamarac, Florida Nashville Amber W. Krupacs, John W. Garratt, Heath M. Holtz, Thomas Zacharia, Matthew S. Bourlakas, Beth R. Chase, Leif M. Murphy Matthew S. Bourlakas, Chair President and Chief Executive Officer Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee Inc. Nashville, Tennessee Amber W. Krupacs Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Clayton Homes Maryville, Tennessee Beth R. Chase Senior Managing Director Ankura Consulting Group Nashville, Tennessee Leif M. Murphy Chief Executive Officer TeamHealth Inc. Knoxville, Tennessee John W. Garratt Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Dollar General Goodlettsville, TN Thomas Zacharia Laboratory Director Oak Ridge National Laboratory President and Chief Executive Officer UT-Battelle LLC Oak Ridge, Tennessee Heath M. Holtz Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing, and Supply Chain Management Nissan North America Inc. Smyrna, Tennessee New Orleans Katherine A. Crosby, Michael E. Hicks Jr., David T. Darragh, Toni D. Cooley, Art E. Favre, Lampkin Butts Not pictured: G. Janelle Frost G. Janelle Frost, Chair President and Chief Executive Officer AMERISAFE Inc. DeRidder, Louisiana David T. Darragh Former President and Chief Executive Officer Reily Foods Company New Orleans, Louisiana Lampkin Butts President and Chief Operating Officer Sanderson Farms Inc. Laurel, Mississippi Art E. Favre President and Chief Executive Officer Performance Contractors Inc. Baton Rouge, Louisiana Toni D. Cooley Chief Executive Officer Systems Companies Jackson, Mississippi Michael E. Hicks Jr. President and Chief Executive Officer Hixardt Technologies Inc. Pensacola, Florida Katherine A. Crosby Board Chair Fidelity Bank New Orleans, Louisiana JUMP TO: Sixth District Directors • Advisory Councils MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE & OFFICERS Management Committee Seated (l-r): André T. Anderson, Chapelle D. Davis, Mary M. Kepler, David E. Altig, Raphael W. Bostic Standing (l-r): W. Jeff Devine, Cheryl L. Venable, Richard A. Jones, Leah L. Davenport, Michael E. Johnson, W. Brian Bowling, W. Russell Eubanks Not pictured: Joan H. Buchanan, Paula A. Tkac Management Committee Raphael W. Bostic President W. Russell Eubanks Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer André T. Anderson First Vice President Michael E. Johnson Executive Vice President; Supervision, Regulation, and Credit David E. Altig Executive Vice President and Director of Research Mary M. Kepler Senior Vice President and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer W. Brian Bowling Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Cheryl L. Venable Executive Vice President and Retail Payments Office Product Manager Leah L. Davenport Senior Vice President, Corporate Engagement W. Jeff Devine Senior Vice President, Operations and Administrative Services Management Committee Advisers Richard A. Jones Senior Vice President and General Counsel Joan H. Buchanan Vice President and General Auditor Paula A. Tkac Senior Vice President and Associate Director of Research Chapelle D. Davis Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, and OMWI Director Corporate Secretary Donna Marie Fay Assistant Vice President Senior Vice Presidents D. Blake Lyons Charles L. Weems Senior Vice President Senior Vice President Keith T. Melton Senior Vice President Vice Presidents Christopher N. Alexander Vice President Evette H. Jones Vice President Daniel M. Baum Vice President Karen Leone de Nie Vice President Kelly A. Bernard Vice President Stephen A. Levy Vice President and Financial Management and Planning Controller S. Dwight Blackwood Vice President and Assistant General Counsel Kim Blythe Vice President Anita F. Brown Vice President and Financial Management and Planning Controller (retired) Annella D. Campbell-Drake VP, RPO Product Development Michael J. Chriszt Vice President and Public Affairs Officer Angela H. Dirr Vice President and Assistant General Counsel Patrick E. Dyer Vice President Bevery L. Ferrell Vice President and Branch Manager, Miami Richard M. Fraher Vice President and Counsel to the Retail Payment Office Karen B. Gilmore Vice President and Regional Executive, Miami Amy S. Goodman Vice President Cynthia C. Goodwin Vice President M. Laurel Graefe Vice President and Regional Executive, Nashville Rebecca L. Gunn Vice President and Regional Executive, Atlanta Kevin T. Jansen Vice President Mark J. Jensen Vice President Anoop K. Mishra Vice President and Regional Executive, Birmingham Suzanna J. Costello Mocarski Vice President Edward J. Nosal Vice President Christopher Oakley Vice President and Coordinating Regional Executive Doris Quiros Vice President Cynthia L. Rasche Vice President Juan C. Sanchez Vice President Adrienne L. Slack Vice President and Regional Executive, New Orleans Richard H. Squires Vice President and Branch Manager, New Orleans Anthony S. Stallings Vice President Jeffrey W. Thomas Vice President Julius Weyman Vice President Kenneth Wilcox Vice President S. Paige Wilcox Vice President Christina M. Wilson Vice President and Branch Manager, Jacksonville Stephen W. Wise Vice President Gregory S. Johnston Vice President Assistant Vice Presidents Pamela J. Barton Assistant Vice President Karl Lamb Assistant Vice President Pedro Bermudez Assistant Vice President Lisa Lee-Fogarty Assistant Vice President Giuseppina R. Bitetti Assistant Vice President Lantanya N. Mauriello Assistant Vice President Phasteus G. Brooks Assistant Vice President Kevin H. McKenna Assistant Vice President Jonathan L. Burns Assistant Vice President Srinivas V. Nori Assistant Vice President Tonya D. Byrd-Sorrells Assistant Vice President Gregory K. Odum Assistant Vice President Reginald R.Chever Assistant Vice President John C. Pelick Assistant Vice President Karen W. Clayton Assistant Vice President J. Elaine Phifer Assistant Vice President Patrick R. Dierberger Assistant Vice President Charles W. Prime Assistant Vice President Michael E. Duren Assistant Vice President Jaswanth G. Rao Assistant Vice President Shilpa S. Dutt Assistant Vice President Robin R. Ratliff Assistant Vice President Travis T. Fix Assistant Vice President Paul D. Roberts Assistant Vice President J. Marcus Fordham Assistant Vice President Princeton G. Rose Assistant Vice President Gregory S. Fuller Assistant Vice President W. Allen Sautter Assistant Vice President Mary M. Gelpi Assistant Vice President Jeffrey F. Schiele Assistant Vice President Jennifer L. Gibilterra Assistant Vice President Misty C. Skedgell Assistant Vice President Gina Renee Gibson Assistant Vice President Maria Smith Assistant Vice President James M. Gibson Assistant Vice President Allen D. Stanley Assistant Vice President Stephen Craig Griffin Assistant Vice President Bradley J. Waring Assistant Vice President Kathryn E. Haney Assistant Vice President William R. Wheeler III Assistant Vice President Torion L. Harden Assistant Vice President Michael R. Williams Assistant Vice President Paige B. Harris Assistant Vice President Jeff A. Williamson Assistant Vice President Carolyn Ann Healy Assistant Vice President Molly T. Willison Assistant Vice President Gary Todd Henrich Assistant Vice President Deborah S. Young Assistant Vice President Dana M. Keeley Assistant Vice President JUMP TO: Sixth District Directors • Management Committee & Officers ADVISORY COUNCILS Federal Advisory Council Representative William H. Rogers Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta, Georgia Regional Economic Information Network Advisory Councils Agriculture David Bertrand Owner/Partner Bertrand Rice LLC Elton, LA Gaylon Lawrence Partner The Lawrence Group Nashville, TN Lorraine Bertrand Owner/Partner Bertrand Rice LLC Elton, LA Larkin Martin Managing Partner Martin Farms Courtland, AL Donna Jo Curtis Owner/Operator Curtis Farms Athens, AL James H. Sanford Chairman of the Board HOME Place Farms Prattville, AL Marsha Folsom Chief Development Officer ResourceFiber LLC Cullman, AL Gray Skipper Vice President Scotch Plywood Company In. Fulton, AL Mike Giles President Georgia Poultry Federation Gainesville, GA Robert M. Thomas President Two Rivers Ranch Inc. Thonotosassa, FL George F. Hamner Jr. President Indian River Exchange Packers Inc. Vero Beach, FL John D. Williams President and Chief Executive Officer Zen -Noh Grain Corporation Mandeville, LA Bart Krisle Chief Executive Officer Tennessee Farmers Cooperative LaVergne, TN Energy Terrance Coleman President LOOP LLC Covington, LA Michael Mansfield Chief Executive Officer Mansfield Energy Corporation Gainesville, GA Andrew Evans Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Southern Company Stephen Toups President Turner Industries Group LLC Atlanta, GA Baton Rouge, LA Charles Goodson President and Chief Executive Officer PetroQuest Energy Lafayette, LA Tammy Wilson Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Risk Officer Tennessee Valley Authority Knoxville, TN Mark Hatfield Thomas Yura Vice President, Gulf of Mexico Unit Chevron North America, Gulf of Mexico Business Covington, LA Chief Operating Officer Cornerstone Chemical Company Waggaman, LA Mark Maisto President, Commodities, Trading, and Commercial Services NextEra Energy Resource Juno Beach, FL Trade and Transportation Adriene Bailey Partner Oliver Wyman Jacksonville, FL Doug Downing Chief Financial Officer Canal Barge Company Inc. New Orleans, LA Mark Bostick President COMCAR Industries Auberndale, FL Robert Hooper Chief Executive Officer Atlantic Logistics Inc. Jacksonville, FL Michael Brannigan President and Chief Executive Officer The Suddath Companies Jacksonville, FL Frank Lonegro Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer CSX Corporation Jacksonville, FL Mary Cavarra Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Ingram Industries Inc. Nashville, TN Griffith Lynch Executive Director Georgia Ports Authority Savannah, GA Andy Char Chartering Director G2 Ocean Atlanta, GA Ken Roberts President WorldCity Coral Gables, FL Brandy Christian President and Chief Executive Officer Port New Orleans New Orleans, LA Kim Wyant President-Florida UPS Orlando, FL Shawn Cole Vice President Delta Cargo Atlanta, GA Travel and Tourism William Diercksen Director, Finance and Strategy Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Orlando, FL Mark Romig President and Chief Executive Officer New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation New Orleans, LA Howard Erbstein Chief Operating Officer The Kolter Group Delray Beach, FL Alvin West Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau Miami, FL Amanda Hite President and Chief Executive Officer Smith Travel Research Hendersonville, TN Ina Lee Owner/President TravelHost of Greater Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Andrew Wexler Chief Executive Officer Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation Norcross, GA Mark Woodworth Senior Managing Director CBRE Hotels' America Research Atlanta, GA Other Advisory Councils Center for Human Capital Studies Veronica Biggins Brian Pitts Managing Director Diversified Search Atlanta, GA Owner/ Managing Partner ITAC Solutions Birmingham, AL Aimee Comer Vice President of People and Development Robins & Morton Birmingham, AL Tomeka Posey Director of Human Resources USA of Intralot Duluth, GA Natalie Harder Chancellor South Louisiana Community College Lafayette, LA Bob Ravener Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer Dollar General (retired) Nashville, TN Tim Hourigan Executive Vice President Human Resources Home Depot Atlanta, GA Sue Romanos President and Chief Executive Officer CareerExchange Miami, FL Scot Laferte Senior Vice President Human Resources Universal Orlando Atlanta, GA Jim Link Chief Human Resource Officer, North America Randstad Atlanta, GA Mandy Sacco President, WorkforceSolutions LandrumHR Pensacola, FL Rich Templin Director of Politics and Public Policy Florida AFL-CIO Tallahassee, FL Center for Quantitative Economic Research Lawrence Christiano Department of Economics Northwestern University Richard Rogerson Department of Economics and Public Affairs Princeton University Martin Eichenbaum Ethel and John Lindgren Professor of Economics Northwestern University Thomas Sargent Leonard N. Stern School of Business New York University Sergio Rebelo Department of Economics Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University Chris Sims Department of Economics Princeton University Community Depository Institutions Brad Bolton President, Chief Executive Officer, and Senior Lender Community Spirit Bank Red Bay, AL Ed Langton Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Grand Bank for Savings Hattiesburg, MS Al Cowans President and Chief Executive Officer McCoy Federal Credit Union Orlando, FL Miriam Lopez President and Chief Lending Officer Marquis Bank Coral Gables, FL Kim Davis Wilson President and Chief Executive Officer OneSouthBank Early, GA Jude Melville President and Chief Executive Officer Business First Bank Baton Rouge, LA Carlos Fernandez-Guzman President and Chief Executive Officer Pacific National Bank Miami, FL Hugh Dailey Market President, North Florida Mid Florida Credit Union Ocala, FL Caren Gabriel President and Chief Executive Officer Ascend Federal Credit Union Tullahoma, TN Damon Moorer President and Chief Executive Officer TCM Bank Tampa, FL Bob Jones President and Chief Executive Officer United Bank of Atmore Atmore, AL MORE ANNUAL REPORT PAGES 2019 Annual Report: Fintech Transforms Payments Financial & Audit Statements Past Annual Reports