Patricia Octeau | Executive director, Rhode Island Bankers Association
1. What are your main duties? My primary duty is to manage our association, which consists of 23 banks in Rhode Island. Our mission is to serve as the representative for the banking industry on issues originating in the General Assembly or at regulatory agencies. We maintain strong working relationships with the American Bankers Association and nearby state banking associations.
2. Which legislative issue has your organization focused on lately? As a result of our banks having more than 10,000 employees within the state, the association has given great attention to many of the employment-related bills at the Statehouse in the last two years, so that our member banks are not faced with the prospect of varied and patchwork state laws on human resource issues.
3. What is another key issue for your group? The Dual Banking System, which consists of federally chartered banks and state-chartered banks, provides a very comprehensive and strict regulatory environment. Educating local policymakers on the complexity of this existing framework is an ongoing task.
4. What progress has your group made on gender equality in banking? In 2016, when I was appointed executive director, I became the first woman to hold that position in the association’s 100-year history. One of our first initiatives was to create a “Women in Banking Forum,” which centers on the development of women advancement in the banking industry. Our … forum this year featured Mim L. Runey, chancellor of Johnson & Wales University as the guest speaker, with more than 190 bankers from 15 different banks, as well as a group of seniors from Lincoln High School’s finance program.
5. What’s been your group’s biggest accomplishment in recent years? The association has made workforce development a top priority, collaborating with leadership in the General Assembly and the governor’s office to develop a college-level curriculum available to employees of member banks.
In conjunction with guidelines from the [R.I. Department of Labor and Training], the association, working with the University of Rhode Island, developed college-accredited courses aimed at the basic principles of banking, together with a more-advanced course on commercial lending. Since its inception, over 120 individuals have successfully completed the course, providing new opportunities for entry-level positions, as well as career advancement.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Blake@PBN.com.