Pub. 7 2012-2013 Issue 4

November | December 2012 15 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members. Though never used formally, Williams’ legal training has beenuseful. “It did teachme amethod of critical thinking—how to analyze issues and negotiate solutions—that I’ve used all my life since then,” he says. It also helped develop good communication skills, notes Nebraska Bankers Association President and CEO George Beattie.Williams, NBAchairman in2003-2004, usually speaks from points and stands away from the podium. The Ag Crisis—Never Again Like many other Midwestern institutions, Gothenburg State Bank got caught up in the lending mistakes of the ag- ricultural crisis of the 1980s. “As a bank and as an industry, we should not have let it get as far as it did,” says Williams. “The problem was, to some degree, everybody was doing it. If we didn’t make the loan, another bank would. I would never say that to justify our actions, however, because in your own bank you are the custodian—you have to make the decisions.” During the crisis, farmers were going broke and that hurt the rest of the local business community as well as the bank. With his legal training, you might have expected Williams to stick to the letter of the contract in dealing with troubled bor- rowers. Quite the contrary. Duane Oliver, a board member who recently retired as the bank’s operations officer, says that under Williams’ direction, the bankworkedwith struggling farmers, giving themasmuch leeway as possible and treating themwith dignity. As a result, over the course of the crisis, only two farm customers filed for bankruptcy—far fewer than many other banks experienced. The difficult episode left a lasting impression. “It changed me,” says Williams, “and it changed our management team. You became blood brothers. The oath you swore was, ‘We’re never going to let this happen to our bank again.’” Fast-forward to 2012. Over the past decade, agriculture has enjoyed a string of very profitable years. Land prices in Nebraska increased 40 percent last year, and people have raised the specter of another bubble. As Williams testified in Congress earlier this year, the situation now is different from the 1980s. Farmers have much less debt, and would be better able to withstand a sharp downturn in land values. However, Williams also is adamant that bankers have to carefullymonitor the situation. “We can’t ignore the possibility that this could be a bubble and be sure we are positioned to withstand it.” Q Leadership Ride — continued on page 16