Economic Vitality Committee Agenda and Packet 2025 03 06

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vice president, Kirkpatrick Bank; Raju Patel, president, Bank of America Colorado; Chad Mitchell, Boulder market president, FirstBank; Desirae Hiatt, branch manager and assistant vice president, Huntington National Bank; Aaron Spear, Boulder market president, Bank of Colorado; and Jim Fipp, partner, Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti. Christopher Wood/BizWest By Dallas Heltzell BROOMFIELD — What effect will current economic headwinds have on banks and their depositors and borrowers? Aaron Spear, Boulder market president for Bank of Colorado, had a telling response on Tuesday at BizWest's CEO Roundtable. Quoting his bank's founder, Spear said, "I don't know what's going to happen with interest rates, but I'm pretty sure you don't know either." The same goes for President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs. Roundtable participants from the Boulder Valley who were assembled at accountant firm Plante Moran's offices in Broomfield had varied views, with Chad Mitchell, Boulder market president for FirstBank, summing up the market and the room: "It depends on who you ask." SPONSORED CONTENT FNBO's 2025 Outlook Offers Insights for Investors Kurt Spieler, Chief Investment Officer of FNBO Wealth, emphasizes the importance of asset allocation, diversification and a disciplined approach to navigating the current dynamic Bonifacio Sandoval, senior vice president for commercial banking at Adams Bank & Trust, acknowledged that "there is a portion of the public that believes rates are going to increase this year as a result of the tariffs." However, he added, "I'm not quite there yet. I believe rates will hold steady." Tom Chesney, president of the commercial banking division at AMG National Trust Bank, and Richard Morgan, senior vice president at the local branch of Edmond, Oklahoma -based Kirkpatrick Bank, seemed more definitive. "Tariffs are not going to lead to inflation based on what happened with tariffs in Trump's first term," Chesney said, and Morgan added that "rates are going to stay where they are." Raju Patel, president of Bank of America Colorado, speculated that "I don't think rates will do much, mainly because of the increasing budget deficit." Although noting that "nobody really feels like they have it figured out," Susan Moratelli, vice president of MidFirst Bank, had a different view of tariffs' impact. "I'm thinking of one client in particular," she said. "They have quite a bit of inventory in finished goods. They're planning for growth, but a big concern for them is tariffs. Tariffs in the previous Trump administration did impact their business, and they had to pass those costs on to their customers. Their customers are primarily U.S.-based, but they do a lot of manufacturing overseas and with foreign -sourced components.