2021 IBES Speaker Recordings Now Available

Recordings from the CFC Independent Borrowers Executive Summit (IBES) 2021 sessions are available on the CFC Member Website. Members must have a Member Website account to log in and access the videos. Members who do not have an account for the CFC Member Website can create an account by visiting the Member Website Login page and clicking the Request Account link at the top of the page.

2021 IBES Scrapbook

CFC CEO Andrew Don (left) joined John Doherty (center), managing director of Investment-Grade Debt Capital Markets for Truist Securities, and Dennis Pidherny (right), managing director of Public Finance for Fitch Ratings, for a discussion about banking, capital markets and ratings agencies. Don asked Pidherny for his perspective on cooperative risk and opportunities with broadband investment and development. “Access to broadband is essential for the future of rural communities, in particular to rural business communities,” Pidherny said. “There are no organizations better suited to implement [broadband] than electric cooperatives.” Don asked Doherty for his perspective of how rating agencies and banks look at environmental, social and governance (ESG) tenets and what activities they’re doing at his organization. “It’s very clear, ESG is not a fad,” Doherty said. “As it evolves, it’s going to turn from the carrot to the stick approach and banks will start to be penalized or discouraged from lending to non-ESG projects. It’s just a question of how long does it take to actually come to fruition.”

Physician and former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb was joined by Federated Vice President and General Counsel Susan Olander to discuss how COVID-19 overwhelmed America’s pandemic preparations and how we must view public health through the lens of national security to improve our preparedness for the future. “I think we’re going to have to think differently about how we control the risk and the spread of respiratory pathogens in the winter time if we have COVID and flu,” Gottlieb said. “The dual impact of both of those on productivity, on death and disease is going to be too great for us to continue business as usual. If we could reduce the incidences of not just COVID, but flu and other respiratory diseases, the pickup in productivity could be substantial.”

Best-selling author and renowned speaker Peter Sheahan was joined by Fort Belknap Electric Cooperative General Manager and CEO and CFC Board Director Kendall Montgomery for a conversation on how to solve the most pressing issues facing our industry by turning challenge into opportunity and change into competitive advantage. Sheahan shared the top three areas electric cooperative leaders should consider. “Number one, build a culture of brutal honesty where we tell ourselves the truth, because the truth sets us free and where we don’t confuse our awareness of change for truly taking ownership for leading it,” he said. The second area he covered is for leadership to not wait for change to occur, but to co-create it with the communities we serve. “Third, and finally, as you run the organization, realize that agreement is not alignment,” he added. “Alignment is when you invest time, energy and money in new ways. Alignment is what creates transformation, not agreement.”

Retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (right) was joined by former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers for a discussion on the state of the world today and what we can expect in the future. “Climate change is obviously inextricably linked to energy security and, therefore, economic growth and prosperity,” McMaster said. “When you look at it holistically, you can come up with some opportunities to combine technologies in a way that makes it a false dilemma between energy security and reducing carbon emissions.” Rogers added, “We have the technology to help solve this problem in the short term, we just have to get over these political differences.”

Former NFL Head Coach Tony Dungy (right) was joined by Monroe County Electric Cooperative President and CEO and CFC Board President Alan Wattles for a conversation about leadership style, faith and family. Dungy shared how he was welcomed as a rookie to the Pittsburgh Steelers by being told not to make football his entire life. He was going to get a lot of support, but he can’t just take that in, he would have to give back to the community. Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, told Dungy that he wanted to challenge him to make Pittsburgh a better place to live. “Those are the first two things I’m getting from this fantastic football organization,” Dungy said. “Don’t make football your whole life and make your city a better place to live. You got the sense from being around the team that football was important, winning was important and that’s why we’re here, but winning the right way, doing the right things and representing the city and the Steelers.”