Texas Border Business
Harlingen, TX—Tracy Harris, Texas Regional Bank’s (TRB) Chief Strategic Planning and Project Officer, now serves as chair of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) board of directors for 2024-25. Harris was elected to this position during the association’s 50th annual convention held October 6-9 in San Antonio.
Harris has served as a member of the IBAT board of directors and on various committees of the association since 2018. Previously, she served as a member of the Federal Reserve’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council and the Bank CEO Network, as well as chair for the Community Depository Institution Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. During her 30-year banking career, Harris has built her expertise through various roles, including CEO and President of a $250 million asset community bank. She is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University and the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU, and she has been a Certified Community Bank Director since 2018. Harris is an active member in the community bank industry and expects to carry her momentum into her new role on IBAT’s executive board.
“It is a tremendous honor to be elected chair of IBAT. As community bankers, we have a responsibility to demonstrate and communicate the critical role community banks play in our hometowns,” Harris said. She expressed the privilege of investing in local economies as well as local communities saying, “Community banks make business personal and human. We make a difference in our communities when we show we’re about more than transactions—that we’re about personal relationships. That’s the cause I’m excited to champion along with my fellow board members to ensure we continue to empower the communities we serve statewide.”
Among the initiatives she hopes to highlight during her tenure this year, Harris endeavors to create more space for women in banking, especially in executive roles. “I’ve always had a focus on empowering the women around me because I believe diversity at the decision-making level fosters innovation and balanced perspectives,” said Harris. At TRB, Harris is assisting the launch of the Women in Leadership Initiative: Encourage, which will carry to the local level the collective energy of IBAT’s inaugural Women in Community Banking Conference to be held later this month. The initiative as well as the conference are founded on the belief that women in community banking can bring unique leadership qualities and insights that help shape strategies tailored to a broader range of customers so the industry can better reflect, and better serve, all our local communities across Texas.
About The Independent Bankers Association of Texas
Formed in 1974, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) represents Texas community banks. The Austin-based group is the largest state community banking organization in the nation with membership comprised of almost 5,000 banks and branches in more than 700 Texas communities. Providing safe and responsible financial services to all Texans, IBAT member bank assets range in size from $28 million to $51 billion with combined assets statewide of $296 billion. IBAT member banks are committed to supporting and investing in their local communities.
About Texas Regional Bank
Established in 2010 and based out of Harlingen, Texas, TRB is a privately owned, full-service, financial institution founded to bring to market a locally owned bank that serves surrounding communities through relationships not transactions. TRB is proud to offer an unparalleled customer experience while providing exceptional financial products, including core banking, trust and wealth management, capital markets mortgage, international banking, insurance, foreign exchange, and economic development services. Texas Regional Bank holds assets of approximately $2.67 billion as of December 31, 2023, with over 30 banking centers across the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Hill Country, Houston, and DFW Metroplex.
For more information about Texas Regional Bank, visit www.trb.bank.
