As you will be able to tell from Ingram's latest Banking & Finance Industry Outlook, the view of the economy and the industry by these leaders of finance in the Kansas City area is muddy and uncertain—but it remains essentially optimistic.

Interest rates are creating margin problems for some on the banking side, while they're being good to our friends in the mortgage business. But even in the commercial mortgage business, the future remains cloudy.

A belief in the underlying strength in the Kansas City economy exists, but concern about various sectors and about what the consumer will do remains in the forefront of much thinking here.

The effects of Sept. 11 and Gramm-Leach-Bliley legislation (explained within the report) leave the terrain with many challenges as well as many opportunities. One thing seems to stand out: concentrate on your core business and what you're good at, manage through the bad times, and the opportunities will come.

It remains a truism as in previous Industry Outlooks that Kansas City is a great place to do business. Midwestern values, the Midwestern work ethic and the broadbased economy in the center of the country are things we can rely on and even be proud of.

It was both a pleasure and an honor to chair this event, another worthy gathering in Ingram's long line of such.