Press Release: Washington, D.C. (Feb. 15, 2024)—The Independent Community Bankers of America®
(ICBA) announced the opening of the new ICBA Center for Innovation in Atlanta, establishing a
permanent home for its world-class community bank innovation initiatives.
“The ICBA Center for Innovation embodies our commitment to upholding our mission of creating and
promoting an environment where community banks flourish,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca
Romero Rainey said. “This center will serve as a home for enhanced collaboration as community
bankers, fintechs and industry experts work collectively to solve for our industry’s most pressing
business challenges and opportunities. We are thrilled to open our doors to both our members and the
broader community banking ecosystem that supports them.”
Located in the heart of midtown, the Atlanta headquarters offers a permanent home for ICBA’s
Innovation team and programming, which includes its nationally acclaimed ThinkTECH Accelerator
program, ThinkTECH Connect, Solutions Forums, webinars and other events designed to engage and
advance community banking innovation. Located at 999 Peachtree Street NE, the new center’s official
opening will be commemorated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception, sponsored by Fiserv,
Ncontracts, TrueNorth and Wipfli.
“Community banks are vital to the health of our local financial system and economy — from
understanding the nuances of small businesses to being truly vested in and bettering the communities
that they serve,” said Noah Downer, senior vice president of economic development for Invest Atlanta.
“We are pleased about the opening of ICBA’s Center for Innovation as we know that it will further
strengthen community banking as well as the fintech industry at large in Atlanta.”
“We recognize that true innovation is not just with 10-week sprints or individual touchpoints with our
team, so we wanted to create a dedicated space for our members to foster year-round ideation,” ICBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Charles Potts said. “This space puts ICBA in the
center of Atlanta’s financial services community, with our local partners within walking distance of our
office. The Center for Innovation empowers our members to learn and connect with their peers and
industry partners, creating new opportunities under a shared vision.”
ICBA’s annual ThinkTECH Regulator Day is also set for the morning of Thursday, Feb. 15, at the
Center for Innovation. The event fosters engagement between regulatory agencies and the cohort
companies to discuss opportunities for community bank advancement within the confines of the
regulatory landscape in which community banks operate. Participants include leaders from the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, and Georgia Department of Banking.
ICBA continues to evolve its programming to offer more opportunities to engage with and experience
innovation that addresses timely and critical community banking needs. Fintech companies interested
in participating in future innovation programming can apply now. For more information about ICBA
ThinkTECH Innovation programming and upcoming opportunities at the ICBA Center for Innovation,
visit icba.org/accelerator.
About ICBA: The Independent Community Bankers of America® has one mission: to create and promote an environment
where community banks flourish. We power the potential of the nation’s community banks through effective
advocacy, education, and innovation.
As local and trusted sources of credit, America’s community banks leverage their relationship-based business
model and innovative offerings to channel deposits into the neighborhoods they serve, creating jobs, fostering
economic prosperity, and fueling their customers’ financial goals and dreams. For more information, visit ICBA’s
website at icba.org.
