"I take comfort that the Federal Reserve is really looking for insights from those in various industries to get a holistic picture of the economy. we put a Main Street perspective (on things)." - Dana Kilborne, CEO of Cypress Bank & Trust and a director on the Jacksonville branch of the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta Bank.
Photo: Cypress Bank & Trust
Photo: Norma Lopez Molina
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Economic Backbone: Financial Marketplace
Regional Input
Members of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Jacksonville branch board share local insights to help the Fed set monetary policy.
Housing affordability and rising insurance rates are two issues that will likely continue to affect Florida’s economy in the coming year, predict two members of the Jacksonville board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
The Federal Reserve system, the national bank of the U.S., manages monetary policy and determines interest rates. It has 12 regional banks under it, including an Atlanta branch. The Atlanta branch covers much of the Southeast and includes two Florida branches in Jacksonville and Miami.
Earlier this year, the Jacksonville branch reappointed Eddy Moratin, president of Lift Orlando, to a three-year board term that ends in 2026.
It also appointed Dana Kilborne, CEO of Cypress Bank & Trust in Melbourne, to a three-year term. Kilborne previously served on the board and just returned this year.
Board directors share their background in various industries with the Federal Reserve. “They use that information to inform what they see in the data and reconcile what’s happening on Main Street, and how that might explain or contradict what they see in the data,” Kilborne says. They put that together to make rate recommendations.
Kilborne says she is able to share perspectives from the local banking world and also from the types of businesses that use Cypress Bank & Trust.
Moratin offers insights from Lift Orlando, a non-profit aimed at helping the neighborhoods that surround Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. “I’m observing the housing and employment market and what average workers are facing, as well as what’s going on with early childhood care. My goal is a view from the ground up,” he says.
Challenges in the housing market due to high interest rates and skyrocketing insurance costs are key issues in today’s economy, both for consumers and business owners, Kilborne and Moratin say.
Yet they also have both seen instances where feedback on their local level has risen to the top.
“It’s a perspective that would be too hard to see at a national level. Hopefully, it’s bubbling up from local perspectives to Atlanta and then to national policy,” Moratin says.
Other Jacksonville branch members include Monesia Brown, Walmart's director of public affairs and government relations in Tallahassee; Timothy Cost, president of Jacksonville University; Brian Wolfburg, president and CEO of VyStar Credit Union in Jacksonville; R. Andrew Watts, executive VP and CFO of Brown & Brown in Daytona Beach; and Lisa Palmer, CEO of Regency Centers in Jacksonville.
