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[a message from] MANAGEMENT
For the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2005 was a year marked by maintaining a standard of excellence in our day-to-day operations while also moving forward on some of the most important initiatives that are defining our present and our future. The Treasury Relations and Support Office oversaw the successful completion of 24 of the Federal Reserve System’s 25 Treasury-related key objectives for the year. One of the major success stories was the TRSO’s launch of the national Go Direct campaign, focused on converting Social Security recipients to direct deposit. The District’s Branching Out initiative maintained and improved upon its 2004 success, with an increase in programs and attendance as the District continued its focus on community affairs, economic education, regional research and monetary policy in our branch cities. The St. Louis check operation performed well, and significant progress was made in stabilizing the Memphis check operation after the office absorbed the Little Rock check volume in late 2004. The new Little Rock cash depot performed extremely well during its first full year of operation. Our Memphis office provided key contingency support to the New Orleans office as a “buddy branch” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, providing paying and receiving services to the Sixth District via extended hours and weekend operations. Our employees continued to focus on four Bank-wide initiatives begun in 1999-2000 to improve our performance and build our capability to do more in the future: risk management, customer service, staff development and employee communications. In addition, the Bank launched an organizational initiative in 2005 to improve innovation, with training and tools provided to employees to encourage a more innovative climate. What follows are highlights of the District’s 2005 accomplishments:
Financial Services >> Exceeded its revenue target by $3.6 million, or 10.7 percent. >> Check 21 activity grew significantly throughout the year, and the District was the first in the Federal Reserve System to implement the entire Check 21 product suite. >> Successfully assumed volume from the Atlanta Treasury Check site as part of a consolidation that is projected to save the Treasury $600,000.
U.S. Treasury Support >> Implemented 11 application releases on the Treasury Web Application Infrastructure (TWAI) and an additional five releases on other platforms outside the TWAI. >> The Treasury more than doubled the amount of funds invested through the Term Investment Option program over the previous fiscal year, earning an additional $19.2 million over what would have been earned had the funds been invested in the Treasury Tax and Loan program.
Public Affairs and Community Affairs >> Community Affairs conducted 34 sponsored meetings, which included the finale of a community development speaker series in Little Rock, a Hispanic immigrant event in Louisville, a summit on accessing community development capital in St. Louis and a major conference in Memphis on entrepreneurship. >> In economic education, St. Louis and the other three branch offices conducted or participated significantly in 62 conferences, workshops, training courses, presentations and other outreach events. >> Conducted five economic forums, allowing President Bill Poole to interact with business and banking audiences throughout the District. >> Helped create the Your Paycheck program to support financial literacy efforts. The program, delivered through a two-hour class taught by college students, covers financial information of interest to working teens.
Research/Monetary Policy Performance >> The number of articles published by Research staff (or accepted for publication) was 58, up from 41 during 2004. In addition, staff economists finished 75 new working papers, up from 34 in 2004, with more than 30 additional articles revised from previous years. >> Introduced the Archival FRED System (ALFRED), which helped contribute to a 40 percent increase in traffic on the division’s web pages compared with the previous year. ALFRED provides historical data of series already available in FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data). >> The Business and Economic Research Group (BERG) held its first meeting in the spring. The papers from the meeting were published in a new web-only research journal titled Regional Economic Development. >> Held a conference on education finance, in conjunction with the Weidenbaum Center of Washington University.
Banking Supervision, Credit and Center for Online Learning >> Successfully met all examination and inspection mandates and provided highly effective supervision of District state member banks and bank holding companies. >> Consumer Affairs conducted all 36 mandated supervisory events in accordance with System requirements. All supervisory reports were processed and communicated to constituents in a timely manner—33 percent faster than System guidelines. >> The Center for Online Learning provided eLearning consultation and development services to numerous business lines and also contributed significant leadership to a strategic effort to better align Supervision examiner training with changing business needs.
Administrative Services >> Completed construction of the plaza and the new screening vestibule at the St. Louis office, as well as the design for the building addition in the second phase of the St. Louis remodeling project. >> Constructed a new Protection command center. >> Completed the renovation of the third floor of the Memphis branch.
Organizational Initiatives >> Completed the rollout of the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) initiative to nonfinancial reporting areas, with eight business areas assessing their risks using risk categories defined by the System’s ERM work group. >> Continued efforts through the Customer Service Program Office to sustain a service-oriented culture throughout the District, with all divisions exceeding customer service targets. >> Continued the focus on leadership development by implementing a mentoring program and offering more leadership training.
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