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Economists, investors, policymakers, and reporters use all sorts of different “indicators” as guideposts to assessing the health of the economy. Some are purely informational and numeric, like job growth numbers and changes in GDP. But others are based on feeling, like consumer sentiment. They’re basically asking someone “how’s it going?” and compiling all those feelings into a single indicator.Getting a comprehensive picture across the country can be tough. But, there is one group that is connected to consumers and businesses alike that could provide us this valuable information. community bankers are some of the most connected individuals in a wide cross-section of society, whose very livelihood relies on the success of neighbors and local businesses – rural, urban and in between. Today, I want to talk to someone who has examined, worked with, and promoted research on these community bankers. And I want to discuss a new economic guidepost six years in the making, designed to use community bankers nationwide to take the pulse of America’s economy. It’s called The Community Bank Sentiment Index.