People First Bancshares Inc. Holds Shareholdere Meeting
March 8, 2019
People First Bancshares, Inc. held its annual meeting of shareholders on March 6, 2019 at Peoples Bank & Trust in Pana, IL. During the meeting, James D. Randolph, and David T. Dorn, Jr. were reelected to three year terms as directors of the Bank and Holding Company. Other directors of the Bank and Holding company are George Hiler, David Slater, Brad Davis, Michael E. Beyers, John Gardner, and Michael M. Trexler. In other business, amendments were approved to modernize and update the company’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws.
During the report of operations, John Gardner, President and CEO, recognized George Hiler and Michael M. Trexler for 20 and 25 years of service to the organization, respectively. Gardner then reported that record earnings of $6.7 million were due to growth and advancement in key areas: Deposits, Loans, and Customer Service.
Customer deposits increased by $31.4 million due to new deposit products. Gardner reported, “The bank now provides a deposit service that empowers bank staff to work with customers to place their deposits in our bank or other high yielding banks based on their yield and insurance needs.”
Loans increased by $7.7 million driven primarily from an $11.0 million increase in US government guaranteed loans. Gardner stated, “Our designations as USDA FSA Preferred Lender, US SBA Express Lender and US SBA Export Express Lender provide our bank access to lending programs with better credit terms to help our farm and business customers.” Gardner also explained the bank’s partnerships with Agri-Access and the State Treasurer’s office to provide fixed rate farm mortgages and farm operating loans.
“Customer Service was enhanced with 96.1% of customers surveyed rating their overall experience with the bank as Good or Excellent”, Gardner reported. During the year, the bank remodeled three of its facilities to improve service quality. To improve customer access to consumer debit cards, the bank introduced Google Pay and Apple Pay. For business customers, the bank updated its Business Online portal and added Positive Pay (TAS) and Mobile Business Deposit. The bank also improved its staff through training and development programs and the addition of three new business bankers: Jordan Ruppert in Taylorville and David Kromphardt and Greg Curl in Springfield.
In closing, Gardner recognized the Board, Management and Employees for their contributions to the bank’s success
During the organizational meeting of the Board of Directors of People First Bancshares, Inc. which followed the annual meeting, Michael M. Trexler was elected Chairman of the Board and David Slater was elected Vice Chairman of the Board. Other officers include John Gardner, President & CEO, James Adcock, Secretary, Terry Schafer, Asst. Secretary and Craig Deere, Treasurer & CFO. Larry Beaty was elected Director Emeritus.
Peoples Bank & Trust is a locally owned and managed, independent community bank with ten offices located in Charleston, Altamont, Tower Hill, Pana, Taylorville, Morrisonville, Springfield, Waverly, Palmyra and White Hall. Peoples Bank & Trust is a full service bank offering outstanding customer service to consumers, small businesses, and farmers in Central Illinois. People First Bancshares, Inc., with corporate offices in Pana, Illinois, is the holding company for Peoples Bank & Trust.