Farmers Bank & Trust Company President and CEO Wade Berry recently presided as chairman over the Kentucky Bankers Association’s 130th annual convention at Asheville, N.C. The convention marked the end of Berry’s 12-month term as chairman of the state’s largest banking association.
The Kentucky Bankers Association (KBA) lists its primary mission as lobbying and advocating for Kentucky’s banks in Frankfort and in Washington D.C. Besides its government relations and industry advocacy role, the KBA is also a provider of key services and education to its members.
The KBA is one of the strongest trade associations in Kentucky and one of the strongest banking associations in the country.
As KBA chairman, Berry has represented the interests of the association’s 151 member banks in meetings with state and federal officials including meetings with Kentucky senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.
In May, Berry led a group of KBA officers, executives and employees on a statewide barnstorming tour meeting with bankers in all nine of Kentucky’s KBA districts.
Speaking of the statewide tour Berry noted, “It’s unbelievable how far it is from western Kentucky to eastern Kentucky. One of our meetings was in Prestonsburg. As the crow flies, my office is as close to
Chicago and Little Rock as it is to Prestonsburg.”Berry is one of only two living bankers from far western Kentucky to have served as KBA chairman. His predecessor as KBA Chairman was Frankfort’s Lloyd Hillard of banking conglomerate Wesbanco. In Asheville, Berry passed the chairman’s gavel to Ja Hillebrand of Louisville’s Stock Yards Bank which will soon become the state’s largest financial institution.
Farmers Bank is Marion’s oldest and largest bank. Berry joined the bank as a loan officer in 1993 and became president and CEO in 2011. During his tenure as president and CEO, the bank has grown from three offices and $132 million in assets to 10 offices and $475 million in assets. Farmers Bank’s network now includes two offices in Marion plus offices in Salem, Henderson, Madisonville, Central City, Greenville, Livermore, Calhoun and Bowling Green.
The bank’s size ranks in the top 25 percent of banks in Kentucky. The most prominent independent ranking system for Kentucky’s banks rated Farmers Bank’s financial performance 10th out of Kentucky’s 129 state-chartered banks in its mid-year 2021 rankings.
“The thing that makes me the happiest about our performance is how much our employees benefit from it because our employees are, as a group, our bank’s largest shareholders through our Employee Stock Ownership Plan,” Berry said.
When asked to comment on his own statewide recognition, Berry said, “Every bit of recognition I’ve earned is because of the efforts of our team at the bank, and the support of our board and our communities, especially our home communities of Marion and Salem.”
Regarding his experiences meeting with some of the most powerful legislators in the country as KBA Chairman Berry said, “It was quite an experience for a kid from Mattoon. It doesn’t feel like all that long ago that I was sitting in Ms. Sykes first-grade class at Mattoon Elementary with 10 kids in my grade and two grades packed in one room. To go from there to representing 151 banks in meetings with Sen. McConnell was pretty special. But more than anything it made me feel thankful. Thankful to those who built the bank before I was even born, thankful for my dad who worked 80 hours per week in a coal mines to give me an easier life than he had, and thankful to my mom who held it all together while he worked.”
Berry will remain part of the KBA’s Executive Committee for one more year as he serves as immediate past chairman of the organization.
