Brit Hollopeter, assistant vice president, loan operations manager of Lake City Bank, Warsaw, received the bank’s Commitment Award, which recognizes a team member who demonstrates its core values at work and in the communities it serves. She has been with the bank since 2017. After a promotion last year, she now leads the retail loan operations team, manages workflow, trains new employees and assists colleagues and customers. Hollopeter volunteers with Junior Achievement’s BizTown and the bank’s Reality Store, both of which help build financial literacy among local students. Her teammates, who nominated her for the award, cited her steadfast leadership, especially during the past year, which brought challenges for her department.
Centier Bank, Merrillville, was named a Top 10 community bank by S&P Global Market Intelligence, an IBA associate member. Centier came in at #8 among community banks with $3 billion-$10 billion in assets in the company’s annual rankings. The list was compiled based on eight metrics: pretax return on average assets, net interest margin, efficiency ratio, 3-year average operating revenue change, 8-quarter average deposit change, nonperforming assets and loans 90 days or more past due as a percentage of total assets, net charge-offs-to-average loans and leases ratio, and adjusted tangible common equity-to-tangible assets ratio. Also making the list were 1st Source Bank, South Bend, at #25; Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, Louisville, at #32; and German American Bank, Jasper, at #46. Members recognized in the publicly traded banks category include Merchants Bank, Carmel (#10), First Financial Bank, Cincinnati (#25), Chase Bank, New York (#34), Old National Bank, Evansville (#40), and First Merchants Bank, Muncie (#49).
The Indiana District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration recognized several IBA members and associate members at its annual SBA Indiana Lender Awards. The awards were presented at the Indiana Small Business Lenders Symposium in Carmel on Feb. 27, including:
- Regional Lender
- Gold: Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio
- Silver: Chase Bank, New York
- Community Lender
- Gold: 1st Source Bank, South Bend
- Silver: Centier Bank, Merrillville
- Bronze: STAR Bank, Fort Wayne
- 504 CDC Lender – Loans Approved: Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation, managed by IBA associate member Cambridge Capital Management Corp.
- 504 CDC Lender – Dollar Volume: Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation, managed by IBA associate member Cambridge Capital Management Corp.
- Third-party Lender: First Merchants Bank, Muncie
Combined, the SBA approved 1,425 loans for Indiana entrepreneurs in FY 2024, including $587.9 million in 7(a) loans, $112.9 million in 504 loans and $4.4 million in microloan funding.
1st Source Bank, South Bend, and Centier Bank, Merrillville, swept every award for which they were eligible in the Banking and Financial category of Northwest Indiana Business magazine’s annual Best of Business Awards. Centier and 1st Source were recognized as the best in Northwest Indiana and Michiana, respectively, for Best Bank for Business, Best Bank for Customer Service, Best Institution for Obtaining a Business Loan, Best Wealth Management Advisory Firm and Best Business Investment Firm. IBA associate member Kruggel Lawton CPAs was recognized as Best Accounting Firm in Michiana. Awards are voted on by the publication’s readers in an annual survey “to acknowledge local business leaders who are excelling in their service to the community.”
J.D. Power recognized Centier Bank, Merrillville, as the best retail bank for customer satisfaction in the North Central Region as part of its 2025 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. The region covers Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Centier ranked as #1 in six of the study’s seven metrics: level of trust, helping to save time or money, allowing customers to bank how and when they want, account offerings meeting needs, resolving problems or complaints, and people.
