Ribbon Cut

Lincoln Banking Center celebrates Grand Opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony

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[January 06, 2023]   On Thursday, September 22nd, invited guests gathered outside the front entry of the new Lincoln Banking Center, a Division of the First National Bank in Tremont to witness a ribbon cutting ceremony and welcome the new bank to the community.

The banking center is located at 710 Woodlawn Road in the location that was once known as Bob’s Roast Beef. The bank is a full service branch of the Tremont Bank offering a large walk-in area for banking as well as a drive up window on the west side for customer convenience.

The evening began with a gathering of people behind the ribbon for the cut. Those who were asked to be front and center included Bank President and CEO June Kidd, Regional Vice President Tyler Hodge. Staff at the new Lincoln Banking Center including Annie Coers, Jennifer Holliday, Bethany Murphy, Diana Wagner, Lindsey Guy, Morgan Hauser and Allena Benninger were behind the ribbon. Lincoln Aldermen Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Steve Parrott and Kevin Bateman, Lincoln City Clerk Peggy Bateman, 2022 Little Miss Logan County Fair Luci Bobell were included along with Bank Board of Directors Connie Boyle, Dr. John Baer, Ric Brenneman, Ken Gibson, Dr. Brock Butts, Rod Conklin and former Board Chair Jim Sommer. Holding the ribbon was Logan County Tourism Bureau Director Alice Roate and Karen Hargis with Lincoln Daily News.

After a quick welcome to guests and a thank you to the Tremont Bank for their investment in the Lincoln Community, emcee Nila Smith with the LDN ribbon cutters turned the evening over to President Kidd.



Kidd began by introducing herself and talking about her family history with the community of Lincoln. Born in Lincoln, she is the daughter of Jim and Joan Shelley. She grew up in Lincoln and has been a part of the community for many years. She currently lives in Lincoln with her husband Dr. Robert Kidd. She mentioned her children, who also grew up in the area, and talked about her connection to Lincoln High School as a Railer alum and a Railer parent.

She thanked many people who were involved in the development of the vision and the physical construction of the bank. Among those mentioned were the architect for the new building, the construction crews including the general contractor and the many subcontractors. She thanked local businesses Schneider Masonry and Bee’s Landscaping for the exterior finishes and the landscaping.



She thanked her son Justin Harnacke for creating the wood logo art hanging in the lobby as well as Todd and Georgia Lohman who donated the local art in the conference room.

She went on to thank Windy Acres BBQ by Kevin and Peggy Bateman, who would be serving food after the ribbon cutting.

She acknowledged the board of directors with special attention to the former Chairman of the Board Jim Sommer saying he had supported and motivated them to keep moving on this project for the past year. She also noted it was Sommers birthday and wished him well.

Kidd went on to thank a large number of other people including customers, vendors, legal advisors and many more. She acknowledged the dedicated staff of not only the Lincoln Banking Center but in all the branch locations who supported the development of the new branch and did what they were able to do to assist.

She added a thank you to Regional Vice-President Tyler Hodge and said that the vision for Lincoln Bank began with a conversation between Hodge and Kidd at a Railer Football game nine years ago. Making that vision a reality was a big move and she told Hodge, “I’ve thrown a lot at you in a very short amount of time and you continuously live up to the challenge.”

With that Kidd turned the floor over to Hodge. He began by introducing himself and noting as Regional Vice President he is the overseer of the Logan County branches including New Holland and Lincoln. He said he wanted to begin by thanking his staff at both branches and saying though he might be biased, he feels he has the best staff anyone could hope to have at both banks.

He noted that in the last two years life has been quite hectic with the construction and grand opening of the New Holland Banking Center approximately one year ago in the fall of 2021 and now the opening of the Lincoln branch in the fall of 2022. He too acknowledged the staff from all the branches noting that in the time leading up to the opening those staff had taken on extra work loads and had done so graciously.

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He thanked Kidd for her strong leadership and support.

He talked about the customer base for the two Logan County banks saying that over the last few years, New Holland customers had expressed a desire to see a branch in Lincoln. He noted customers said they wanted to bank in Lincoln and not drive to New Holland and the corporation had listened.

He noted the New Holland branch has been open for several years, but in a location that lacked the convenience of a drive up window for customers. When the company had the opportunity to purchase the building site right on Illinois Route 10 in New Holland it opened a door for better service and convenience for the customers. It also opened the door for the bank to donate to the village of New Holland its former location.

Hodge said the successful opening of the new location in New Holland had led many more people to express a desire to see a similar bank come to Lincoln. He said when the two lots in Lincoln became available, it was ideal and the vision quickly became a reality.

Hodge concluded saying after the cut he hoped everyone would stay and take a tour of the new bank and enjoy some food. He concluded, “Although we won’t be serving any Bob’s Roast Beef, we do plan on striving to provide the best service we can.”



The last person to speak before the snipping of the ribbon was Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Bateman filling in for Mayor Tracy Welch, who had a previous obligation.
 


Bateman said he would be quite brief. He noted the bank had taken another empty lot in Lincoln and turned it into something beautiful and a new source of pride for the community. He thanked the Tremont Bank for its commitment to the community and wished them well.





With the speeches concluded, Hodge was given the scissor for the posed picture and then the crowd assisted with the count down to the cut.

When the cut was completed, everyone was invited to tour the building, get acquainted with staff, and enjoy food by Windy Acres. The food included smoked pork and chicken along with baked beans and chips. Guests could take a plate to enjoy immediately or grab a to-go box to take home.

Inside the bank, guests toured the lobby and checked out the individual offices and conference room area of the bank. The layout for the Lincoln branch is almost identical to the layout at New Holland except it is flipped. Customers will enter the front door and go to their left for the tellers or to the right for personalized services.

For drive thru services, customers will enter on the east side of the building and drive around the back to the west side for the teller window.

The Grand Opening celebration continued on Friday with an open house for the public and food served during the lunch hour.

[Nila Smith]


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