Item 5.02 Departure of Directors and Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
On January 26, 2022, Horizon Bancorp, Inc. ("Horizon" or the "Company")
announced various changes to its senior leadership structure and made several
executive leadership promotions and appointments for consumer and commercial
banking, to be effective April 1, 2022.
On January 24, 2022, James D. Neff, the President of the Company and its wholly
owned subsidiary, Horizon Bank, notified the Company of his intention to retire
from his positions effective as of March 31, 2022. Noe S. Najera, the current
Senior Vice President of Mortgage and Retail Lending of the Company, will be
promoted to Executive Vice President, responsible for consumer, mortgage, and
mortgage-warehouse lending, as well as CRA and fair lending programs, effective
as of April 1, 2022, succeeding Mr. Neff in leading these teams.
In addition, Dennis J. Kuhn, the current Executive Vice President and Chief
Commercial Banking Officer of the Company and Horizon Bank, will be appointed as
Horizon's Regional President for Southwest Michigan, effective as of April 1,
2022. Upon Mr. Kuhn's appointment, Lynn M. Kerber, the current Executive Vice
President, Senior Commercial Credit Officer of the Company and Horizon Bank,
will be promoted to Chief Commercial Banking Officer.
Noe Najera, age 51, joined Horizon in 2016 and has served as Senior Vice
President, Consumer Lending and CRA/Fair Lending and assumed additional
responsibilities for retail mortgage lending in 2018. He has over 20 years of
consumer and mortgage lending experience. Previously, Noe played professional
baseball for five years with the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds. He
earned his B.A. degree from Indiana University South Bend and attended Cypress
College and North Carolina State University as a scholarship athlete. Noe is a
volunteer mentor for Junior Achievement at Purdue Northwest, Unity Foundation of
La Porte County, and a member of Horizon's Diversity Business Council, Mortgage
Bankers Association and Michigan Bankers Association.
Lynn Kerber, age 54, joined Horizon in 2018 and has served as Executive Vice
President, Senior Commercial Credit Officer since January 2021. Previously in
her career, Lynn held leadership roles in commercial banking, credit
administration, and enterprise risk management, having previously served as
Executive Vice President, Regional Bank President and Executive Vice President
and Chief Risk Officer for Chemical Financial Corporation and its banking
subsidiary, Chemical Bank, from 2016 until she joined Horizon. She earned her
M.B.A. and B.A. degrees from Western Michigan University and also completed the
Stonier Graduate School of Banking Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lynn has been active in community and professional organizations throughout her
career, and currently serves on the Board of Education for South Haven Public
School District as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.
Dennis Kuhn, in his new Regional President role, will be responsible for growth
in Southwest Michigan where he has built strong commercial and community
relationships during his 37-year career. He joined Horizon in 2010 to establish
its Kalamazoo office and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial
Banking Officer since 2017. Previously, Dennis was an executive in the Southwest
and Central regions of the state with Portage Commerce Bank, Michigan National
Bank and First of America Bank. He earned his B.S. degree from
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Oregon State University. Dennis currently serves as a Board member and Treasurer
of the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation, and has been active in
numerous community and non-profit organizations throughout his career.
Craig M. Dwight, the Chairman and CEO of the Company and Horizon Bank, will
assume the role of President upon Mr. Neff's retirement until a new President of
the Company and Horizon Bank is appointed. The Company intends to retain an
executive search firm to conduct a national search for a permanent successor to
Mr. Neff as President and advise the Board of Directors on potential internal
and external candidates.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure
On January 26, 2022, Horizon issued a press release with respect to the above
reference officer changes. The full text of the press release is furnished with
this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.
In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information set
forth in this Item 7.01 of this current report on Form 8-K, including Exhibit
99.1 attached hereto, is being furnished and shall not be deemed "filed" for
purposes of Section 18 of Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities
of that Section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any
filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act,
whether made before or after the date hereof and regardless of any general
incorporation language in such filings, except to the extent expressly set forth
by specific reference in such a filing. The filing of this Current Report on
Form 8-K shall not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any
information herein that is required to be disclosed solely by reason of
Regulation FD.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d) Exhibits
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. Description Location
99.1 Press release issued on January 26, 2022 Attached
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