SVP, Ag Lender

The First National Bank of Lacon Fast Facts The First National Bank of Lacon (“FNBL”) is a community bank chartered in 1864, during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. For more than 160 years, FNBL has served the farmers, producers, small businesses, and families of central Illinois with the relationship-driven service expected of a local community bank.

Under new ownership, FNBL is entering an important next chapter. The bank is investing in people, process, and technology to build a best-in-class agricultural lending program that honors its deep community roots while bringing modern tools, disciplined credit processes, and a forward-looking approach to portfolio management.

Agriculture is central to FNBL’s work. The bank is seeking a senior lender who can strengthen an established book of business, protect portfolio quality, deepen longstanding borrower relationships, and help create the infrastructure required for sustainable agricultural lending growth.

This is a meaningful opportunity to shape the future of agricultural lending at one of

central Illinois’ oldest community banks. FNBL is newly under ownership that is actively

investing in people, process, and technology, and this role will have direct visibility to

the Bank President and real influence over how the ag lending program is run.

For the right lender, the opportunity is not defined by sales quotas or short-term

origination targets. It is defined by portfolio quality, trusted borrower relationships,

sound credit standards, and the ability to build a program that is disciplined, modern,

and deeply connected to the agricultural community FNBL has served since 1864.

The Senior Agricultural Lender will help strengthen long-term stability for the bank, its

borrowers, and the communities it serves.

Based in Lacon, Illinois, the Senior Agricultural Lender will serve as the primary steward of FNBL’s agricultural loan portfolio, including operating lines, machinery and equipment, livestock, and farm real estate. Reporting directly to the Bank President, this leader will manage the portfolio with discipline, sound credit judgment, and a strong commitment to documentation and process excellence.

The role is focused first on portfolio quality, credit process, and operational rigor. The Senior Agricultural Lender will also help build FNBL’s ag lending program from the ground up under new ownership by establishing sound procedures, documentation standards, underwriting templates, annual review processes, and modern tools that make an already-established book of business perform at its best.

This is a senior seat on the lending team for someone who finds purpose in running a clean, well-managed portfolio, earning trust with farm operators and agribusinesses, and building the systems that support long-term lending stability.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned agricultural lender with strong credit judgment, relationship depth, and a practical understanding of farming operations in central Illinois. This person knows how to sit across the kitchen table with a producer, understand the operation, and bring that same clarity and confidence into loan committee.

A successful candidate will bring at least seven years of professional ag lending experience at a bank, Farm Credit institution, or comparable financial institution. They will have a demonstrated track record of managing a healthy, well-documented ag loan portfolio, with credit quality and process discipline valued more than origination volume alone.

Just as important, this leader will bring integrity, humility, and a service mindset. They should be comfortable with modern lending tools, including AI-assisted underwriting, digital documentation, cash flow modeling, and data-driven portfolio analytics, while maintaining the human judgment and relationship focus that community banking requires.

Agricultural portfolio management:
Manage, underwrite, and structure a portfolio of agricultural loans, including operating lines, machinery and equipment, livestock, and farm real estate, with a focus on credit quality and sound documentation.

Credit process…