110 never looked so good!

Even amid the anxiety of the last year and the continuing uncertainty of this year, Heartland Bank has reason to celebrate. Three cheers to 110 years!

With roots in Croton, Ohio, dating back to 1911, Heartland Bank wasted no time growing those roots to the many suburbs of Central Ohio and recently, to the Northern Kentucky area. From the first president, George Van Fossen, to the current president, Scott McComb, Heartland has grown to 18 full-service branch locations. In 1988, Heartland BancCorp assets were reported as $36,653,000; $136,054,000 in 1995; $536,748,000 in 2010 and finally reaching over a billion in 2018.

Heartland Bank has a proud history of cultivating community relationships with a history dating back to a Licking County farming community in Ohio. Local farmers, cultivating crops for a living, kept their banking local, thus building neighborhood financial relationships. Tiney M. McComb formed Heartland BancCorp in 1988 and shortly thereafter, the BancCorp purchased Croton Bank and changed the name to Heartland Bank.  Tiney faithfully served as President for nearly 20 years and guided Heartland Bank to $530 million in assets before retiring in 2009. He handed over the reins as Chief Executive Officer to his son, Gregory Scott McComb, who had already become President in 2008.  In 2011, just before Tiney’s death in 2012 as a result of cancer, Scott became Chairman of the Board.

Launching internet banking in 1999, commissioning a jingle by Patrick Henry in 2004, and establishing an iPhone app in 2011, Heartland has stood the test of time navigating tumultuous financial events and most recently, surviving a world-wide pandemic. The bank has also weathered the storms of the Great Depression, World War II, several stock market crashes, adoption of the USA PATRIOT Act in response to 911, and protests on American soil. Currently in the grips of a COVID pandemic, Heartland has shifted, rebounded and evaluated operations to continually meet the needs of its clients. Through all these trials and tribulations, the bank not only survived, but held the hands of its clients as both adapted and prospered.

As a result of the above-and-beyond efforts over the years from Heartland associates, the bank has been proud to receive several awards over the last ten years:

• 2011 - broke into the top 100 at #97 on the list of Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks and Thrifts by American Banker Magazine, with Heartland currently ranked at #58
• 2012 - received the Ethical Enterprising Award for Character Ethics in Business from the Central Ohio Better Business Bureau
• 2013 - received the WWR Outstanding Community Partner (Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA) and the Ohio Statewide Development Corporation Community Bank of the Year awards
• 2014 - named #2 for fastest growing bank by Columbus Business First magazine.
• August of 2015 - the bank celebrated the inaugural launch of the Heartland Bank hot air balloon
• 2018 - the Best of Cbus Top Picks 2018 Best Bank in Columbus award, Ohio Statewide Development Corporation 2018 Bank of the Year, CEO of the Year by Columbus CEO Magazine and the Governor’s Award for Business Support of the Arts (small)

Looking back, the road traveled guides the commitment and strategies for today, rooting Heartland to the communities it serves. According to Heartland’s founder, Tiney McComb, “It’s not so much what you create, instead you go into the community and participate.” This is the community bank difference – being active in the communities served, understanding the dynamics of the local environments and committing to financial relationships that honor the past, give meaning to the present and ensure a prosperous future.