Business View Magazine | April/May 2022

161 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 HER I TAGE BANK forward to carrying on his grandfather’s legacy of operating ‘safe and sound’ banks, with plenty of value-added services. “Chick raised a family of five, all of whom were involved with the bank growing up,” Moyer shares. “Through perseverance and saving, my grandfather grew the bank the honest way.” With those earnings, Chick bought another bank, and then another bank. Slowly but surely, the evolution of Heritage started to echo the idea behind the partnerships Chick had with his key people, and the capital they brought to the table. “It’s a real history of partnership,” Moyer says, reflecting on the bank’s 65-year commitment to Heritage customers and the markets they serve. “We’re only as good as our people. Our brand, in many respects, is our people. We very much recognize and understand that.” Moyer’s father, Sam, was President and CEO for over 30 years, serving the company with distinction and leading it successfully through a period of steady growth and change. “I became CEO just recently and Jacob Arendt became President,” Moyer explains. “We’re transitioning to a new chapter in the bank’s story yet our goal remains the same: to deliver win-win banking partnerships to our customers. New technology allows us to do that in some new ways, but our model of relationship banking hasn’t changed.” Arendt says Heritage Bank has benefited over many years from many long-time employees. Many of whom have similar retirement dates which can turn that stability into “a double- edged sword”. “We’ve been very fortunate to have had a lot of key folks hold very long tenures,” he notes. “Many of those key people who are with us today all started around the same time or are of a similar age. That’s positive, but the other side of it is that now we’re facing a fair amount of retirements and career movements. We’re transitioning some management, some leadership, and a variety of other positions throughout the bank. With that, we’ve been experiencing the difficulty to hire, and that’s been especially intensified during the past two years. We’ve tried to be creative and open- minded about it to see what we really need to offer. What matters to a 60-year-old is not the same as what matters to a 30-year-old, so trying to focus on shifting priorities, making sure that we provide a quality environment that casts a wide net to get folks in and interested to work at Heritage, I think that’s the right way to get the long-term fit that we’re looking for.” Now headquartered in Aurora in the southeastern part of Nebraska, Heritage Bank continues to primarily be an Ag-based, Ag-facing lender. Their strength comes from aggressive loan growth strategies and outstanding relationships with their farm, livestock, business, and consumer customers. “Agriculture represents at least 50% of our total lending, for sure,” Arendt confirms. “That factors in our Ag operating loans, Ag equipment loans, and Ag real estate loans. Those 12 communities