Monday, March 9, 2020
First Merchants held our 2020 Gold Shield Awards on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie, IN. The day was focused on recognizing our best and brightest, providing 40 awards in the areas of Sales Excellence, Service Excellence, Cornerstone Excellence and Community Excellence.
The Gold Shield Awards Celebration was created in 2007 to encourage top performance and recognize those who excel and serve as role models to all of us. As we strive for excellence, some among us stand out as exceptional professionals who combine this critical blend of performance and attitude.
The Gold Shield Awards honor employees based on performance in any of these three main categories:
Service Excellence:
Recognizes employees that have an unwavering focus on their customers – internal or external.
Cornerstone Excellence:
Recognizes employees on our administrative support teams that demonstrate commitment to service and efficiency.
Community Excellence:
Recognizes employees who demonstrate commitment to our community heritage through volunteer leadership service.
Sales Excellence awards are also given to honor employees. For these, recipients are selected by the managers in each of the following lines of business:
- Mortgage
- Commercial Banking
- Consumer Banking
- Private Wealth Advisors
Our 2020 Award Winners
CONSUMER BANKING SALES EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
Consumer Deposit Growth – Sarah Hain, Banking Center Manager, Huntington Banking Center (Fort Wayne)
Top Lender, Consumer and Business – Robert Young, Jr., Banking Center Manager, Greenwood Park Mall (Indianapolis)
Workplace Banking – Union City Banking Center
- Susan Crank
- Kaylene Thompson
- Maryann Buis
- Mckenzie Damewood
Banking Center of the Year – DeMotte Banking Center, Lafayette West Region
- Melissa Gootee
- Brittanie Chevrette
- Sharon Miller
- Deborah Hinchy
- Megan Hinton
MORTGAGE EXCELLENCE AWARDS WINNERS
Timothy Diersing – Mortgage Loan Originator from Indianapolis (Not present, Kim Thomas accepted on his behalf)
SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS:
EAS Enterprise and Deposit Operations Team
- Kimberlie Wright
- Travis Reese
- Carly Bowmer
- Valerie Deckman
- Brenda Bates
Tanya Goebel – Manager, Operations & Administration, Private Wealth/Muncie
Jamie Wright – Portfolio Manager, Research Director, PWA Investment Services/Muncie (Not present; Michael Joyce accepted on his behalf)
Summer Gibson – Trust Advisor, PWA Personal Trust/Muncie
Baily Sons – Commercial Administrator, Lakeshore
Stephanie Badalamenti – Banking Center Manager, Michigan
PRIVATE WEALTH SALES EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Michael Daugherty – Wealth Advisor, Indianapolis, Not Present
Douglas White – Senior Trust Advisor, Muncie East
COMMERCIAL SALES EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS:
Kyle Newman, Relationship Manager, Fort Wayne
Garrett Doan, Relationship Manager Indianapolis
Kevin Eckerty, Relationship Manager, Muncie East
Brent Talcott, Commercial Sales Manager, Lafayette
David Mongan, Team Lead, Merchant Card Sales, Indianapolis
Shane Miller, Relationship Manager, Indianapolis (Not present)
CORNERSTONE EXCELLENCE AWARDS:
The Role Based Authority Management Team
- Pam Miller
- Morris Franklin
- Angela Weis
- Kimberlie Campbell
- Rebecca Rees
- Christine Alfery
- Douglas Winchester
- Nathan Maxfield
- Sarah Paxson
- Cynthia Holaday
- Adam Souder
- Melanie Cook
- Philip Everts
- Candace Shannon
- Erin Sylvester
Cody Brooks, Manager, Credit Department, Fort Wayne
Enhanced New Hire Orientation Project Team
- Jody VanBuskirk
- Lora Ralph
- Angela Thomas
- Andrea Ridge
- Lindy Vaught
- Eric Segal
- Abby Butler
- Sharissa Ulrey
Teresa Ford, Director, HR Shared Services
Chelsea Hundley, Client Services Specialist, Private Wealth
Eric Segal, Assistant Manager, Learning & Development
Julie Goforth, Lead Commercial Administrator, Indianapolis
Chris Thompson, Applications Analyst, Daleville
Nathan Coe, Manager, Retail Operations, Daleville
Angela Peckinpaugh, Consumer Operations Specialist, Daleville
Kory Benbow, Senior Applications Analyst, Daleville (Not Present)
CECL Implementation Team
- Kevin Murphy
- Shelby Lannan
- Katelynn Lingle
- Leonard Farnsworth
- John Sutton
- Brian Means
- Melanie Bowling
- Pam Miller
- Stephen Rupsis
- Adam Souder
- Nathan Maxfield
- Julia Crabtree
- Sherri Nial
- Robert White
- Sarah Paxson
- Michael Butler
FRAUDBUSTER OF THE YEAR AWARD:
Chelsea Essex, Service Associate, Market Square/Lafayette East
