Donald James Perry, Vice President and Investments Manager
Kentucky Farmers Bank

Donald J. Perry currently serves as Sr. Vice President and Investments Manager for Kentucky Farmers Bank.  Perry is responsible for investing the Bank’s assets, Pension Plan and Wealth Management Assets.   He is also part of KFB’s Executive Management team which sets the Bank’s strategic direction and addresses high level issues.

Born and raised in Florence, KY., Perry graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1986 with a B.S degree in Industrial Technology and immediately went to work for Ashland Petroleum as a Computer Analyst.  While working as Project Manager in the Information Technology Dept., Perry earned a master’s in business administration from EKU in 1995 and began working in a financial capacity as a Sr. Financial Analyst.  The last three years of his 17-year career with Ashland was spent in an entrepreneurial capacity developing new business opportunities for Valvoline.

In 2004, Perry left Ashland Inc. and began working for Kentucky Farmers Bank.  This new role required the Perry family to move from Lexington to Ashland, KY in 2007.  Since the move, Perry has become very involved with various community activities and was instrumental in the startup of the BankOn program in NE KY.  Perry is also involved in educating the next generation of Bankers, as he teaches the Investments class at the Kentucky Banker Association’s Banking School.  Perry is also involved in economic development in the NE KY region and currently serves as the Chairman for the Tri-State Angel Investment Group (TSAIG) and Chairman of the Appalachian Angel Investor Alliance (AAIA).  Perry is still involved with his alma mater as he currently serves on EKU’s Business Advisory Council and EKU’s Banking Program Advisory Committee. Perry has been married to his college sweetheart April, since 1986 and has two children, Connor, 26 and Kendall, 23.

Charles A. Vice, Commissioner
Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions

Charles A. Vice was appointed commissioner of the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) in August 2008. As the commissioner of DFI, Vice has responsibility for the regulatory oversight of all Kentucky state-chartered financial institutions, which includes examinations, licensing of financial professionals, registration of securities and enforcement.

Vice is currently serving on the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) Regulator Board. This national group represents the state-chartered credit union system. Vice also has held a number of leadership roles in the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the nationwide organization representing state bank regulators. As a former chairman, he maintains the status of Director Emeritus of CSBS. He is only the second commissioner from Kentucky to have led this national group.

While commissioner of DFI, Vice previously served on other national regulatory groups, including the State Regulatory Registry LLC Board of Managers, the Education Foundation of State Bank Supervisors, and two Federal Financial Institution Examination Council groups, the Taskforce on Supervision and the State Liaison Committee.

Prior to joining DFI, Vice was an employee of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for 18 years, serving in the Lexington, Ky., field office. During his tenure with the FDIC, Vice served as the office’s expert on subprime lending and capital markets. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1990 and graduated from Biloxi High School in 1985. He resides in Winchester, Ky.

Vice President of Marketing
Citizens Guaranty Bank

Jaclyn St. Clair Shoop was born in raised in the Richmond and Irvine area. She graduated from DePaul University in 2012 with BA in Marketing and Advertising with a minor in Psychology. Jaclyn is a graduate of The Graduate School of Banking at LSU. She is currently the Vice President of Marketing and serves on the Board of Directors at Citizens Guaranty Bank.

John Hamilton began his banking career in 1975 at State Bank & Trust Co. in Richmond. He spent over 24 years at that institution, wore many hats and was exposed to many facets of banking, Teller (Customer Service Rep), Installment Lender, Branch Manager, AVP/ Consumer Lending Manager, Mortgage Lender, VP/Commercial Lender, to Sr. V.P/Senior Lender. He left EKU in 1975 to take the job at State Bank, and in 1977 went back to finish. While at EKU, John worked as a Teller in Lexington at First Security Bank. In 1988, that same First Security bought State Bank, and John was made V.P./Senior Lender for the Madison County region. In 1990, First Security was purchased by Bank One. John remained with Bank One, as Commercial Lender until 1999, when he took a position in Commercial Lending and was charged with bringing Fifth Third Bank to Richmond, Ky., where he would be Market President. He maintained a $50 million commercial business portfolio, as well as, Madison County Market President duties.

In January 2011, John decided to go back to a community bank by accepting a position with Kentucky Bank, based in Paris, Ky.  “It is great to be back with a bank that concentrates its efforts in the Central Kentucky market.”  John served as Madison County Market President for Kentucky Bank until 2019.

John has always been active in Richmond/Madison County community affairs. Along with being on the EKU Business Advisory Council, he is Treasurer of the McCready-Telford Foundation, Advisory Board Member for City of Richmond at Gibson Bay, was Board Chairman for 17 years at the Telford Community YMCA, and Finance Board Member of First United Methodist Church. John has two children, Blake 28, and Kelsey 12.

Chairman
Kentucky First Federal Bancorp

Tony D. Whitaker has served as Chairman of Kentucky First Federal Bancorp since its inception in March of 2005. Whitaker had served as CEO of the company since its inception until his retirement on January 1, 2013. Whitaker also served as president and CEO of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Hazard, KY from 1997-2013. Whitaker was president of the central Kentucky region and served on the board of Great Financial Bank, a $3 billion savings and loan holding company located in Louisville, Kentucky. Whitaker also served as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati from 1991 to 1997, including a term as vice-chairman. Whitaker has served since 2002 on the Board of Directors, including a term as chairman, of Pentegra Group Inc. A financial services company specializing in retirement benefits. He served as chairman of the Kentucky Bankers Association in 2011-12. Whitaker is also a past director and president of the Richmond, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and a past charter member or the Richmond/Madison county Industrial Development Board.

Executive Vice President

Bank of the Mountains

Jodi Stacy is the Executive Vice President of Bank of the Mountains in West Liberty, Kentucky and a fourth generation community banker. As a graduate of both the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University, Jodi has spent most of her adult life in Kentucky, living and working at the Bank for the last fifteen years. Jodi is on the board of several organizations including Bank of the Mountains, the Independent Correspondent Bankers Bank, the Bluegrass Community Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America Federal Delegate Board, the Morgan County Public Library and the West Liberty Tourism Commission. In her spare time, Jodi enjoys camping, hiking and spending time with her dog, Frannie.

Member, Baldwin CPAs, PLLC

As the Firm’s Leader of Client Accounting Services (CAS), Lisa DeVaughn Foley brings more than 25 years of accounting and tax experience to the Firm.  Lisa oversees the Firm’s outsourced CFO services, compilations, cloud accounting and client payroll services for a wide variety of industries including construction, healthcare, real estate, restaurants, retail and service businesses.

Lisa has been involved in serving both the accounting professional community and the local community.  She has served as the past chair of the Kentucky CPA Society’s CPE committee as well as been a member of the Kentucky CPA Society’s Leadership Council. Locally, Lisa serves as a member of Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Business Advisory Council and Banking Advisory Committee and Citizen Guaranty’s Madison County Advisory Board.  She is the past president of Hospice Care Plus for 2016 and served for numerous years on the St. Mark Catholic Church Finance Council. In her free time, Lisa enjoys traveling and cooking.  Lisa resides in Richmond, Kentucky with her husband Tim.

Ms. Nguyen graduated Summa Cum Laude with degrees in Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems.

In her Banking course FIN 490, she served on the CSBS Bank Case Study Competition EKU Student Team that won the national competition for research on the role of fintech in community banking. Lorelei commented “Conducting this research provided me a glimpse of the delicate balancing act between risks and opportunities that bankers take into consideration when implementing new technology.”

Her participation in the CSBS research competition led her to become interested in working in the Banking and Financial Services Industry. She worked as a Research Analyst for the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions her senior semester and was hired to work for KDFI full-time as a Bank Field Examiner upon graduation.

Dalton Stanley, from Pikeville, KY, graduated from EKU summa cum laude in December 2018 with degrees in Supply Chain Management and Managerial Finance.

Dalton was a student in Banking course FIN 490 as he served as the CSBS Bank Case Study 2018 team that won the national competition. His participation in the banking competition led him to become interested in a legal career in the banking industry.

Currently, Dalton is a second-year law student at the University of Kentucky Law School. During Summer 2019, Dalton worked as a law clerk in the Chairman’s Office of FDIC headquarters in Washington, DC.

Stanley says, “With the law sometimes being unnecessarily complicated, I want my career to be marked by excellent legal service to businesses facing complex legal issues. Financial institutions are one example of the many businesses where I know my education and experience that I credit to EKU’s Banking Program, paired with my legal education at UK, will help me provide effective counsel amidst legal uncertainty. I thank EKU for having such a wonderful academic program and faculty who are passionate about using experiential opportunities to prepare students for the real world of business!”

Kelsey Snyder, May 2016 graduate from Eastern Kentucky University, holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Business Administration in Accounting with a minor in Personal Finance. During her pursuit of an accounting degree, she took a wide variety of accounting classes in an attempt to find her passion, including Intermediate Accounting, Accounting Information Systems, Forensic Accounting, Auditing, and Tax. In Dr. Isaac’s tax class, she and the class became certified to prepare income taxes. Through Dr. Isaacs and Kentucky River Foothills, the class then used their certifications to prepare tax returns for citizens of Madison County for free!

It wasn’t until the first semester of her senior year that a class in personal money management sparked her interest and she decided to pursue a minor in personal finance in addition to her accounting degree. The class was instructed by Finance faculty Maggie Abney. In the following semester, she enrolled in Personal Financial Planning and our very first Banking class at EKU, both also taught by Ms. Abney. During class, they spent their time learning and discussing various banking regulations, the roles of the Federal Reserve, and several other important aspects in the banking industry while also researching key financial events in U.S. History, such as the Great Depression and the Financial Crisis of 2008.

Throughout her college career, Kelsey maintained a job working 30-40 hours per week on top of her full-time college schedule. During her last semester of college, she also accepted a co-op position working as a Certified Tax Preparer at Liberty Tax Service in Richmond.

Kelsey now holds a full-time position as a Credit Analyst at Citizens National Bank in her hometown of Somerset, Ky., which she landed immediately upon graduation. As a Credit Analyst, she analyzes tax returns, financial statements, and other credit data for businesses and individuals who seek a loan to determine their cash flow and the potential risk they create for the bank. 

Kelsey and her fiancé, Ryan Fortenberry, are currently planning a wedding for May of 2017. After the wedding, Kelsey plans to earn a Master’s Degree of Business Administration while advancing her career in banking, and traveling as much as possible!

Recognizing the importance of a well rounded college curriculum, Matthew McNeil (2016) engaged in EKU’s very first banking course. Throughout his accounting studies, he also worked as Internal Auditor and Staff Accountant for Central Bank & Trust Co., the largest privately held bank in Kentucky.

Matt earned his Bachelor’s in Accounting in 2016 with multiple offers from the Big Four accounting firms and ultimately accepted an offer from Crowe Horwath, LLP, the eighth largest accounting firm in the world. He is currently an auditor in their Financial Services Department in Nashville.

In reflecting on his experience with EKU’s banking courses he said, “The trends and history we learned about in my banking class at EKU come up often as I work with bank presidents, CFO’s and controllers. I feel as though the class was a catalyst toward my greater interest in the economic issues that my clients grapple with and plan for on a weekly basis.”

He continued, “My ability to have stimulating conversations with them about the 2008 credit crisis and other historical crises makes me a respected and memorable colleague in their eyes. Along with the fascinating study of the financial crises, we were able to go on site to a bank as well as a private consulting firm that helps banks prepare for regulatory and compliance issues. Given the chance to learn first-hand from industry leaders and having the opportunity to ask questions with their undivided attention added a very real element to the class’s value.”  

Matt firmly believes that interested students should take an industry focus as it will aid them in specialization as they move forward in their careers. 

In the nearly two years since graduation, Matt has married the love of his life, Laura, and built a home in the Nashville area. He looks forward to being able to give back to EKU as a successful alum and would love the opportunity to speak with and offer advice to current EKU students interested in a similar path.

President and CEO
Bankers Service Corporation
Lexington, Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky University, ’91 BBA Finance
EKU Dept. of Accounting, Finance & Information Systems Distinguished Alum 2012

Matt Evans is the successful owner of Bankers Service Corporation, a company he helped envision and form in 1997. “BSC” is a bank auditing and consulting firm, located in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to overseeing the daily operations of the company, he is involved in all aspects of the company, including loan review, compliance audit, internal audit, training, and client consulting.

Matt’s corporate philosophy is to maintain an efficient organization balanced with a life outside the office. He is sought after as a speaker by industry organizations and is a contributor for several trade publications.

Prior to joining BSC, Matt was a Commissioned Bank Examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the Lexington, Kentucky, field office. Matt served as Examiner-in-Charge on numerous bank examinations.

Matt is a 2004 graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He is also involved with civic and community organizations in Central Kentucky.

Matt earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance at EKU in 1991, Magna Cum Laude. Always a student advocate, Matt was the Vice President of the student body (1990-1991) and was active in his fraternity.

Matt is a proud third generation EKU graduate, following his grandmother (MA 1956), father (BS 1959, MA 1962), and mother (1959). His brother (1990) and sister (1987 and 2005) are also EKU grads. Matt had no choice but to be a Colonel!

When Matt is not busy running his company or spending time with family and friends, you’ll find him spinning and cycling the back roads of Central Kentucky.

Bill Herrell is a Managing Director for the Investment Banking group, with more than 20 years of experience covering financial institutions. His broad background ranges from smaller, private capital raises to larger, structured products. Prior to joining D.A. Davidson, he served as Principal and Co-Founder of The Burke Group, LLC, and was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group banking practice at Morgan Keegan & Co., which was acquired by Raymond James. He also held positions at FSI Capital, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., and Bank of America, formally known as NationsBank.

Bill has served as an instructor for the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) in Washington, D.C., and as an expert witness on securities matters to the banking industry. He is also a frequent speaker at banking industry conferences on mergers and acquisitions, and private capital raising. Bill currently serves as a member of the Banking and Financial Services Program Advisory Committee at Eastern Kentucky University and previously served on the board of Burke Resolution Partners, LLC.

He holds a master’s degree in finance from Boston College, and a bachelor’s degree in finance and insurance from Eastern Kentucky University.  He currently resides in Atlanta with his wife Connie, also an EKU Alumnus.  They have twin daughters Jordan and Katherine.

Andy Baker is Chief Executive Officer of Traditional Bank, where he has worked for nearly 35 years. Founded in Mt. Sterling Kentucky in 1902, Traditional Bank remains an independent, locally-owned bank employing 245 men and women in its six-county service area. The bank has 16 locations in Central and Eastern Kentucky and approximately $1.6 billion in assets.  Based on the most recent FDIC market share reports, Traditional Bank is sixth largest of banks which are domiciled in Kentucky.

Andy began his career with Traditional Bank in 1985, shortly after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Finance from EKU.

Through a variety of roles Andy developed a deep understanding of the operational and administrative facets of the organization. Through this knowledge he has provided leadership for key operational functions and helped guide the organization’s people and processes through an intensive growth period.

A desire to serve his community has played a vital role in Andy’s personal and professional life.  He is president of the Montgomery County affiliate for Habitat for Humanity (20 years), an advisory director for the Montgomery County Area Technology Center, a local trustee for the United Way of the Bluegrass, and a member of St. Patrick Church Parish and Finance Council. He is also past president of the Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and served as a board member for St. Joseph Mt. Sterling Foundation.

A lifelong learner, Andy has embraced opportunities which could build his professional expertise as well as enhance his knowledge of the local markets that Traditional Bank serves.

He was a previous board member for the regional electronic payments association, Payments Central, and was a member of his local Ambulance/Emergency Services Board as well as the Chamber of Commerce Work Ready task force.

While at EKU, Andy met his wife of 32 years, Mary Weigel (Bachelor of Science in Nursing 1984), and together they have 3 adult children and a daughter-in-law. In his leisure time he enjoys skiing, hiking, and traveling to National Parks, all of which he prefers to do with his family.