2024 in Review: Celebrating Successes and Looking Ahead

By Ja Hillebrand, Chairman & CEO

As the year comes to a close, I can’t help but be filled with gratitude for the incredible journey we’ve shared with our community this year.  Every new branch opened, every local project supported, and every customer connection deepened is a testament to the trust you place in us. Together, we’ve grown in ways that matter—not just in numbers, but in our shared commitment to building stronger communities. In the coming year, Stock Yards Bank & Trust will continue to expand our footprint and invest in the communities we serve. While we look back at our successes in expansion and community development, we have our eyes set toward 2025.

In 2024, we celebrated our 120th anniversary highlighting more than a century of personal relationships, community development and growth to support more customers and neighbors. This year, we unveiled two new branch locations in the Cincinnati and Indianapolis regions to meet current customers' needs, serve new customers and build relationships.

Along with expanding and serving additional customers, Stock Yards Bank & Trust continues to invest in our communities. Continuing our commitment to improving children’s lives, we partnered again with Isaacs & Isaacs to provide backpacks filled with school supplies to help remove barriers to quality education. We also continued our partnership with Paristown and Toys for Tots in Louisville and collected toys in all our Louisville-area locations to provide happy holiday memories for children.

In Cincinnati, Stock Yards Bank & Trust was proud to be the title sponsor of the Cincinnati “Flying Pig Marathon’s Piggest Raffle Ever” where we teamed up to raise funds for more than one hundred area nonprofit organizations. Stock Yards Bank & Trust also worked to provide affordable housing solutions across our footprint. Partnering with Transylvania University and fellow banks, we unveiled the plans for a new 12.5-acre affordable housing project in central Lexington. In addition, Stock Yards Bank & Trust expanded its mortgage options with the launch of the DreamHome Program allowing for lower down payments on home purchases and expanding opportunities for residents looking for a home.

The bank is also committed to the health and wellness of our neighbors. This year, Stock Yards Bank & Trust continued its sponsorship of St. Claire HealthCare Foundation in eastern Kentucky and the Dash by the Past 5k race in Indianapolis benefiting Eskenazi Health.

Taking care of people is important to Stock Yards Bank & Trust. I’m extremely proud that American Banker named Stock Yards Bank & Trust as one of its Best Banks to Work for again in 2024 – the fourth year in a row. We were also able to host a 120th-anniversary company picnic for all bank employees and their families to gather and celebrate the legacy and future of Stock Yards Bank & Trust.

As we ring in 2025, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to each of you—our customers, partners, and team members—for being an essential part of our journey. Our focus remains on the people and the relationships that we’ve built and continue to build. We look forward to the new year with optimism and excitement, knowing that, together, we can achieve even more. Thank you for being part of our story!

Ja Hillebrand
Chairman & CEO
Stock Yards Bank & Trust

Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.