A SENATE RESOLUTION congratulating Mike Kubacki for
being recognized as Banker of the Year.
, read first time and referred to Committee on
MADAM PRESIDENT:
I offer the following resolution and move its adoption:
A SENATE RESOLUTION congratulating Mike Kubacki
for being recognized as Banker of the Year.
Whereas, In December of 2011, Mike Kubacki, CEO of
Lake City Bank, was honored as Community Banker of the Year
by the American Banker publication. The American Banker
publication has been described as "the daily newspaper of the
banking industry";
Whereas, Following in his father's footsteps, Kubacki
always wanted to go into banking. He received his bachelor's
degree from Indiana University in 1973, and took a job at
Northern Trust as a commercial lending trainee; he
simultaneously attended classes at the University of Chicago to
earn a master's degree in business administration. In 1991,
Mike Kubacki was transferred to Los Angeles with the task of
expanding Northern Trust's trust business. In 2000, Mike
Kubacki was asked to return to Indiana to run Lakeland
Financial Corporation as CEO;
Whereas, Mike Kubacki cites the prosperity of the bank as the reason he has earned the Banker of the Year honor. The bank's success has been widely noticed in the banking and
financial community. In September, Sandler O'Neill &
Partners L.P. named the $2.8 billion Lakeland Financial Group
as one of its 25 small bank all-stars for 2011. This award was
based on evaluated criteria such as profitability, credit-quality
and capital strength. Lakeland was chosen from 486 publicly
traded institutions with a market capitalization of less than $2
billion;
Whereas, While stocks of banks of all sizes have plummeted
over the past year, Lakeland's shares in mid-November were
trading at close to their 52-week high;
Whereas, From mid-2008 through mid-2011, Lakeland
increased its total book of loans by almost 27% without making
any acquisitions, when other Indiana banks were declining by
an average of 17%. Lakeland has achieved record net income
in two of the past three calendar years; and
Whereas, Lakeland's business strategy relies on
aggressively acquiring market share from competitors, lending
to established businesses and adhering to strict underwriting
rules. Mike Kubacki's vision and leadership has allowed
Lakeland Financial Corporation to prosper despite an
economic downturn: Therefore,