St. Louis, MO (August 28, 2023) First Mid Bank & Trust (First Mid) is proud to announce it has been selected as the Small Business Administration (SBA) Central/Southern Illinois Community Lender of the Year.

This award is presented to the community bank with the best overall performance record for lending to small businesses in Central and Southern Illinois throughout 2022. This year marks the eighth time First Mid has received this award.

“This award speaks volumes about our willingness to take care of our communities and small businesses are at the heart of that,” said John Barnett, Regional President and Community Lender specializing in SBA loans. “Our team is dedicated to helping business owners and entrepreneurs be successful by guiding them through any challenges. Some banks aren’t interested in the energy and time it takes to be that business advocate, but it's a passion for us.”

Within the last year, the SBA also awarded First Mid Bank & Trust its Preferred Lender Program (PLP) status based on the bank’s years of experience. To earn the PLP designation, lenders must establish a successful track record and display a thorough understanding of SBA lending policies and procedures.

The SBA preferred lender status gives First Mid the authority to make borrowing decisions on behalf of SBA, streamlining its commercial loan process by removing significant timing and documentation hurdles that can add weeks of closing time to a transaction. This gives borrowers the opportunity to achieve their funding goals sooner and more efficiently.

“First Mid’s goal is to help people achieve their dreams, grow local employment, and improve the local economy,” says Barnett. “Our status as an SBA preferred lender allows businesses to benefit from SBA’s more flexible loan terms, such as lower down payments and longer amortizations. SBA loans allow us to help entrepreneurs who may not qualify for traditional lending due to lack of collateral, the business being a start-up, or for other reasons. It allows First Mid to finance customers who have acceptable experience in the industry and personal financial history, and who dream of owning their own business.”

About First Mid Bancshares, Inc.: First Mid Bancshares, Inc. is the parent company of First Mid Bank & Trust, N.A., Blackhawk Bank, First Mid Insurance Group, and First Mid Wealth Management Company. First Mid is an $8.0 billion community-focused organization that provides financial services including banking, insurance, wealth management, brokerage, and ag services through a network of locations in Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and Wisconsin, and a loan production office in Indiana. Together, our First Mid team takes great pride in providing solutions and services to our customers and communities and has done so since 1865. More information about the Company is available on our website at firstmid.com. Our stock is traded in The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC under the ticker symbol “FMBH”.