Michael Steelman, Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Bushnell, Named Illinois Bankers Association Banker of the Year

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael Steelman, Chairman and CEO of Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Bushnell, was honored as the 2013 Illinois Banker of the Year by the Illinois Bankers Association (IBA). The award was presented during the IBA's Annual Conference and Trade Show held at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch in St. Louis on June 25.

This is the eleventh year for the Illinois Banker of the Year award, which is the highest honor the Illinois Bankers Association can bestow on one of its members. It is presented annually to an individual whose dedication to excellence has most profoundly enhanced the banking industry.

Throughout his more than 30 years in banking, Steelman has been very active in the Illinois Bankers Association and has worked closely with the Association to lobby on behalf of Illinois bankers.

He is a past member of a number of IBA committees and boards, including but not limited to the Strategic Planning Committee, Government Relations Committee, Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Education Advisory Committee. He served on the IBA Board of Directors and was IBA Chairman for 2008-2009.

In 2011, on behalf of Illinois bankers throughout the state, he presented written testimony on the massive regulations facing community banks to Chairman Bachus and the Committee on Financial Services. That same year, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, and he recently was appointed to the American Bankers Association Membership Council.

He is extremely active in his community and has served on numerous community boards and committees, including on the McDonough District Hospital Planned Gifts Committee, as Director and Secretary of the board of the Prairie City Nursing Center, Inc., as President and Director of the Shaw Creek Golf Club, as President of the Bushnell Public Library District Board of Trustees, as Director of the Macomb Area Economic Development Corporation, on the McDonough County Welfare Services Committee, and as Secretary and Director of the Bushnell Economic Development Corporation.

Steelman served in the United States Navy from 1968 to 1972. He is a graduate of Western Illinois University, earned his Juris Doctorate from Northern Illinois University and is a 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Banking. 

The Illinois Bankers Association is a full-service trade association dedicated to creating a positive business climate that benefits the entire banking industry and the communities they serve. Founded in 1891, the IBA brings together state and national banks, savings banks, and savings and loan associations of all sizes in Illinois. Collectively, the IBA represents nearly 90 percent of the assets of the Illinois banking industry, which employs more than 100,000 men and women in over 5,000 offices across the state.

SOURCE Illinois Bankers Association