May 13, 2025
TO: Local & Regional Media
FOR RELEASE: Immediately
CONTACT: Christian DiBerardino, FNB Community Bank, 618-283-5229
RE: Schwarm elected chair of bank boards; directors re-elected; employees promoted
Ann M. Schwarm was elected chairman of the board of directors of the FNB Community Bank and chairman of the board of directors of the First Vandalia Corp., in board meetings following the annual meeting on April 16, 2025. Schwarm was first elected to the boards in 1995 and has served in the office of vice-chair of the two boards for the past 15 years. Schwarm chairs the directors’ loan committee, serves on the bank’s IT committee and formerly chaired the FNB internal audit committee.
Schwarm succeeds Todd L. Shulman as chairman. Shulman, who has been a director since 2002, served as chairman of the boards for 15 years. He will continue as an officer in the role of vice-chairman.
Shulman said, “It has been an honor to serve The FNB, First Vandalia Corp., and our communities as chairman for so many years. I have taken great pride in this role during my tenure and look forward to serving as vice chair under Ann’s leadership. I know she will continue to lead us in the right direction.”
Schwarm said, “I am honored to fulfill the role of chairman of the FNB Board of Directors. In the past three decades, I have witnessed a great many changes to the banking industry, both nationally and locally. One thing has not changed, and that is this bank’s commitment to its communities. Over the past 160 years, FNB has proven itself to be a trusted partner to those we serve, be they on farms, in neighborhoods or running businesses. I am proud to be associated with the hard working and talented FNB workforce and my dedicated fellow directors.”
Schwarm brings to her new role of chair of the bank boards a wide range of professional experience, especially in strategic planning, board governance and culture, and leadership development.
In addition to serving on the bank’s boards for the past 30 years, Schwarm has served on the Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s Board of Directors since 1994, seven years—2016-2023, as president and the prior eight years as vice-president. After stepping down as board president, she was selected to represent the cooperative as a director on the state-wide Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AIEC). She is a member of the AIEC’s scholarship committee and annual meeting planning committee and was tapped to emcee the annual leadership luncheon for the association.
Schwarm worked as the Director of the Educational Services Division of the Regional Office of Education #3 for 20+ years writing state and federal grant applications and coordinating the programs and personnel funded by the grant dollars. She retired from that position in 2015.
A 1979 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, Schwarm began her professional career as a communications associate with the ag division of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis. She traveled throughout the U. S. interviewing farmers and ranchers about their use of the company’s agricultural chemicals and animal health products and writing articles for publications in farm and ranch magazines. She also coordinated the National Young Farmers Spokesperson for Agriculture program which featured members of the organization traveling to cities to discuss with the news media and consumers the importance of a strong U.S. ag economy to the rest of the world. She later served as the executive director of the National Young Farmers Association for several years before stepping away from full-time employment.
Schwarm describes herself as a “farm girl” having grown up on a small farm in northwest Missouri, showing horses and cattle as a member of 4-H and FFA. It was through 4-H that she was offered opportunities to develop leadership skills as a youth, serving as Missouri’s state 4-H vice-president in 1972-1973.
4-H also provided her with the opportunity to meet her husband, Gene, as they both served as summer interns for Farmland Industries, Inc., in Kansas City, MO, where they facilitated leadership training for youth from throughout the Midwest.
Gene and Ann, married for 43 years, live on a farm in rural Loogootee. They have two sons, Andy and Alex. Andy lives in Minneapolis, MN with his wife Monica and their 5-year-old daughter, Ada and Alex lives in Glen Ridge, NJ with his wife Samantha and their sons, 6-year-old Augie and 3-year-old Sebby.
A committed Christian, Schwarm is an active member of the First United Methodist Church of Vandalia where she facilitates a monthly Bible study and serves in various other roles.
At the 40th Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of the First Vandalia Corp., parent company of The FNB Community Bank, held earlier in the day at the bank’s Gallatin Street location, stockholders re-elected David J. Lidy, Thomas L. McCarty and Janice K Romack to three-year terms on the First Vandalia Corp. board. In addition to Shulman and Schwarm, they join fellow directors Adam R. Braun, B. Rand Edwards, Steven C. Henna, Mark A. Ritter and Zachary R. Stombaugh.
The board of directors also approved the following promotions: Hannah Haake, Trust Administrative Officer; Hayley Wodtka, Compliance Specialist II; Joe Schaal, Senior Lending Officer, Vice President; Lauren Koch, Residential Loan Supervisor, Assistant Vice President; Matthew Rovenstine, Trust Officer; Megan Kistler, Commercial Loan Officer, Assistant Vice President; and Sarah Bauer, Credit Officer.
Chartered in 1865, The FNB Community Bank is the sixth oldest bank in Illinois. In June 2019, the bank converted to a state charter and changed its name from the First National Bank to The FNB Community Bank. Along with its main office on Gallatin Street and the Banker Street branch in Vandalia, FNB has locations in Greenville, Ramsey, Patoka and Mulberry Grove.
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