Horizon Bancorp, Inc. announced various changes to its senior leadership structure to be effective April 1, 2022. Noe S. Najera will be promoted to Executive Vice President, responsible for consumer, mortgage, and mortgage-warehouse lending, as well as CRA and fair lending programs, leading these teams upon President James D. Neff's retirement from the Company on March 31. In addition, Executive Vice President Lynn Kerber will be promoted to Chief Commercial Banking Officer upon Dennis Kuhn's appointment as Horizon's Regional President for Southwest Michigan.

Noe Najera joined Horizon in 2016 and has served as Senior Vice President, Consumer Lending and CRA/Fair Lending and assumed additional responsibilities for retail mortgage lending in 2018. He has over 20 years of consumer and mortgage lending experience. Lynn Kerber joined Horizon in 2018 and has served as Executive Vice President, Senior Commercial Credit Officer since January 2021.

Previously in her career, Lynn held leadership roles in commercial banking, credit administration, and enterprise risk management, having previously served as Executive Vice President, Regional Bank President and Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer for Chemical Financial Corporation. Dennis Kuhn, in his new Regional President role, will be responsible for growth in Southwest Michigan where he has built strong commercial and community relationships during his 37-year career. He joined Horizon in 2010 to establish its Kalamazoo office and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Banking Officer since 2017.

Craig M. Dwight, the Chairman and CEO of the Company and Horizon Bank, will assume the role of President upon Mr. Neff's retirement until a new President of the Company is appointed. The Company intends to retain an executive search firm to conduct a national search for a permanent successor to Mr. Neff as President and advise the Board of Directors on potential internal and external candidates.