Saint Louis Bank changes leadership: Kevin King named president & CEO, Liebig departs

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
macmeske@ibjonline.com

Upon learning of Travis Liebig’s departure from Saint Louis Bank, the Illinois Business Journal reached out to verify recent leadership changes. On Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 22, 2023, we received the following official statement on behalf of the bank from Chief Financial Officer Kevin O’Keefe:

“On Thursday, August 17, 2023, the board of directors of St. Louis Bancshares, Inc. (the “Bancshares Board”), the Bank’s holding company, unanimously determined to reduce the size of St. Louis Bank’s (the “Bank”) board of directors (the “Bank Board”) from 13 to 9 in order to streamline operations. Following approval of the Bancshares Board, Bancshares adopted resolutions as the sole shareholder of the Bank to implement the reduction in the size of the Bank Board. Thereafter, the Bank Board unanimously passed a resolution terminating Travis Liebig’s employment with the Bank as CEO. While we cannot discuss internal personnel matters, we thank Mr. Liebig for his service and wish him the best in his future endeavors. That same day, the Bank Board unanimously approved the appointment of Kevin King as President & CEO of the Bank.  Mr. King has served as the Bank’s General Counsel for the past 5 years and is also a member of both the Bank Board and Bancshares Board.  Prior to joining the Bank, he served many years as General Counsel at another local bank, only departing after its sale to an out-of-state bank.

The Bank’s commitment to the St. Louis community remains unchanged, supported by an outstanding senior management team that is working hard every day to serve our customers. We continue to generate strong loans and have been successful bringing in new deposits.  St. Louis Bank employees are moving forward in a positive manner and we are looking forward to continued success.”

In a separate message to the Illinois Business Journal, Gant Harper confirmed his role had changed as well, at his request.

Harper noted in an email:

“I requested a change approximately a month ago to go back to what I truly enjoyed, which is the role of Chief Lending Officer, and which the bank granted.”

In September 2022, the Illinois Business Journal had reported on Harper’s naming as president of Saint Louis Bank after working there for over two years at that time. As a part of that story, Harper said that Liebig had been holding the combined job of president and CEO at Saint Louis Bank, but that it had become too big for one person, so it was split. At that time, Liebig continued as its CEO and Harper was named president.

Saint Louis Bank’s footprint includes the 209 East Schwartz Street location of Edwardsville Bank, which serves primarily commercial customers throughout the Southwestern Illinois region. In his role as the Chief Lending Officer again, Harper will cover all the lenders, which includes the Edwardsville lenders.