Lake City Bank CEO praises Elkhart Community Schools, hails high-school branch for student training

David Finley, chairman and CEO of Lake City Bank and a 1980 graduate of Elkhart Memorial High School, praised Elkhart Community Schools and described the bank’s on-campus branch as a practical training ground for students.

"This has been the neatest thing for us to have a branch here in the high school," Finley said, adding that the program helps the bank understand "what next generation…clients are looking for." He said current students work as tellers and retail bankers at the branch, giving them workplace experience.

Finley recounted his K–12 education in the district and credited teachers for helping shape his path. He singled out Janice Dean, who led student publications when he was a student, as an influential mentor. He said those school experiences prepared him "exceptionally well for what we encountered in college and beyond."

Finley also reflected on family and community ties, saying that growing up in Elkhart and his relationship to the school system "provided me with the launching pad to achieve what I have in my career and personally." He noted that his bank has had a local presence for decades and that establishing a branch inside the high school is a source of pride.

On the program’s workforce benefits, Finley pointed to a retail banker at the branch who is preparing to pursue an accounting degree. "You don't have to know what you want to do when you get here, but you have to prepare yourself for that next step," he said, offering career advice to students about remaining open to different paths.

Finley’s remarks in the transcript are personal testimony about the bank–school partnership; the transcript does not record any formal motions, votes, or district actions tied to the comments.