35-year Farm Credit veteran has served as AgriBank chief credit officer since 2011.
ST. PAUL, Minn., Tuesday, March 20, 2018 – Jeffrey R. Swanhorst will assume the role of chief executive officer of AgriBank effective April 2, 2018. A 35-year veteran of the Farm Credit System, he has served as chief credit officer of AgriBank since August 2011.
“On behalf of the AgriBank Board of Directors, I am excited to announce Jeff Swanhorst as our CEO,” said Matthew D. Walther, AgriBank chair. “As a member of the AgriBank Executive Leadership Team, Jeff has been instrumental in creating and implementing AgriBank’s business model as a funding Bank. After conducting a global search, we determined that Jeff is the right person to help AgriBank carry out our role, which is to expertly and reliably obtain funds and prudently provide funding and financial solutions to the 14 Farm Credit Associations that are the Bank’s customers and owners.”
As chief credit officer, Swanhorst has been responsible for all AgriBank credit functions, including Wholesale Lending, Commercial Lending, Credit Review and Credit Risk Management. In addition, he serves on various System leadership committees, including the System Disclosure Committee and System Credit Work Group. He is also directly involved in communications, on behalf of the AgriBank District, with rating agencies, investors in Systemwide debt securities and other key stakeholders. He previously was senior vice president of credit at CoBank. While at CoBank, he served in credit and relationship management leadership roles beginning in 1999. Prior to that, Swanhorst’s Farm Credit career was in lending and management with the St. Paul Bank for Cooperatives, and he began his career as a lending officer with the Mitchell-Huron Production Credit Association in South Dakota.
“I’m thrilled and humbled by this opportunity to serve as AgriBank’s CEO,” Swanhorst said. “The board has set a clear strategic direction, and we have a committed and talented management team and staff in place to execute on our objectives. I look forward to working with my AgriBank colleagues to serve our customers and owners as we all work together to fulfill the Farm Credit mission, which is to support rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow.”
Swanhorst has a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Business from South Dakota State University. He is also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Banking.
Swanhorst will replace William J. Thone, who has served as CEO since December 2016 after serving as interim CEO since August 2016. Thone had retired as vice president and general counsel of AgriBank in 2015 after more than three decades with Farm Credit. He returned from retirement to help guide the Bank through a transition that included preparing for the anticipated spin-off of technology and other business services into a separate organization as well as implementing additional changes to reflect its funding Bank model. Thone will remain with AgriBank for several months on a consulting basis to ensure a smooth leadership transition before retiring.
ABOUT AGRIBANK
AgriBank is one of the largest banks within the national Farm Credit System, with nearly $105 billion in total assets. Under the Farm Credit System’s cooperative structure, AgriBank is primarily owned by 14 Farm Credit Associations. The AgriBank District covers America’s Midwest, a 15-state area stretching from Wyoming to Ohio and Minnesota to Arkansas. With about half of the nation’s cropland located in the AgriBank District and over 100 years of experience, the Bank and its Association owners have significant expertise in providing financial products and services for rural communities and agriculture. For more information, please visit www.AgriBank.com.