First Federal Savings Bank officially opened its door for business in 1923, under the leadership of John R. Gardner. It was organized as a state-chartered institution with the name Elizabethtown Building and Loan Association.
In 1940, First Federal became federally chartered and the name was changed to First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Elizabethtown.
In 1957, First Federal finished its second home office, which was a three-story building erected at 202 West Dixie Avenue. Horace English Tabb became President in 1958 and led the mutual savings and loan association until 1977.
Wayne G. Overall, Jr. assumed the position of President and C.E.O. in 1977. Under Mr. Overall's leadership, the savings and loan association changed its name in March of 1987 to First Federal Savings Bank of Elizabethtown, and converted ownership from a mutally-owned savings bank to a publicly-owned stock savings bank on July 10, 1987.
On June 1, 1990, First Federal Financial Corporation of Kentucky was established as the parent holding company of the bank. The stock is traded in the over-the-counter market and quoted on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (NASDAQ) under the symbol FFKY.
In October of 1990, Larry W. Logsdon was appointed President and C.E.O. Under his leadership, the bank moved to its new home office located at 2323 Ring Road in March of 1993. First Federal Savings Bank also completed its first acquisition of two new offices in Bullitt County.
In September of 1997, B. Keith Johnson was appointed President and C.E.O. Prior to joining the bank as Vice President/Controller in 1993, Mr. Johnson worked as a partner in the accounting firm responsible for performing the bank's annual audit. He personally served on the audit team for 13 years before joining First Federal Savings Bank. Also, in 1999 Mr. Johnson seized a unique opportunity with the opening of four new locations. The acquisition of banking centers in Meade County, Kentucky, brought to us both new commercial products and an experienced group of associates already heavily trained in sales and service. Also, the opening of our Hillview office inside the Wal-mart SuperCenter gave our customers the luxury of banking and shopping with one-stop while enjoying late night and weekend hours.
Effective January 8, 2003, the bank was converted from a federal savings bank to a commercial bank charted in Kentucky. Also effective that date, the holding company name changed to First Financial Service Corporation and became a bank holding company. Its NASDAQ symbol of FFKY remained unchanged.
Today, we are a complete financial service center with approximately $1 billion in assets. We offer a wide array of bank products and services including conventional and government home loans, various checking and savings plans, trust services, investments and more. In addition we have expanded our portfolio to meet the needs of small business owners. New lending products have been created to offer our customers the flexibility they need. Our experienced team of professional senior lenders has combined lending experience of over 78 years.
We are a locally owned, family-oriented regional institution with 20 banking centers in thirteen Central Kentucky and Southern Indiana cities. We are a publicly owned corporation traded on the NASDAQ Exchange (symbol FFKY). We are continually focused on improving shareholder value through growth and expansion.
At First Federal our customers come first! Excellent customer service, exceeding what is expected, is our on-going mission. We are proud of our past successes and confident in our ability to sustain significant growth in the 21st century.
