A BACKGROUND ONKim Light CEO, Heritage Bank of the Ozarks Just outside the Ozarks, in the quaint town of Lebanon, Missouri, you will find the Light family farm, which was established in 1917. That is where Kim Light grew up, raising cattle and hogs and learning the value of a hard day’s work. Briefly leaving Lebanon to attend college, Kim earned an undergraduate degree in agricultural finance from Missouri State University. After Kim graduated, he intended to immediately go on to graduate school. But life had other plans for him. His mother was friends with the head of operations at a local bank. They found out Kim was back in town and asked her what he was doing, saying, “We would love for him to come to work for us.” So, Kim put his graduate school plans on hold and went to work at Central Bank. “I always figured I would end up in agricultural sales. I knew absolutely nothing about banking when I went to work at the bank, and I had no aspirations of making a career out of it,” Kim said. 20 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
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