Sarah Earls

WARSAW — Lake City Bank is pleased to announce that Sarah J. Earls has joined the bank as Senior Vice President, Controller and principal accounting officer. As Controller, she is responsible for managing the accounting department, overseeing financial reporting and performing financial modeling for Lakeland Financial Corporation and Lake City Bank.

Earls is the former Controller of Tower Financial Corporation, where she was responsible for all SEC and reporting aspects of the publicly traded bank. Prior to joining Tower, she spent four years at BKD, LLP, as a Certified Public Accountant working on audits of financial institutions. Most recently she worked as Director of Finance and Compliance at Micropulse. Inc.

“We are excited that Sarah is joining the Lake City Bank team,” said David M. Findlay, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Her public company experience as a controller and her background in public accounting will deepen our expertise in this area. As important, Sarah represents a great cultural fit and will be a strong leader for our accounting and finance staff. ”

Earls has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and graduated summa cum laude from Huntington University. She completed her Certified Public Accounting designation in August 2005. Earls is an active member of the Fort Wayne community. She serves as treasurer of the board for Fort 4 Fitness and Aging and In-Home Services. She is a member of Leadership Fort Wayne’s Class of 2014 and was featured in Fort Wayne Business’s 2011 Future 40 under 40. She is a member of the Indiana CPA Society, the American Institute of CPAs, Financial Executives International and the Finance Committee of Emmanuel Community Church.

“Sarah brings solid credentials and valuable experience to Lake City Bank,” said Lisa M. O’Neill, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “In addition, her leadership and communication skills will be valuable as Sarah enhances the strategic role of the accounting department at Lake City Bank.”