BOS Receives the 2025 Central / Southern Illinois Community Lender of the Year Award.

Category: BOS News
By BankSource on 10/15/2026

Featuring: Jason Knoedler, Willette LeGrant, Tom Rodden, Mike Pence, and Dan Wilcoxen.
We are proud to share that BOS was selected as the 2025 Small Business Administration (SBA) Central / Southern Illinois Community Lender of the Year. 

This award is presented to the community bank with the best overall performance record for lending to small businesses in Central and Southern Illinois in 2025. This marks the third consecutive year that BOS has been named the recipient of this award. Accepting the Award is Jason Knoedler, CEO, Thomas Rodden, VP Commercial and SBA Lending Officer, Mike Pence, President, and Dan Wilcoxen, SVP Chief Risk and Strategy Officer. Representing the SBA Illinois District Office is Willette LeGrant, U.S. SBA District Director.

We have a great group of lenders and seeing them earn this recognition for the third year in a row speaks volumes of their efforts. BOS is honored to support small businesses and growth in our communities.

- Mike Pence, President

About the BOS SBA Department

BOS has been committed to assisting small businesses obtain funding in the Central Illinois area for almost 60 years. The bank saw an opportunity to further that commitment during the pandemic when small businesses needed assistance in the form of the Paycheck Protection Program. Through this initiative, BOS was able to assist over 2,200 businesses in Illinois and Missouri obtain funding and keep employees. It was during the rush of the PPP loans that the bank experienced firsthand how the SBA can help the banks customers and reinforce our communities.

Thomas Rodden started the SBA department from the ground up and was successful in obtaining the designation of both an SBA Express lender and a Preferred Lender. Both of these designations allow the bank to move swiftly throughout the SBA programs to obtain guarantees for our customers. Tom is a 20- year veteran of the BOS commercial banking department. His depth of knowledge and experience sets him apart from other SBA lenders in the area.

Since the beginning of the department, BOS has been recognized through several awards from the Small Business Administration. The bank won its first award in 2020 and was recognized as the 2019 Illinois Rising Star Lender of the Year by the SBA’s Illinois District Office. BOS was recognized again in 2022 as the 2021 Central / Southern Illinois Preferred Lender of the Year.

In 2023, the bank was awarded the 2022 Illinois Rising Star Lender of the Year. For 2024, the SBA department was recognized by the SBA St. Louis MO District Office as one of the top 10 lenders in the area. Additionally, the SBA department has been recognized as the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Central/Southern Illinois Community Lender of the Year.

Accepting the Award is Tom Rodden standing with the U.S. SBA District Director, Willette LeGrant.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    

 

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