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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
______________________

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
______________________

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 28, 2021

GERMAN AMERICAN BANCORP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Indiana
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

001-15877 35-1547518
(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
711 Main Street
Jasper, Indiana 47546
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
            
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (812) 482-1314

Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
[]     Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[]     Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[]     Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[]     Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.405) or Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.12b-2).
Emerging growth company [ ]
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act []
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange
on which registered
Common Stock, no par value GABC Nasdaq Global Select Market




Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(b) Director Resignation. On June 28, 2021, Lee A. Mitchell, a director of German American Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”), notified the Company of his decision to resign from the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) effective as of June 30, 2021. Mr. Mitchell’s resignation is not as a result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices. At the direction of the Board, the Company accelerated the vesting (to such resignation date) of 789 shares of restricted stock held by Mr. Mitchell that otherwise would have vested on December 31, 2021 should certain meeting attendance requirements be met.

(d) Director Appointment. Also, on June 28, 2021, Dr. Sue Ellspermann was appointed to the Board for a term commencing on July 1, 2021 and expiring at the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is also the director class of which Mr. Mitchell was a member. On July 1, 2021, Dr. Ellspermann will also begin serving on the Board’s Compensation/Human Resources Committee and the Company’s Finance & Asset/Liability Management Committee.

Dr. Ellspermann serves as president of Ivy Tech Community College, the public community college system for the State of Indiana. She previously served as Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor and as a State Representative.

For her services as a director, Dr. Ellspermann will be entitled to receive the standard director cash retainer and standard meeting cash fees payable to non-employee directors of the Company, as more fully described in Exhibit 10.1 to this Form 8-K, which description is incorporated herein by reference. Other than being eligible to receive such director compensation, Dr. Ellspermann has not entered into any material plan, contract, or arrangement in connection with her appointment as a director. Further, Dr. Ellspermann is not a party to any transaction with the Company that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K.

A copy of the Company’s press release, dated June 28, 2021, announcing the appointment of Dr. Ellspermann to the Board, is attached to this Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1.


Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description
Press release, dated June 28, 2021, issued by German American Bancorp, Inc.
10.1 *
Description of Director Compensation Arrangements for the 12 month period ending on June 30, 2022.
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

* Compensatory plan or arrangement.

* * * * * *






SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: June 29, 2021
By: GERMAN AMERICAN BANCORP, INC.

 
/s/ Mark A. Schroeder
Mark A. Schroeder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer



Exhibit 10.1 21536684.v1 German American Bancorp, Inc. Director Compensation Arrangements For the Service Period July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 German American Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) compensates the non-employee members of its Board of Directors (the “Board”) for their service to the Company and the Company’s subsidiaries based on a twelve-month period commencing July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following year. Following a recommendation made by the Board’s Governance/Nominating Committee, the Board approved a $25,000 annual cash retainer for the services of each non-employee director during the twelve-month service period commencing as of July 1, 2021, plus, in the case of the lead independent director of the Board and certain Board committee chairs, a supplemental cash retainer in the amounts described below. The cash retainers are deemed earned immediately upon receipt by a director, regardless of the number of meetings actually held or attended during the new service period. The supplemental annual cash retainers to be paid for services during the twelve-month service period commencing July 1, 2021 include: (a) $15,000 to Thomas W. Seger, as the Board’s lead independent director; (b) $8,500 to M. Darren Root, as Chairman of the Board’s Audit Committee; (c) $5,000 to Mr. Seger, as Chairman of the Board’s Governance/Nominating Committee; (d) $5,000 to Zachary W. Bawel, as Chairman of the Board’s Compensation/Human Resources Committee; and (e) $5,000 to Marc D. Fine, as Chairman of the Board’s Credit Risk Management Committee. In addition, the Company agreed to pay to each non-employee director an attendance fee of $850 for each meeting of the Board or any Board committee that he or she attends during the service period and, to the extent applicable, an additional (a) $850 for each meeting that he or she attends of the board of directors of (i) German American Bank (the Company’s bank subsidiary) or any committee or regional advisory board thereof, and (ii) German American Insurance, Inc., and (b) $425 for each meeting that he or she attends of (i) the board of directors of German American Investment Services, Inc., and (ii) the Wealth Advisory (Trust) Oversight Committee. Members of the Board who attend sessions of the Board of the Company or of the Board’s committees that are held concurrently with sessions of the board of directors of the bank subsidiary (German American Bank) or of committees of that subsidiary’s board of directors will receive a single meeting fee of $850 for the combination of the two concurrent meetings. Additionally, those non-employee directors who travel from their primary residence or principal place of business, which is located outside of Dubois County, Indiana or the Indiana counties immediately adjacent to Dubois County, will be paid a $50 travel allowance in connection with his/her in-person attendance at board or assigned committee meetings. Finally, the Board determined that it will consider, at its regular meeting to be held in December 2021, the award of additional retainers in the form of grants (under the Company’s 2019 Long-Term Equity Incentive Plan) of restricted common stock of the Company to the non-employee directors with a market value of not more than $25,000 per director. The Board resolved that its decision to be made in December 2021 of whether to grant such additional retainers in the form of restricted stock (and if so, how much) should be determined at that time based on the Board’s perception of prevailing financial conditions (including the Company’s then-expected operating results for 2021) and such other factors as the Board may then deem relevant. Each grant of restricted stock, if and when granted and issued, would not be transferable prior to the one-year anniversary of the grant date, and would be fully forfeited were a director not to continue in service as a director of the Company through such one-year anniversary, for any reason other than death or disability, and would be subject to a 50% forfeiture (for any reason other than disability) should a director fail to attend in person a certain percentage of meetings of the boards and committees on which he or she was a member during the period commencing on January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, or fail to attend (other than by reason of disability, illness or bona fide emergency) the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders held in 2022. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in any award resolution, the Board may specify (in lieu of the one-year anniversary date specified above) the date of the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders as the date


 
- 2 - 21536684.v1 for measuring vesting of the restricted stock award for any director who will not be standing for re-election at such Annual Meeting as a result of reaching the retirement age set forth in the Company’s Bylaws.


 
NEWS RELEASE For additional information, contact: Mark A Schroeder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. D. Neil Dauby, President & Chief Operating Officer (812) 482-1314 June 28, 2021 GERMAN AMERICAN BANCORP, INC. (GABC) APPOINTS DR. SUE ELLSPERMANN TO CORPORATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jasper, Indiana: June 28, 2021 -- German American Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: GABC) announced today the appointment of Dr. Sue Ellspermann, President of Ivy Tech Community College, to its corporate board of directors effective as of July 1, 2021. Dr. Ellspermann currently serves as president of Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana’s largest post-secondary institution and the nation’s largest singly-accredited statewide post-secondary institution. She previously served as Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor and as an Indiana State Representative. Her earlier career includes being a founding director of the University of Southern Indiana’s Center for Applied Research and Economic Development, and an owner of Ellspermann and Associates, Inc., a business focused on creative problem solving and strategic planning, and holding industrial engineering positions at GM, Michelin and Frito-Lay. Dr. Ellspermann holds a M.S. and PhD in Industrial Engineering from University of Louisville and a BSIE from Purdue University. She is a resident of Dubois County, Indiana, which is the base of operations for German American. “Sue will bring both a depth of experience and a fresh perspective on several levels to our Board”, stated Mark A. Schroeder, German American’s Chairman & CEO. “Ivy Tech’s presence throughout the State, and in particular within the markets in which we do business, allows Sue to have meaningful local knowledge about each of these areas. Additionally, her unique perspective as it relates to the academic, corporate, and governmental environment, will be invaluable to German American as we strive to enhance each of these sectors of our business. Sue has focused much of her career on serving the broader community and the public sector. That experience, as well as her expertise and leadership in economic development and civil service gained during her time as Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor, will most certainly be a significant asset to German American.”


 
“I am pleased to join the German American Board of Directors,” stated Dr. Ellspermann. As a native and resident of Dubois County, I have had the fortune to observe, on a first hand basis, German American’s exceptional level of growth and performance over the past decade. German American’s focus on partnering with local communities, clients, and team members to help all stakeholders of the bank to grow and prosper aligns perfectly with my passion for helping others achieve their next level of success. I’m excited to become part of German American’s efforts to drive the continued growth and prosperity of the Company and the clients and communities they serve in the coming years.” About German American German American Bancorp, Inc. is a Nasdaq-traded (symbol: GABC) financial holding company based in Jasper, Indiana. German American, through its banking subsidiary German American Bank, operates 68 banking offices in 19 contiguous southern Indiana counties and eight counties in Kentucky. The Company also owns an investment brokerage subsidiary (German American Investment Services, Inc.) and a full line property and casualty insurance agency (German American Insurance, Inc.).