Meet Amy Phares Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator at Horizon Bank

PharesEditHorizon Bank is a community bank serving Northern and Central Indiana and Central and Southwest Michigan and has a team that works hard to actively contribute to the betterment of the communities in which they serve. Horizon Bank recently brought in Amy Phares, a Chesterton native, to work as the company's Public Relations & Social Media Coordinator to bolster and further that mission.

Born in Florida, Phares moved to Chesterton when her family relocated to Northwest Indiana. After graduating from Chesterton High School, she attended Purdue University in West Lafayette where she earned a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Art and Design and Technical Graphics.

“I took one of the first website development (HTML) courses offered,” Phares said. “I started in advertising but wanted to be creative, which led me towards technology courses such as ‘desktop publishing’ and later Photoshop and graphic design classes.”

After college, Phares was a freelance graphic and web designer and helped manage and market a small business.

“Social media marketing was a natural transition from my design and publishing background,” explained Phares.

In her position as Public Relations & Social Media Coordinator, Phares will publish and monitor advertising campaigns and community events on social media, write company press releases, produce editorial pieces for Horizon’s website, coordinate events throughout the company and contribute and help manage company intranet. Phares is also a member of the Social Media Committee and will be providing social media training to employees.

“I feel that everything I have done in my career thus far has helped me prepare for my tasks at Horizon,” Phares said. “My job description is a nice mix of my current skill set.”

Horizon Bank is very active in communities throughout the region and Phares has been really enjoying working with all of Horizon’s team and the many community events with which they are involved.

“I absolutely love it!” said Phares. “The workload is ever-changing, challenging and truly fulfilling. The marketing team is comprised of true professionals who are hard working, but personable and fun to work with. Horizon has great values and is a community bank. Our focus is to anticipate and fulfill customer needs with exceptional service and sensible advice. This philosophy is what has kept us operating under our original charter and growing stronger than ever since 1873. We provide sensible advice about current financial topics such as managing your money, financial security as well as home and business topics on our web site, through Facebook and Twitter, and on LinkedIn.”

Phares will be looking to increase Horizon’s social media marketing efforts, utilizing the latest techniques and continuing to maximize communications in order to leverage multiple channels. Since joining the team at Horizon, Phares has implemented some fresh initiatives and ideas including Sensible Advice Saturdays, a re-worked Facebook presence, and she has designed Facebook training for Mortgage Loan Officers.

When she’s not working to broaden Horizon Bank’s community and social media presence, Phares enjoys photography and spending time outdoors.