Craig Hart

Craig Hart co-founded Heritage Enterprises in 1962 with business partners William E. Froelich and Tom Jefferson. Today, Hart serves as Chairman of the Heritage Enterprises Board of Directors.

Hart spent many years as a community leader and prominent local businessman in his role with Bloomington Federal Savings & Loan, where he began working in 1960. At the time, Bloomington Federal was a $35 million single-office bank in Bloomington, IL. In 1971, Hart was named President of Bloomington Federal. He built the company into the largest financial institution in downstate, Illinois. By the time he retired in 1992, it had 48 branch offices and $2.8 billion in assets, the same year that Champion Federal (formerly Bloomington Federal) merged with First of America Bank.

While he was building his career in the financial services industry, Hart was also actively involved in the growth and development of Heritage Enterprises. He was a founding partner in a venture that opened its first nursing home in Bloomington in 1963 and has since grown to own and manage facilities throughout Illinois.

Hart has long been involved in the Bloomington-Normal community having served as President of the Board of Trustees at Illinois Wesleyan University; President of the Illinois Wesleyan University Associates; member of the Business Advisory Council of the College of Commerce & Business Administration for the University of Illinois; officer of the Illinois State University Foundation; Director of State Farm Bank and Chairman of the Audit Committee; Chairman of the Commerce Unit for the United Way of McLean County; President of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce; President of Bloomington Unlimited; officer in the Bloomington-Normal Jaycees; Trustee of the Endowment Fund for the McLean County Art Association; Director and Treasurer of Bloomington Country Club.

He has also been a member of numerous professional organizations, including the U.S. League of Savings Institutions, Illinois League of Savings Institutions, Federal Savings & Loan Council of Illinois, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, serving as Director and member of the Audit Committee.

Hart earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and an MBA, both from the University of Illinois and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Illinois Wesleyan University. He also served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.