MutualBank has joined other companies and financial institutions in rewarding employees as a result of President Trump’s tax overhaul legislation.
The Muncie-headquartered company, which has five offices in Kosciusko County, will reward employees with a $750 bonus and 50-cent hikes in the hourly rate for non-exempt workers.
The bonuses do not apply to members of the executive management team, the company said in a news release.
Passage of the legislation one month ago has caused a ripple effect on corporate outlook for the economy and willingness to reward employees.
More than half a dozen major companies including Apple, Walmart, AT&T and Wells Fargo have tied various types of incentives to the tax overhaul, which aims to cut corporate taxes and save American households money through various changes in the tax structure.
MutualBank CEO Dave Heeter underscored the impact and eagerness to make a move.
The company said that the policy change gave companies in all industries the opportunity to project a different economic outlook for the year and possibly beyond.
While those realizations have not yet materialized, the company said, the rapid changes in the environment gave senior management at MutualBank an opportunity to evaluate how to respond.
“When an event like this occurs, a significant consideration is determining if the increased earnings, resulting from the reduction in taxes, should be shared with a company’s constituents,” Heeter said. ”In the anticipation that the change in the tax law will provide an opportunity for greater earnings moving forward, we feel that sharing a portion of those earnings with our outstanding staff is appropriate.”
Heeter adds, “Investing back into our employees reinforces Mutual’s culture of helping people live better lives and perpetuates the bank’s ability to increase shareholder value.”
The company employs about 50 people in its five local offices and 430 company-wide.
MutualFirst Financial Inc. is the parent company of MutualBank, an Indiana-based financial institution since 1889. MutualBank has 27 full-service retail financial centers in Allen, Delaware, Elkhart, Grant, Kosciusko, Randolph, St. Joseph and Wabash Counties in Indiana.
