Meet The President of the Vanderburgh County Commission Ben Shoulders

Ben Shoulders has been in the banking industry for over 17 years. He has served in many capacities in banking - from branch banking to management to mortgage lending and, most currently, commercial lending. He joined Banterra Bank in September 2019 as a Senior Commercial Lender III after spending over six years at Old National Bank.  Shoulders continue to mentor young bankers in the Evansville market while growing and cultivating banking relationships within the southern Indiana footprint.  Shoulders began his banking career in 2003 at Wells Fargo in Indianapolis.

Ben was first elected as Vanderburgh County Commissioner in November 2016 as a Democrat.  Shoulders quickly made an impact his first year in office by sponsoring numerous ordinances such as adding age and gender to the county’s Human Relations Commission’s anti-discrimination ordinance.  He stated at the time, “we want Vanderburgh County to be as inclusive, engaging and welcoming to our fellow citizens as possible.  There is no tolerance for discrimination of any kind at any time.” Shoulders became President of the Commission in 2019.  During 2019, he facilitated the largest road pavings in county history (over 30 miles of newly paved roads); passed the county’s first-ever MInority Owned/Women-Owned Business consultant contract to ensure general contractors are incorporating minority businesses within the scope of construction projects, and co-sponsored many road projects such as Kansas Rd, Oak Hill Rd, Boonville New Harmony, and Green River Road Trails, to name a few.  Ben also helped to form the inaugural Vanderburgh County Bicentennial Park which celebrated 200 years of Vanderburgh County.  Ben and his fellow two County Commissioners were recognized statewide in 2019 for their infrastructure vision by working together alongside the private sector and forming the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan); an infrastructure master plan for Vanderburgh County.

In 2020, Ben Shoulders became the first Vanderburgh County Commissioner to be re-elected with opposition since Pat Tuley in 1996.  Ben was then again voted to serve again as President in 2021 after overcoming a near 7,000 straight ticket deficit and defeating his opponent by over 2,500 votes.  2021 has already seen Ben and his fellow Commissioners rewarded by the state with a $770,000 grant for their work on trails and greenspace on N Green River Road. Shoulders says his main two-county priorities are getting out of Covid and ensuring that Broadband placement occurs for the entire county so all parts of Vanderburgh County have high-speed internet access.