Maria Hampton talks retirement and the new leader of the Louisville office of the Fed

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Ron Bath

"I thought this position, when it was offered to me, would give me an opportunity to help the St. Louis Fed leverage its resources to help our local economy," said Maria Hampton, vice president and regional executive of the Louisville branch of the St. Louis Fed. "My passion has always been the growth and progression of Louisville and its economy."

Braden Lammers

Reporter- Louisville Business First

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For nearly a decade, Maria Hampton has been the face of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in Louisville

Earlier this year, Hampton announced she was retiring from her role as vice president and regional executive of the Louisville branch of the St. Louis Fed.

Hampton received Business First's Excellence in Leadership award for 2014, which was presented at Business First's Business of the Year awards earlier this week. Read more about Hampton in the Business of the Year special publication.

I recently spoke with Hampton and her successor, Nikki Jackson, who will assume the role of vice president and regional executive of the Louisville branch of the St. Louis Fed on Jan. 1.

Below are excerpts of my conversation with Hampton. Look for more, including an interview with Jackson, in an upcoming article.

Hampton said that when she took the position with the Louisville office of the St. Louis Fed, she was happy to get back to her banking roots. Hampton formerly worked for Liberty National Bank and Trust Co.

"I thought this position, when it was offered to me, would give me an opportunity to help the St. Louis Fed leverage its resources to help our local economy," Hampton said. "My passion has always been the growth and progression of Louisville and its economy."

When she took the job in 2004, little did she know that the economy was headed toward a prolonged recession.

But the economic downturn provided a test for the new type of office that she had set up in Louisville, which was based on a mutual gathering and sharing of information among the Fed's district offices and community and banking business leaders.

Braden Lammers covers these beats: Financial services, residential real estate, law, property and casualty insurance, construction, unions, engineers, architects and agriculture.