In the mad rush to make workplaces remote, not to mention daily life, most of us fumbled our way through learning how to Zoom. Or, we quickly learned Google Meet or GoToMeeting. All of these platforms offer essentially the same service. But are they secure enough for bankers to discuss sensitive topics like home mortgages and wealth management with their customers? [Continue]
First Farmers Bank & Trust has launched a three-pronged attack against the economic impacts of COVID-19 in its communities. The Converse, Ind.-based bank created a program to connect hog farmers with local food banks, and committed to giving $75,000 for lunches purchased from local restaurants to donate to first responders and medical professionals. [Continue]
When TJ Minnehan walked into the Bank of Kaukauna, Wis., for an interview to become the bank’s president, he looked around, walked out, got in his car and turned the GPS back on. “I thought it had taken me to the wrong address,” Minnehan said. “I thought, ‘this looks like a museum.’” [Continue]
The Shalom Center of Interfaith Network provides the economically challenged citizens of Kenosha County, Wis., with shelter, guidance, and importantly, food. In a turn of the table, a team from the Kenosha branch of Brookfield, Wis.-based North Shore Bank surprised the near-50 person staff of the Center with pizza, plus a couple of surprises. [Continue]
St. Paul, Minn.-based Bremer Bank faces its “Moment of Truth” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said President and CEO Jeanne Crain. [Continue]
In late March, community bankers were handed what seemed an insurmountable task: To design and implement processes to execute the U.S. Treasury and Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. And they did, all across the country. While this article recounts the experience of the PPP lending team at Investors Community Bank in Manitowoc, Wis., it also honors all the PPP lending teams that lit the sky the way stars do when darkness, or the absence of certainty, spreads. [Continue]
In March, Joy Kitzan, senior vice president Dakota Community Bank & Trust, Hebron, N.D., received a call from the principal of her local K-12 school with a need. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum had just directed educators to put together a distance learning program for the state’s schoolchildren in response to the coronavirus pandemic. They had about two weeks to plan. [Continue]
Sometimes the way forward is unclear and I think now is one of those times. The demonstrations and riots over injustice in our law enforcement tell us something is gravely wrong, but any answers about how to fix this remain mercurial at best. [Continue]