Tag Archive for: Community Advocate

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Wolf River Community Bank, Hortonville President and CEO Joe Peikert.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Joe: I graduated from UW-Platteville with a degree in finance and an accounting minor. I was hired as an internal auditor at a bank holding company that was headquartered in my hometown of Menomonee Falls.

Once I passed the CPA exam and joined KPMG Peat Marwick’s Milwaukee office, I thought I would be out of the banking industry. A few years later, I was back in banking with Fox Cities Bank in Neenah, and then Thrivent Financial Bank. I’ve lived in Hortonville since leaving the Milwaukee area, and 15 years ago, I ended up right in my “backyard” at Wolf River Community Bank.

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

Stating it simply — I love helping people. I’m so fortunate to have this role at a community bank where we live, go to church, send our kids to school, shop, etc.

I most enjoy helping each one of our employees grow their skills and careers. I like to teach and share with people the things I’ve learned over many years. That might be helping someone understand the complexities of interest rate risk management or developing the skills of our next generation of leaders at the bank. I also get the opportunity to help our customers navigate their financial needs.

I especially enjoy the variety of what I’m able to do on a daily basis. I might spend my lunch hour at our local library reading books to preschoolers, then in the evening, present our annual results at our stockholder meeting.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

I believe that many people don’t really think all that much about where they bank. However, I wish more people understood that where they choose to bank makes a difference both to them and their community.

I have talked to friends and neighbors about where they bank, and they seem surprised when I share that I’d love for them to bank with us. I’ve seen a light go on when I explain to them that when they bank with a local community bank, not only are they getting remarkable service from people they know, but that banking local also helps our communities. The more support we get from the communities, the more we are able to give back to the communities through volunteerism and donations to schools, clubs, service organizations, and the like.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

As in all industries, our biggest challenge will be in keeping up with all the changes occurring. I read a quote recently that said “the rate of change we experienced in the last year has been the fastest in history. And it will never move this slowly again.” Throughout the banking industry, we need to be sure to keep up with changes in technology. The time gap from one new technology to the next is getting shorter with each iteration. We need to make a commitment to stay current because our customers are going to expect it. While I truly believe that customers will always want to be able to walk into a physical location and meet in person with their banker, they will also expect to handle most of their regular financial transactions without doing so.

With the number of moving parts we face each day, including cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, economic uncertainty, regulatory reach, etc., our industry must keep an eye on each of these challenges so we can keep our customers safe and best serve their financial needs.

Finding and keeping great people will be a challenge as well. I recently spoke to a group of business students at our local high school and asked how many are thinking they’d like to have a career in banking. It is probably not a surprise that there were none. As bankers, we need to do a better job of telling our story on how rewarding a career in banking can be.

Please describe your current role at your bank and share with us one of your more rewarding experiences.

The one that comes to mind is a recent situation where I helped a customer who was the victim of a fraud.

I noticed that this customer, whom I know from church, was coming in the bank regularly over several days — which was unusual for him — and spending time on long transactions at the teller line. When I asked the tellers about the transactions, they said he was depositing a lot of old coins and asking how much was in his account. He told them he needed to get a certain dollar amount in his account. They said he seemed confused and was also a bit evasive with them.

A day or so later, one of our lenders came to me and said this same customer wanted to take out a loan using his car as collateral — which also seemed very unusual for this customer. The lender and I agreed that when the customer came in, we would ask him about this sudden unusual change in his finances.

In that conversation we were eventually able to learn that he had fallen victim to one of the well-known elder scams in which he was to send money in order to secure a large “prize.” We were able to keep him from losing a lot of money and get family members involved to help him.

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Bank of Milton President Dan Honold.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Dan: After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I was hired by the Federal Land Bank Association of Janesville. I was an ag real estate lender, and I managed the Elkhorn branch. After working there for two and a half years, I was contacted by a job recruiter who asked if I would be interested in interviewing for a job at the Bank of Milton. Remember that in 1987, we didn’t have cell phones or the internet with Google Maps, so I had to pull the Wisconsin map out of the glove box in my car to see where Milton was! I was offered the job as vice president at the Bank of Milton, took over as president in 1995, and now have been with the bank for over 35 years.

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

As bankers, we are financial counselors. There is nothing more gratifying than having a bank customer come to you with a financial issue and being able to help put them in a better position financially than they were in before meeting with you. The end result is a customer for life.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

My pet peeve is when a customer says you have “bankers’ hours.” I really don’t think the general public has any idea of how many hours a community banker must work to do their job and be successful.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

The greatest challenges for bankers over the next 3–5 years will be how to attract and understand the needs and wants of our younger generation. With the technology that is available to them, the way of doing traditional banking is changing at a fast pace. Every day, bankers serve their local communities by helping their customers achieve their financial dreams.

Please describe your current role at your bank and share with us one of your more rewarding experiences.

Over the past 35 years, not only have I been involved with the day-to-day operations of our bank, but I have had the pleasure of serving in over 20 volunteer roles with various community organizations and nonprofits. I believe that, as community bankers, we need to make a difference in the communities we serve.

One thing that I take great pride in is having been a youth coach for basketball and soccer for the Milton School District for 20 years and coaching over 400 kids in that time frame. I am very passionate about our youth, and I feel that it is very important that we help prepare them for their future.

I had one situation a few years back where a young girl that I coached came to me for help regarding her homelife. As her parents struggled to provide for her and her three younger siblings, my wife and I stepped up to help the family out by providing food, clothing, and making the necessary repairs to their home so that the kids could stay there.

When the girl reached high school, I hired her at the bank to earn money for college. She is currently in college and has a great outlook on life.

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Community First Bank President/CEO Dan Klahn.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Dan: After graduating from college with a degree in economics, I began working in a sales and lending position with a finance company. I discovered I really enjoyed the customer contact and finding ways to help meet customer needs. While working there, I was able to see the positive effect that community banks have on their customers and communities. This led me to join a small community bank in southwest Wisconsin. A few years later, I joined Community First Bank in Boscobel, where I have been for the last 33 years of my career. Working in a smaller community bank has given me the opportunity to learn and grow as one must wear many hats and do a little bit of everything. This eventually led to my current role as president and CEO.

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

My favorite aspect of my role at the bank is the ability to positively affect people’s lives. I have been fortunate to be able to develop relationships with individuals and businesses that have lasted 30+ years. This includes being there for them through the good times and bad. Some of these long-term relationships began as start-up businesses that have grown and prospered and are now major employers in the communities we serve.

Another favorite part of my job has been mentoring employees and being able to watch them learn and grow within our organization. Community First Bank has had a number of employees who started with us in high school or college and have now grown into leadership positions within the bank.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

I wish the general public better understood the commitment and contributions that community banks and their employees make to their customers and communities every day. We truly have a vested interest in helping our communities thrive as our employees and their families live, work, and go to school in the communities they serve. I believe we’ve “gained some ground” through the pandemic as the extraordinary efforts put out by the banking industry to help our customers was more visible and recognized. However, we as an industry need to continue to educate the general public about the positive effects we have on the economy and the communities we serve.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

I think one of community banking’s greatest challenges over the next 3 to 5 years will be related to keeping up with rapidly evolving cybersecurity risks, technology, and complying with the ever increasing regulations. Our industry will need to continue to focus on ways to manage these challenges as we go into the future. In Wisconsin, we are fortunate to have a very strong trade group in the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) to lead advocacy efforts and help us manage some of the challenges we face.

Please share one of your more rewarding or memorable experiences with us.

I think the most rewarding experiences for me in my career revolve around participating and watching our employees step up to the plate when our communities needed us most. A couple of examples of this include watching our employees fill and deliver sandbags to businesses during the 2008 and 2018 floods in Reedsburg and assisting in cleanup efforts for the tornado that hit Boscobel in 2021. It was also extremely rewarding to serve witness to the Community First Bank team working tirelessly to help our customers by quickly processing hundreds of PPP loans during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Dairy State Bank CEO Michael Bock.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Michael: After graduating from college with an accounting degree, my career started in public accounting. After eight years spending significant time in the bank audit, exam, and tax area learning about the banking industry, an opportunity presented itself with Dairy State Bank. After 33 years, I continue to say it was a very good decision to come to the banker’s side of the desk.

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

Without a doubt, interacting with so many great people is what makes this job fun. This comes in the form of helping customers and businesses meet their financial goals as well as solve challenges they sometimes encounter. It also comes from working with a very dedicated and committed staff that are constantly doing their best to make banking easy and rewarding for everyone interacting with us.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

To the public — yes, we know it takes a lot of paper to open a new checking account, complete a home mortgage, and do so many other things in the bank, but there are higher forces requiring the paperwork. As bankers, we are all for making sure customers know what they are signing up for. However, the amount of paper is getting so deep it is sometimes overwhelming. If you do get overwhelmed, please ask questions! As community bankers, we commit ourselves to making sure you understand the banking services you use.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

This list could be long — including cybersecurity threats, a constantly changing regulatory and political environment, the increased cost of doing business, and what seems like the perpetual effort by the credit unions to expand their footprint while having the huge advantage of no income taxes. But I think one of our greatest challenges is going to be introducing young people to banking as a profession. This business is very satisfying in so many ways as we have a unique opportunity help our communities and customers thrive. Many young people only see the bank as a place to deposit a check or get a debit card and don’t understand the positive impact we make in so many ways.

Every day, bankers serve their local communities by helping their customers achieve their financial dreams. Please describe your current role at your bank and share with us one of your more rewarding experiences.

From making hundreds of PPP loans in the teeth of COVID to donating time and money to community projects that enhance the places we live and lending money to a startup business that grows to become a major employer in the area, the list of rewarding experiences we, as community bankers, have could go on and on.

But I think one of the most satisfying and rewarding acts we do is taking the time to work with a customer to understand when they are being scammed. These are not always easy conversations, because no one wants to admit they may be in a bad situation. However, many times through our observations, conversations, and coaching, our customers keep the money that is rightfully theirs. Assisting our community members like this makes me proud to be a community banker.

The following is a brief interview between WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels and Farmers & Merchants Bank of Kendall President Cynthia Erdman.

Rose: How did you first get into the banking industry?

Cynthia: I first wanted to become a Certified Public Accountant. As I started college and had little money, I found a part-time job at a bank as a teller with the hopes of getting into their accounting department. As time progressed, I began to learn all the other opportunities for a career that the banking industry offered. I did, however, leave for an internship at an accounting firm. Fast forward, I decided that was not the path that I found the most interesting and rewarding, so back to banking I went. Now, 37 years later, I can truly say it has been a great career!

What is your favorite aspect of your role at your bank?

This is an easy one! It has been and always will be about all the amazing people you get to meet. Listening and working with clients to meet their financial goals, purchase their home, start or grow their business, or just be that trusted advisor for financial advice is very rewarding. Another favorite part of my role is mentoring and watching my coworkers develop and advance their knowledge.

What do you wish the general public understood about the banking industry?

Just the simple message that we are always there to help them as best as possible. We work to find solutions and when they succeed — we all succeed.

Where do you believe the industry’s greatest challenges are in the next three to five years?

I believe that our industry will continue to be tested by the increasing cost and challenges related to cybersecurity, talent recruitment, as well as the increasing reach of credit unions along with their unfair tax advantage.

Please share one of your more rewarding or memorable experiences with us.

Bankers do extraordinary things every day that go above and beyond normal business. As community advocates and leaders, it is our duty to help where and when we can. The fabulous part about this is it is so rewarding and not a duty at all! As I reflect on the numerous organizations that I have volunteered at, there are so many great memories. It is hard to pick out any one that was the most memorable because each has had its rewards.

I would say the things that have stuck with me the most are the more individual/personal encounters over the years. A particular couple comes to mind — they both were great volunteers of the community and the bank recognized them as “Extraordinary Citizens” at an event that we held. We later placed their picture on a billboard saluting them and promoting volunteerism. A few years later, the gentleman passed away, and I attended his funeral. When entering the service, the first thing displayed was the scaled down version of that billboard we gave them as a keepsake. In talking with his wife, she expressed how much that meant to him and how proud he was of being a part of promoting the good people do and encouraging others to do the same. Little did she know how much that meant to me as well.