Renovations will help El Rey serve customers
Chairman and CEO Jim McKenna and branch manager Alfredo Martin cut the ribbon to officially open the renovated El Rey branch, while employees including Paulina Garcia, teller Ashley Rodriguez, teller supervisor Lupe Barbosa, personal banker Karina Reyes, teller Efren Martinez, assistant branch manager Maria Castro, and teller Fabiola Guel assist.
The El Rey branch debuted major renovations earlier this month, including a new exterior and an updated open-concept lobby with technology to make services more convenient for North Shore Bank customers.
The work began in June, branch manager Alfredo Martin said.
The old branch exterior inside the grocery store.
“It was great to see the progress on a daily basis,” he said. “Our enthusiasm overcame any impact on our daily work activities, and the eagerness to see the end of the project made it fun and interesting.”
The 15-year-old branch is inside El Rey Food Mart and is fully staffed by a bilingual team of bankers. The branch marked the renovations with a weeklong celebration from Monday, November 11, to Saturday, November 16, which included a drive for canned goods for the Milwaukee Christian Food Pantry and a blessing and ribbon cutting that Tuesday.
The newly renovated exterior.
Alfredo said the most exciting change is how the open lobby will let his team offer more personalized service, and how customers will be able to use phones or tablets to perform some transactions more quickly.
“So far we have received a lot of positive feedback from many customers,” he said. “I’ve thanked all our North Shore Bank management for providing us a great environment to work and assist our customers with any financial need.” •••
Fight lung disease with the North Shore Climbers!
Kristin, customer assistance specialist Carrie Feiker, Molly, and Molly’s sister Kit after last March’s Fight for Air Climb.
The North Shore Climbers are looking for more team members to join us as we ascend the stairs all the way to the top of the U.S. Bank Center in downtown Milwaukee during next year’s Fight for Air Climb on March 7. This event supports local efforts of the American Lung Association and is the largest of these climbs in the United States. It sounds challenging — and it is — but it is also much more doable than you may think! It’s not a race — take this at your own pace. Make it a personal challenge and support a great cause at the same time.
Our team has been doing this climb since 2013, and we’d love to have more team members for 2020. To give you a bit of an incentive, North Shore Bank will pay the $15 registration fee for the first 15 climbers who register by December 31, 2019. Why not ask some co-workers to join you and make it a friendly competition? If you’d like some insights about the climb, contact any of our usual team climbers: deposit services manager Natalie Canadeo, deposit operations supervisor Kristin Hoch, or SVP HR/compliance Molly Schissler.
Please note: There is a $100-per-climber fundraising minimum, but don’t be too concerned about this — they look at the entire team goal. So fundraise whatever amount you can — it all goes toward the entire team’s minimum of $100 per team member.
Want to join the fun? Click here to register today: http://action.lung.org/goto/NorthShoreClimbers20 •••
Tell us what you’re thankful for
The calendar year is drawing to a close, and at the end of the month we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving. Will you share what you’re thankful for from 2019?
It could be a work-related achievement or a joyful moment from your personal life — the door is wide open. But we’d love to hear from you and will run all the answers in a special edition of Shorelines on Wednesday, November 27, right before the big day. Here’s what to do:
- Email shorelines@northshorebank.com with a note about what you’re thankful for from this year. Give us more than a sentence but keep it to about 150 words.
- If you’ve got a photo of whatever it is, attach it to your email or text it to 608-318-3348.
Deadline is 5pm on Monday, November 25. Let’s show our gratitude! Thank you in advance. 🦃 •••
In new ads, bank wants to make changes that matter
A still from our new retail banking commercial.
Have you seen the bank’s new TV commercials and outdoor advertising? If you haven’t caught them out in the wild, so to speak, here’s a look.
We have two new commercials running — one for retail banking and one for commercial banking. This latest rollout marks the first time North Shore Bank has focused on commercial banking in the traditional media channels of television and outdoor, in keeping with our aim to grow that area of our business.
More generally, we are looking to shift the focus of our marketing from products to the bank’s brand promise that truly differentiates us from competitors: North Shore Bank is a community-minded bank that empowers you to confidently manage your money so you can achieve the life you want.
In both TV spots, a North Shore Bank representative runs through a list explaining how well a property meets the needs of the customers in the ad, highlighting the strong connections we’re known for forging with the people who bank with us, as well as our employees’ deep knowledge of the business.
“We’ll take care of the bank part,” the spokespeople in the ads assure their customers. “You do you.”
To watch the TV spots, go to: S:\SharedEveryone\2019-2020 TV Commercials\
Our new billboards let customers know that North Shore Bank will work closely with them, getting to know them and their specific needs, to turn possibilities into something real — thoughts into action, goals into results, and so forth. Once again, it points to the relationships we build as pivotal when a customer wants to achieve something important. You can see billboards here:
Howard-Suamico sponsors tree for railroad museum
Teller Roberta Strazishar, assistant manager Emmeline Knight-Guzman, Katie (in front), floating teller Deb Price, and universal banker Brooke Hillsberg with the branch’s tree at the museum.
The Howard-Suamico branch is sponsoring a tree at the National Railroad Museum’s Festival of Trees this holiday season.
“Last weekend, the whole branch went together to decorate our tree. We made ornaments out of piggy banks and money, and the tree is topped with a handmade nest of money for Seymour!” branch manager Katie Presser said.
The sponsorship supports educational programs at the Green Bay museum. The Festival of Trees is open most days Monday through Saturday through January 5, and admission is $5. More information is here. •••