Karla Lozano at the La GranD studios earlier this month.

For 14 years, Milwaukee-area radio listeners have been getting financial literacy advice from North Shore Bank. And if you’ve never tuned in, it’s quite possibly because you don’t speak Spanish.

On Saturday mornings for eight months of each year, a North Shore Bank employee sits down at the La GranD 104.7 FM studios to discuss money live on the air.

“The show allows us to talk about financial literacy and bank products, as well as to have special guests with different areas of expertise who can talk to a Spanish-speaking audience about credit, business management, and even things like health-related critical information,” area branch manager Alfredo Martin said.

Alfredo, business relationship manager Karla Lozano, and community lending manager Miguel Pesqueira split up hosting duties over the course of each month. Topics include budgeting, building and rebuilding credit, homebuying, mortgages, and much more.

“The show has allowed us to use the airwaves to bring financial literacy to a larger audience,” Alfredo said. “We were doing it prior to COVID-19, and since last year, the radio program has been instrumental in allowing us to continue educating our community, especially since we have not been able to provide our homebuyers seminars in a group setting at our Jackson Park community room.”

“My role is to let people know about North Shore Bank’s Business Banking department,” Karla said. “I talk about the importance of working with a bank that is focused on building a relationship, and also the tools and other resources available to our business customers.”

Alfredo described the opportunities created by the radio show as “immense.”

“A great percentage of our listeners do eventually become North Shore Bank customers,” he said. The show is a key part of the bank’s successful efforts to cultivate clients among Milwaukee’s Latino community.

“The community’s response has been very positive, and beneficial to private and nonprofit organizations that have joined us in informing Spanish speakers about better financial management,” he said.

If you’re interested in checking out the show, you can see when it will air on the Community Calendar. On the next edition, on July 3 at 10:30 a.m., Alfredo will cover mortgage preapproval and real estate, among other topics.