Commercial Banking client calls NSB “phenomenal”

Our latest Playmaker Profile puts North Shore Bank client Eagle Park Brewing & Distilling Company in the spotlight.

As president and owner Max Borgardt explains in the video, posted on YouTube last week, Eagle Park is a local business with locations on the Lower East Side of Milwaukee and in Muskego. It’s a family business, and both leadership and employees share a bond in that many of them are musicians. The company also chooses a different charity to support each quarter, and recently raised over $15,000 for the Grafton-based Brady Wynn Foundation, which helps children with neurological disorders and their families.

Max describes North Shore Bank as “absolutely phenomenal to work with.” Eagle Park opened its first account with North Shore when it opened in 2016, because one of our branches was nearby and convenient. In 2020, when the company expanded into Muskego, North Shore Bank financed construction of the new brewhouse.

“Anytime we need anything, they are literally back to us in a second,” he says of the Commercial Banking team. “Our banker, Mike Cornell, is just always there for me whenever I need it — and honestly, a crucial part of how we’ve grown this business.”

Mike shares this story from 2020, when, just as the Muskego location was set to open, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began:

“Eagle Park’s management team was not going to be able to open the new location as originally scheduled. But they did not hesitate to make lemonade out of lemons! They took a two-prong approach. First, they began to sell beer curbside at both locations. Second, they began to manufacture much-needed hand sanitizer. They were able to open up Muskego in the summer of 2020 and had a very successful year.”

“This is why we work as a team in Commercial Banking to enhance the overall experience for our clients,” says SVP Margaret Capper. She notes that delivering such great service to clients like Eagle Park is why she and the rest of the team consistently tell Mike he’s “the BEST.” Check out the video above. •••

Help wanted for cleanup event!
Want to pitch in? North End is holding a Community Cleanup event this Saturday, August 27, from 9 a.m. to noon. Local organizations and community members will come together to beautify the neighborhood, as part of the Bank on Kindness project.

Supplies will be provided, as will refreshments from Whisk Chick bakery and Interval café. We hope to have a strong showing from North Shore Bank! If you can come out to help clean up, email district manager Cristen Baumann or just register online. See our press release for more info. •••

Employees spread love at Village Days, in Burlington

North Shore Bank appeared at Greendale Village Days earlier this month, with a booth featuring kindness rocks to be decorated, as well as our “Be Kind” tent wall. Visitors were invited to leave messages of kindness on the wall.

Our Burlington branch has traditionally sponsored the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce’s welcome lunch for businesspeople and educators who are new to town or to the chamber. Because of COVID-19, however, the branch has been unable to do this for the past two years. Instead, the branch is putting together and delivering welcome bags to these newcomers.

“The chamber receives a list from the school district of all the new teachers in the area, and we also include any new businesses that have opened in the last year,” Burlington branch manager Robin Callis said. “This year, we will be delivering more than 70 welcome bags, which I believe is a record for us. And I look forward to when we can host the luncheon once again! It’s always been a very well-attended event.” •••

El Rey branch will move out of Foodmart
Earlier this month, North Shore Bank announced that our El Rey branch, inside the El Rey Foodmart on West Burnham Street, will move across the street into its own space. The new location is scheduled to open next spring.

The move is being made because the growing grocery store needs more room.

The new branch will feature three private offices, a larger lobby, staff who speak both English and Spanish, a self-service coin counter, and teller services. The bank is working directly with customers to ensure a smooth transition. Current El Rey branch manager and community engagement manager Alfredo Martin will continue to lead the new location. •••

Employees donate, volunteer to support neighbors

North Shore Bank employees and partners have been busy in their communities working on our Bank on Kindness initiative. Northland assistant branch manager Tisha Kenfield and teller supervisor Patt Kox visited Jake’s Network of Hope, a Neenah nonprofit that distributes diapers and other hygiene products and essential items to families in need. Tisha and Patt donated diapers and helped organize other incoming donations.

Allouez assistant branch manager Aubrey Abrahamson dropped off four backpacks filled with school supplies and North Shore Bank swag at Golden House, a Green Bay domestic-violence shelter where she has interned.

And Jackie Herd Barber, one of the “kindness community leaders” honored at North End in June, used the funds we shared with her to support employees at Advocate Aurora Health and to supply items for a community baby shower. Keep up the acts of kindness, everyone! •••

Customer singles out Fleischman for diligent assistance

“Here is some wonderfully positive feedback I received about the stellar work Mary Fleischman did when this customer called with a Bill Pay login issue,” writes treasury solutions operations manager AVP Jeff Marsho:

The past week, I had been having some issues getting our Bill Pay to work on our account. I called and Mary Fleischman answered. She not only spoke with me every day to check in, she went back to multiple departments, worked late, and was able to resolve the issues only because of her diligence in a timely manner! She was so pleasant and calming; she walked me through each of the steps she was taking to resolve my issue. In the end, Bill Pay is up and running and it is all thanks to Mary! She has been a great asset to me as customer and our organization, and I just wanted to send along some praise to her!

Nice work, Mary! And the feedback card above is from a customer who says North Shore Bank is “always friendly” and has delivered “great service from the start.” •••

Contactless debit cards: “quick and easy”
North Shore Bank rolled out contactless debit cards a year ago, and employees have had some great things to say about them:

“Faster checkout, not as much wear and tear on your physical card (less of a need for a replacement card).”

“No need to fiddle with plugging in your card in those tiny slots. You can just rest it next to the reader and it accepts your card for the transaction.”

“It is quick and easy and will not take any extra time when paying, and best of all, you may not have to touch the machine!”

“So incredibly easy to use!”

“Most employees report that contactless transactions take less than four seconds to complete,” says product manager Eric Brooks. Sounds like a great, fun way to save a little bit of time. •••

Mindfulness means not engaging in prejudice

There will always be people who seek to score cheap points by denigrating an “outside” group — these tactics appeal to our base instincts and get us to ignore the real causes of problems. The mindful person commits to avoiding rhetoric that pits one against another. Mindfulness requires vigilance of mind and heart and will not accept emotion without intelligence.

Try this meditation for one minute today, or longer if you wish:

TAKE A MOMENT to watch people as they play, come home from work, as they shop or dine. If any stereotypes arise in your mind, just let them go. Simply observe each person without comment.

Our sense of reality here is an entire delusion; we know nothing of things, of people, as they are; all that we know of them are the impressions they make on our senses, and the conclusions, often erroneous, which our reason deduces from the aggregate of these impressions.
—Annie Besant, British activist

How did this meditation go for you? Share your experience with your fellow North Shore Bank employees at shorelines@northshorebank.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana.

If you’d like a daily email reminder to practice one minute of mindfulness, email us with the subject “Mindfulness reminder.” •••

New Hires for August 25
It’s always exciting to add new members to our team. Here are some of the fresh faces at North Shore Bank.

Customer assistance representative Charlotte Knight is from Milwaukee and was previously an online banking specialist for BMO Harris Bank. She is also going to school full time at Ashworth College, pursuing a degree in early childhood education. “I have twin girls and am also a twin myself!” Charlotte says, adding that she is also a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan. •••

Shorewood Feast, Southside Dining Week promise fun
What’s going on with you? If you or someone in your family has a special event — a concert, show, sporting or charity event, or another important moment — send the details to shorelines@northshorebank.com. We’ll include information about select events to let your colleagues know about all the cool stuff happening with the North Shore Bank team.

Looking for more to do? Here are suggestions from the bank’s event calendar:

The third annual Shorewood Feast takes place Saturday, September 10. The daylong street festival will culminate with a family-style harvest dinner in the middle of Oakland Avenue. Members of the public can learn more about and sign up for a chance to win $500 in gift cards for local restaurants at shorewoodwi.com. More info here.

And Southside Dining Week, presented by North Shore Bank, returns Saturday, September 17, through Saturday, September 24. This celebration of Southside Milwaukee’s international cuisine offers the chance to enjoy a signature dish at each participating restaurant for under $15. North Shore Bank customers will also receive a $5 statement credit when they spend $15 or more with their North Shore Bank Debit Mastercard® at participating restaurants! (Restrictions may apply.) Members of the public can enter a giveaway to win $100 in gift cards for participating restaurants at southsidediningweek.com. More info here. •••