Despite rain, Adams has great race at Boston Marathon

When nearly 30,000 runners pinned on their bibs for this year’s Boston Marathon last week, area branch manager AVP Mickey Adams was among them.

The 26.2-mile race, which took place Monday, April 17, was Mickey’s third marathon. Although her very first time qualified her for Boston, she waited until this year to run it so that her friends Cassie and Dan could join her. And it was worth the wait.

“This race was everything you ever hear or read about: 30,000 runners and 26.2 miles of spectators calling out your name — I guess it helps having your name plastered on your shirt,” Mickey joked. “It was a very hilly course, but with all the crowd support, the miles just rolled on by.” Read more about this awesome achievement!

How are you using your volunteer PTO?
Reminder: As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, North Shore Bank employees can use Centennial Volunteer PTO throughout 2023 to do good work in their communities. Find more information on Ask Seymour.

And if you have any volunteer opportunities to suggest, we’d love to hear about them! Please share them with us at shorelines@northshorebank.com, so we can let other employees know where they might want to use their volunteer PTO. •••

Usama helps give boy a memorable birthday

Our employees continue to Bank on Kindness, spreading goodwill throughout our communities: Shorewood universal banker Micki Usama recently helped a birthday wish come true, when she partnered with nonprofit Box of Balloons to put together a fantastic 10th birthday party for a boy named Isaac and four of his friends.

Box of Balloons helps kids whose families can’t afford to throw them a birthday celebration. Micki went out and shopped for gifts, party favors and decorations, a card, and treats for Isaac’s Fortnite-themed party. “Marcia from Box of Balloons was so grateful and said Isaac and his family were going to be so surprised,” area branch manager Shannon Weber said.

And in case you missed it, earlier this month the winners of our 100 Acts of Kindness challenge were revealed. Along with the employees who got to attend the meet-and-greet with Pat Connaughton of the Milwaukee Bucks, our winners were:

• 8 hours of PTO — Kerri Collins, District Manager, North Region
• 250 Bucket List (Seymour Salutes) points — Lacee Kalepp, Area Manager, Northland, and Rachel Rasmussen, Marketing Data Analyst
• 6-month car wash membership — Priscilla Hartling, Commercial Loan Processing Team Leader
• Pizza lunch for team — Kathleen White, Branch Manager, Cudahy
• $100 in free groceries — Shannan Mahloch, Senior Loan Funding Rep

Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you again to everyone who participated in the challenge! We’ve spread a lot of kindness already this year, and we hope it keeps on going! •••

Throwback Thursday: The Ice Bucket Challenge

In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge took the internet by storm, and North Shore Bank was part of the fun too. Created to spread awareness of and raise funds to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — also known as ALS, motor neuron disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease — the challenge was chillingly simple: Get a big bucket of ice water dumped on your head, capture it on video, and post the video, nominating somebody else to participate next. The Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million for the fight against ALS in 2014, the ALS Association says.

Our Kenosha Festival Foods branch participated in a modified version of the challenge in August 2014: Managers from the grocery store, the branch, and Good Value Pharmacy collected donations for a week, with the honor of being doused with the biggest bucket of ice water going to the person who received the most money. The effort raised over $1,300 to fight ALS.

Southwest branch employees also did the challenge that August, nominating their colleagues at West Allis to do it next — you can watch the action go down in the video above. Brrrr! •••

Throwback Thursday: Krowd the Klotsche

Back around the turn of the millennium, North Shore Bank sponsored the annual Krowd the Klotsche event — giving away free tickets to a UW-Milwaukee women’s basketball game each year to fill the team’s home arena, the Klotsche Center.

According to the Spring 2001 issue of Shorelines, that year’s Krowd the Klotsche brought in a record-breaking crowd of 2,796 fans. The next year’s game was even more krowded, with 4,137 kramming themselves into the arena, the UW-Milwaukee Panthers website says. •••

Three honored as Five Star Mortgage Professionals
Based on responses from their peers and customers, three North Shore Bank employees have been recognized as Five Star Mortgage Professionals.

For mortgage loan originators Susan Liedel and Robin Tegel, this is their first time being so honored. Senior mortgage lender Steve Luebke was selected for the 13th consecutive year.

“I am so honored!” Robin said. “North Shore Bank has given me the products and tools to serve my customers and provide a top-notch mortgage experience. Coming to work is easy when you love your job, and making others happy is a great way to spend my workdays!”

“l am very honored, as you are nominated by a peer,” Susan said. “Being recognized by a colleague because they appreciated how you treated them or their client — well, it is the best compliment you can receive.”

Noting that the mortgage climate has been challenging, Steve said: “I am truly appreciative of the support I get from the entire mortgage team, management, processing, and underwriting —I couldn’t do it without their support and expertise.” The mortgage team loves referrals from branches and business partners, he added.

“Having three of our employees recognized as Five Star Mortgage Professionals is a real testament to our team and North Shore Bank’s commitment to taking care of our customers and partners,” VP consumer lending Mike Murphy said. “At the end of the day, that’s what builds strong relationships and leads to our continued success.” •••

Rubio wins bonus for referring new hires
Mitchell Street personal banker Claudia Rubio won the first-quarter bonus for referring new employees.

“I’m very appreciative of winning,” she says. “It’s very rewarding — personally and professionally — to work at North Shore Bank, which makes it easy to refer others to join this great team!”

Congratulations, Claudia! More information about the bank’s job referral program is on Ask Seymour. •••

Scammers use tech to impersonate companies
North Shore Bank’s CrimeBusters for March 2023 are: Wauwatosa teller supervisor Tyreese Hernandez, senior checking services rep Renee Machado, and New Berlin teller Chris Moyses.

Security Saves: This Month’s Highlights
An older customer came in wanting to wire $9,000 for an investment. The teller knew this was an unusual type of transaction for this customer. She asked him some more questions about the wire and saw that he did not seem confident about his answers. The teller was able to get the customer into an office and called Security. Security learned that the customer had received an email from “Microsoft” and had been instructed to wire $9,000 to get his PC unlocked.

Security says: Most of us use our cell phones for just about everything now, from taking pictures and ordering groceries to doing our day-to-day banking. And while it is convenient to have so much power in the palm of our hand, it also allows for millions of people to be targeted by cyber-attacks. The common attacks we see involve smishing, vishing, and spoofing.

Smishing is when a scammer uses SMS/text messages to get the target’s personal or financial information, often posing as the target’s bank or a company like Amazon.

Vishing (voice or VoIP phishing) is a type of cyber-attack that uses voice and telephony technologies to trick targets into revealing sensitive data.

Spoofing allows scammers to falsify their caller ID information, to match legitimate phone numbers for just about anyone. Vishing and spoofing combined have led to millions of dollars in losses for consumers.

But how do you know if a text or call is really from a scammer? Great question! Here are some tips:

• When in doubt, call the phone number on the back of your credit or debit card (if the text or call claims to be from the issuing bank) or the customer service number on the company’s website. Never call the number from the email or text message!
• If you receive a text message asking to verify a debit card transaction, look at your online banking. Don’t respond to any messages or open any links. Often, this is a scammer waiting for you to respond “No” so they can call and pose as the “fraud department.”
• Scammers sometimes call the target saying they are from the target’s bank or another institution, and that there is a problem with the target’s account or credit card. The false alert may also arrive by SMS initially, asking the target to call a number to resolve the issue.
• If a text message says “Do not share with anyone” or “Enter code in your device only,” follow those instructions! Scammers will try to deceive you by saying they need that code to shut down your debit card. But the code could be for a digital wallet activation, online banking access, or authorization for a purchase. Never give out those codes.

The Learning Center on the North Shore Bank website is a great resource where customers can find up-to-date information on scams, as well as guidance on what to do if they fall for a scam. Make sure your customers know about it.

As always, trust your instincts! If something feels off, contact Security immediately for guidance on how to proceed.

Started by former security officer Peggy Theisen in 2013, the CrimeBuster Awards recognize bank employees who identify security risks and take action to protect North Shore Bank and our customers. •••

Get up to $400 by opening a new checking account

As part of our centennial celebration, customers who switch to North Shore Bank can get up to $400 when they open a new checking account by May 31.

Upon opening the checking account, customers will instantly get a $100 gift card. They will then get $30 per month for 10 months with qualifying transactions. Customers can open a checking account online by going to northshorebank.com/GET400 and using promo code MAY23, or do so at any of our branches.

And with teens applying for summer jobs and graduates getting ready for college, it’s the perfect time to remind your customers about our Student Checking Accounts. It’s an excellent way for young savers to start practicing money management — plus, students opening a new account will get $50 when they start using our Mobile App. More details are available at northshorebank.com/yourfuture. •••

Commercial bankers contribute to food drive

Corporate’s recent food drive for the FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County was obviously a group effort, with staff pitching in from all departments. Commercial Banking employees made a special trip to Costco, filling three shopping carts with $1,000 of purchases from the pantry’s “Big 8” list — the most-needed items. Nice work, everyone! •••

New Hires for April 27
It’s always exciting to add new members to our team. Here are some of the fresh faces at North Shore Bank.

Pewaukee personal banker Zach Rambo was born in Iowa, but has been a Wisconsinite since seventh grade. He was previously the business manager for SkipperBud’s in Pewaukee. “I am a huge Brewers fan and played baseball as long as some team would have me. Those days are gone now!” he says. “My two best friends are my dogs Jake and Ollie.” Zach’s family loves to travel, and recently visited Pikes Peak in Colorado and went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, for Christmas last year. •••

Mental health has a big impact on financial wellness
When we talk about financial wellness, the topics typically include debt, budgeting, and emergency savings. But the Advocate Aurora Health Employee Assistance Program notes a component that gets forgotten all too often: mental health.

Not only can poor mental health limit your earning potential, it can also have a damaging cumulative effect. If anxiety, depression, or another mental health condition impairs your ability to spend and save responsibly, that creates stress — which will build up, exacerbating your mental health problems further. And of course, financial difficulties also make it harder to afford therapy or other help.

Don’t minimize the effects of your financial situation on your mental health. Advocate Aurora says that individuals carrying an uncomfortable amount of debt “are three times as likely to have experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year.” Download this PDF now to learn more about mental health and financial wellness.

If you need support or are interested in a free phone consultation to help you get on the path to financial wellness, call the AAH EAP at 800-236-3231. To access AAH EAP online resources, visit aah.org/eap. •••

Latino Economic Unsummit returns to Kenosha
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:

It’s Donut Day tomorrow, Friday, April 28, in the parking lot of our Germantown branch. The Flip’s Mini Donuts food truck will be selling sweet treats, and our customers can show their North Shore Bank debit cards for a discount. More info here.

The fifth Latino Economic Unsummit in Kenosha takes place next Friday, May 5, at the Stella Hotel. North Shore Bank is a proud sponsor of the event, put on by the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Southeastern Wisconsin. The Unsummit helps connect Latino and other minority business owners in Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties with resources, and helps area organizations better understand the needs of Latino-owned businesses. More info here.

North Shore Bank’s Coins for Kids drive runs through Wednesday, May 17. Stop in at any of our southeast Wisconsin locations to get your coins counted for free, and then donate some or all of them to Children’s Wisconsin, ahead of the 25th annual WKLH Miracle Marathon on May 18 and 19. More info here. •••