EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Employees spread holiday cheer at Candy Cane Lane

North Shore Bank once again helped Candy Cane Lane kick off the giving season with North Shore Bank Night on Nov. 29. During the event, employees collected donations to benefit the MACC Fund.

If you missed your chance to donate that evening, no worries! Loose change is being accepted at North Shore Bank branches for free coin counting, and you can donate all of it or a portion of it to the bank’s annual “Change for Cure” donation drive. The bank is matching donations up to $1,000! 

Candy Cane Lane has other special events throughout the season, too. Check the Candy Cane Lane calendar for more information! 

Thanks to all who helped at the event or donated to the annual drive! What a great way to start off the season. 

 

Germantown team celebrates the start of Christmas season

Personal Banker Tarvinder Kaur, Teller Arlyn Collett, and Lead Teller Nic Rodiez attended the Germantown Christmas Festival Parade & Christmas in the Park Nov. 16.

The event kicked off with the Jingle Bell Dash and Candy Cane 5K Run/Walk, followed by the parade, led by the Germantown High School Warhawk Marching Band. 03207 The parade went from Pilgrim Road to Fond du Lac Avenue to Firemen’s Park for the Christmas in the Park event.

About 1,000 people attended the event and partied in the park with North Shore Bank and 19 other sponsors/vendors.

Santa was there, of course, and the Firemen’s Park official Christmas tree was lit.

The North Shore Bank team passed out Santa lollipops during the Candy Land Adventure to more than 300 children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CRIMEBUSTERS

Vigilant CrimeBusters saved customers over $1 million in 2024

2024 was another great CrimeBuster year. Thanks to our dedicated employees, we broke $1 million in saves for the fourth year in a row! Thank you for being alert and helping our customers stay safe and avoid scammers. Keep up the good work in 2025. You are all doing a great job!

As we head into 2025, here are some helpful hints to keep in mind:

• Knowing your customer and their normal transaction activity will help you to detect unusual activity that might be related to a scam.
• Take that extra minute to review transaction and account history.
• Ask the customer questions to understand the situation better.
• Educate yourself about current scams to help educate customers on how to avoid being a victim. Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Advice website to learn more. 
• Be sure to let Security know when you have a CrimeBuster. We want to recognize and reward you!

Congratulations to all of our 2024 Peggy Theisen CrimeBusters!

• East Region: Shannon Weber, Bridget Sobocinski, and Kathleen White
• West Region: MaryRose Balzer, Wanda Pillizzi, Erma Schroeder, Deb Hahm, Sophia Alonso, Zoran Saric, Megan Kubichek, Shannon Quinn, and Tarvinder Kaur
• South Region: Susan Liedel, Heather Somers, Danielle Hansen, Marta Dolan, and Stephanie Ruiz
• North Region: Sharon Hack, Leigha Johnston, Tara Neuville, Hali Thompson, Dan Barrett, Mel Langrick, Aubrey Abrahamsen, Mariah Hintz, Nicole Goska, Kelly Kading, Pat Kox, Tisha O’Dell, and Stevie Nemetz
• Travelers: Ryan Alfaro
• Corporate: Debra “Jonesy” Jones, Denise Dionisio, DJ Hostettler, Erica Johnson, Kim Konieczny, Renee Machado, and Vincent Hoch

This year’s Detectives of the Year are:

• North: Aubrey Abrahamsen at Allouez
• South: Danielle Hansen at Kenosha Main
• East: Bridget Sobocinski at Grafton
• West: Shannon Quinn at Sussex 

And the 2024 Precinct of the Year is Kenosha Main! 

Congratulations to all, and let’s keep up the great work in 2025!

 

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

Customers appreciate bank systems, excellent employees

In recent weeks, customers have provided some wonderful positive feedback about the North Shore Bank team. 

In a survey, this customer expressed gratitude for the integrity of the bank’s systems and for Brookfield Square Branch Manager Mariella Zarb. The customer called Mariella “genuinely caring, kind, courteous, and so helpful.” District Manager Cristen Baumann noted that the customer appreciated Mariella’s suggestions for future financial needs.

“It is critical to ask questions and be curious to understand the customer’s financial priorities and to build the conversation off of the goal. The customer knew that Mariella is focused on her needs,” she said. “Mariella does a great job being curious and presenting recommendations!”

In the following feedback cards, customers called out Personal Banker Tawanda Kelly at the Wauwatosa Branch as “the best,” and another customer appreciated excellent service from North Side Branch Manager Lisa Young. 

And finally, another customer was grateful for excellent service from Maria Baumer, VP, Senior Business Relationship Manager. 

Congratulations to all! 

 

DEPARTMENT OF THE WEEK

Mortgage Lending team gets together for fun and games

The Mortgage Lending team got together on a very snowy Thursday for a team-building event. While everyone couldn’t make it due to the weather, they had a fabulous time playing games. You know you love lending when you play charades and correctly guess things like “Notary Public” and “Right of Rescission!”

Nicole Daniels, VP, Loan & Treasury Operations, and Michael Kellman, SVP, Consumer Lending, said it was great to have the sales and operations teams together to give them a chance to get to know one another better.

 

FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION

Seventh-graders get a lesson in how credit works from bank team

Consumer Loan Originator Jake Gunnlaugson, Green Bay West Assistant Branch Manager Hali Thompson, and Area Manager Sharon Hack visited Aldo Leopold School recently to teach a class on finance to seventh-graders. The specific focus of the class was an Intro to Credit. 

North Shore Bank partners with the Banzai Financial Education Program to cover the curriculum costs and support financial literacy in select schools in our communities. Banzai is completely free to the schools that North Shore Bank sponsors. It helps reinforce the lessons and build community relationships when our financial experts can connect with schools to help students prepare financially for their future. 

 

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Photos of the Week for Dec. 5

Look Who’s Coming to Lunch — The turkeys just cannot stay away from our bank branches!

This Tom stared accusingly into the Grafton employee entrance door for almost two hours on Friday, Nov. 29. Area Teller Colleen Wochinski said he may have been looking for the flock of turkeys at the branch recently, or maybe he wanted a word with Seymour?

Either way, his presence made the team feel just a tiny bit guilty while heating up their Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch! 

 

Crafty Crew —The Germantown Branch got into the holiday spirit with a Friendsgiving celebration on the day before Thanksgiving. The team gathered for some fun crafting, making their own uniquely designed holiday stockings. So cute! 

 

 

SHARE YOUR TRADITIONS: What’s something special to you at the holidays?

Do you have a holiday tradition or something special that you’d like to share with your coworkers? Maybe it’s that top-secret cookie recipe that only gets baked once a year or a treasured ornament that always makes you smile when you hang it on the tree. 

If you’d like to share your tradition and a photo, if applicable, please email shorelines@northshorebank.com by Monday, Dec. 16, and we’ll include a round-up in an issue of Shoreline before the holidays. 

 

Customer Loyalty Tip of the Week

A minute on the telephone seems like forever. When you are looking up information for customers, keep talking to them. It’s an excellent time to build relationships.

 

COMMUNITY CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Discover events and activities in and around your community

• Donate Toys and Support Local Families in Need |Through Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 | North Shore Bank Offices throughout Wisconsin
• Candy Cane Lane in West Allis | Through Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024 |96th Street to 92nd Street & Montana Avenue to Oklahoma Avenue
• Wild Lights at the Milwaukee County Zoo | Through Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 10001 W Bluemound Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226
• CHEERS! Wild Lights at the Milwaukee County Zoo | Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 – Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 (5:30 PM) | Milwaukee County Zoo | 10001 W Bluemound Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53226
• MARKETPLACE Wisconsin | Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 (8:00 AM) – Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024 |Baird Center | 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53203
• My Credit Score Financial Seminar | Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 (6:00 PM) | North Shore Bank Community Room | 4230 W. Oklahoma Ave. | Milwaukee
• Teaching Children About Money | Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 (11:00 AM)| North Shore Bank Community Room | 4230 W. Oklahoma Ave. | Milwaukee