Janet, Becky, and Vikki had cookies and other treats to celebrate their return to Corporate.

A “department-warming” party on May 26 celebrated Retirement Services’ move from the Shorewood branch back to our Corporate headquarters in Brookfield. Last month also marked AVP Becky Reinhardt’s first anniversary leading the department, since Dennis Christoffel retired in spring 2015.

“It’s been a huge learning process, but I had a great teacher who believed in me,” Becky says of her work so far and her mentor, Dennis. “Time flies when you are having fun. Every day here is different, with our visits to customers in over 160 communities throughout the entire state. I am very fortunate to say I love my job!”

She credits her great team — Service Coordinator Janet Brammer and Retirement Services Consultant Vikki Zuehlke — for making her transition relatively easy.

“I am lucky to work with such amazing, smart, and energetic women,” Becky says. “They always stay positive with anything I throw at them. The support I have received from many Corporate departments has been great, as well! Our customers have also made it easy to continue our program. I have never received so many hugs, phone calls, and thank-you notes from the people we help.”

Becky notes that North Shore Bank has a unique deferred compensation program. “We work with public employees on their retirement plans, to start them, fund them, continue to grow them, and help them retire comfortably to enjoy what they have been disciplined to save,” she says. She notes that one challenge has been making prospective customers aware of how the bank can help with needs beyond traditional banking. “But we continue to work on it!”

She and her team have made some changes, too. Among them:

• Adding our mutual fund information to our Cleartouch system for easier access and improved customer service
• Introducing and implementing ACH distributions for customers, rather than payment by check
• Replacing two mutual funds and adding an additional fund to improve our customers’ returns and retirement portfolios
• Imaging and storing our customer files
• Website updates

And then, of course, there’s the move back to headquarters. “It was great to see so many familiar faces and some new ones here at Corporate,” Becky says of the department-warming party. “We all enjoyed sharing another piece of what North Shore Bank offers our customers with our peers. We got to show off the many communities we visit on our map, and share some treats we’d picked up from Pavek’s Bakery in Antigo, Wisconsin, the day before.”

As for coming developments, Becky says Retirement Services is exploring the development and implementation of a Roth 457(b) product. She also wants to add a shopping cart to the department’s website, to make it easier for customers to choose our products.