Business, sports, entertainment — and plenty of local pride. Julie Goebel shares what makes the Kenosha Main branch special, including a heartwarming story about going the extra mile for a customer in need. Plus: popcorn! Our Department of the Week last week was Consumer Loan Servicing.

Wanda Pillizzi, Matt Rommelfanger, Julie Goebel, and Kay Christensen.

Personnel
Julie Goebel, Branch Manager
Kay Christensen, Teller
Wanda Pillizzi, Teller Supervisor
Matt Rommelfanger, Personal Banker

What is your town or neighborhood like? What’s it known for?
Although we are a large city, Kenosha still has a small hometown feel, with a beautiful lakefront, harbor, and downtown area with many small businesses owned by locals. The city is home to a lot of large industrial parks, and Amazon is the most recent major corporation to add many jobs to the community. Kenosha is unique in that it has many museums and parks, and also a trolley system. There are also a private college, a UW branch, and a technical college.

This is a big sports town: Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes both graduated from Kenosha Bradford in 2011 and are both projected to be first-round picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Kyle Sebetic, who graduated from Kenosha Tremper in 2009, recently signed a two-year contract with the Packers.

What annual or regular events are a big deal at your branch? Any big ones coming up?
Music is also big in Kenosha. There are always many great concerts to attend. Last Fourth of July, North Shore Bank sponsored the band shell on the lakefront, which hosted several local bands. Many of our branch personnel were in attendance. Our branch is actively involved in the Boys and Girls Club and enjoys working the Dairy State Cheese & Beer Festival in the spring and the Pride of Kenosha food and wine tasting event in the fall. Kenosha Achievement Center is building a special-needs playground and working on a project called Kenosha Dream Playground Project; the center is excited to be breaking ground this summer. Our branch has contributed to the fundraiser by collecting “Pennies for a Playground” monthly. A few of our staff will be helping with the construction this summer.

What are some important moments or people in the branch’s history?
We were Bank of Kenosha before being acquired by NSB in May 2013. North Shore Bank has been an amazing company to work for, and we are very happy to be part of the team.

What services or products seem to be most important to your customers?
Customers like the variety of different accounts we offer. I would say the Perks senior checking account and the platinum debit card have been the biggest hits.

Any personal celebrations or milestones among the people at your branch recently?
Kay recently had her first granddaughter, born last August. Her name is Natalie Louise. Kay says she is “absolutely adorable, and I’m loving being a grandma.” And Matt recently purchased a new home.

What’s a great work story from your branch?
Wanda: “A couple of months ago, a customer came in. She was living in a very bad situation and trying to get a new apartment. The new people she wanted to rent from were requiring she show proof that she was reliable in her rental payments. She asked if we could get her statements for her because she didn’t have computer access. She had been told by someone that it would cost $6 per statement; and that is indeed normally the charge for such a service. At that point, she was almost in tears. She said there was no way she would be able to afford the cost of printing out all of the statements for the new landlord. My heart went out to her. I told her it might take a couple of days, but that I would personally see what I could do to help. Sometimes we just need to make an exception. I was able to get the statements to her the next day. I could hear her holding back the tears as I told her they were ready and she could pick them up. She came through the drive-thru today — she wanted to thank me because she was able to get into her new apartment and her living situation is so much better. How about that for building relationships!”

Also, we have a popcorn machine, and customers sometimes say they come in on Fridays just for the popcorn.

Any exciting or noteworthy developments on the horizon?
We recently welcomed a new tenant to our building: In February, Allstate Insurance officially moved in.