Scott Herron now handles our commercial banking in the Green Bay and Fox Cities areas.
“I have a little bit of a unique background,” says new VP business banking Scott Herron. “I’ve done just about everything in a bank, except compliance. I’ve done collections, I’ve done workouts, I’ve done lending. I’ve managed retail locations; I’ve done a ton of business development. Being able to see how things work across the bank is always helpful.”
A Beloit native and graduate of UW-Whitewater, Scott has worked for Wells Fargo and Associated Bank. Here at North Shore Bank, his mission is to nurture and grow our commercial banking portfolio in the Green Bay and Fox Cities areas. He lives in Appleton and works out of both the Northland branch and the Green Bay East branch. “But,” he says, “I don’t like to sit at my desk too much. If I’m sitting behind my desk too much, I’m probably not doing my job.”
Scott took a few minutes to talk with Shorelines about his new position, aspirations, and more.
Did you intentionally set out to work in so many areas of banking before settling into business banking?
I wish I could say I was smart enough to plan that out! I was just taking advantage of opportunities that were afforded to me and trying to excel in whatever role I had.
What attracted you to North Shore Bank?
I’ve seen small banks and I’ve seen big banks, and I think North Shore has the opportunity to be smack-dab in the middle — which is specifically what northeast Wisconsin needs. Right now, everything up here is either Wells Fargo, Chase, BMO Harris, or a tiny little community bank. But the majority of businesses fall somewhere in between — they’re not big enough to go with a huge bank, but they’ve kind of outgrown the tiny local bank. North Shore can provide the high-touch service a lot of these customers need, but also has the technology, ability, and resources to give them what smaller banks can’t.
What do you see as the main challenge for you right now?
Raising our profile in the market here. I think everybody in Milwaukee, southeastern Wisconsin, northern Illinois knows who North Shore Bank is, but it’s not quite as prevalent here, and we haven’t had as much of a commercial banking presence here for a while.
So I’m working with our current customers to get our name back out there — working with Marketing to get letters and press releases out. I’m reaching out to COIs — centers of influence, people like CPAs, insurance agents, and attorneys who talk to a lot of other people. I’m letting people know where I am and what I can do for them.
What goals do you have at the moment?
Right now, the biggest thing is just touching base and connecting with our current clients, making a smooth transition, since there have been a few people handling their business since there was someone in my role. And I’m getting to know our branches up here.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
Well, I’m married with four kids, and they’re all into sports. I coach middle-school football, varsity hockey, and youth hockey, and when I’m not coaching, I’m sitting in the stands. So it’s busy, busy, busy! But it also gives me a lot of good connections and people to talk to, and keeps me plugged in to the community.
Is there anything other North Shore Bank employees can be doing to help you?
Anyone who knows someone in business in or around Green Bay or Appleton, let me know! I’m open to talking to anyone about anything business-related. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad referral. It might not be a fit today, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.