SOAR Award winners embody best of bank

North Shore Bank is pleased to announce our annual SOAR Award winners for 2022. It’s never easy to narrow down all the great nominations we receive, but we believe this year’s awardees truly exemplify the SOAR spirit. They are:

Outstanding Service
Emmeline Knight-Guzman, assistant branch manager, Howard-Suamico
Sara Speich, universal banker, Muskego
Nominees for this award exhibit superior performance in the areas of customer service, teamwork, and going above and beyond.

Community Involvement
Robin Tegel, mortgage loan originator
Shannon Weber, AVP, community engagement manager, Shorewood
Nominees for this award have made a significant contribution to North Shore Bank community initiatives and/or an external organization or group.

Legacy Leaders
Maria Baumer, VP, area manager, Brookfield Square
Tricia Cravillion, VP, branch operations manager
Jude Lengell, VP, customer support
Nominees for this award have made a significant contribution to North Shore Bank throughout their employment, and must have been employed here a minimum of five years.

See some photos and read excerpts from our winners’ nominations!

Northside “mascot” stops to make million-dollar deposit

“We have the sweetest doggy who visits our branch to do his banking,” AVP and Northside branch manager Lisa Brooks says. “His owner, Anne, is a customer, and Louie likes to go for walks in the neighborhood and makes it a point to stop in and see us, even when Anne has no banking to do. He stopped in on April Fools’ Day to put a $1 million bill in his ‘treat account’ as a joke. The staff lovingly refers to Louie as our unofficial branch mascot.” •••

Fishing trips, hummingbirds signal return of spring
Last week, we asked how you know spring is truly here. Here’s what you told us.

“For me, spring is here when fishing season opens!” AVP community engagement manager Katie Longsine says. “I sneak in a couple of cold, rainy fishing trips in early May while I wait for the muskie season opener at the end of the month, and it’s always a highlight of my year.” Her favorite place to fish is her grandparents’ cottage up at Three Lakes. “A highlight of last year’s adventures was taking my 3-year-old niece, Alaina, fishing for the first time. She was so excited to catch her very own bluegill!”

And for AVP Southwest branch manager Joline Lazarski, it’s all about the migration of the hummingbirds. “I watch them as they head back north,” she says.

Got a favorite sign of spring? Tell us at shorelines@northshorebank.com and we’ll share your answers in Shorelines! •••

Get a free one-day Milwaukee Public Museum pass
Attention, lovers of natural history: Free member-for-a-day passes for the Milwaukee Public Museum are available, while supplies last. These one-day passes are good for two adults and up to six children, or one adult and up to three guests. The pass covers admission to the museum and planetarium, and includes discounts on parking, the café, and special exhibits like the current “Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family.”

Passes need to be used by April 30. If you’d like one, email Sheri Livermore by next Wednesday, April 13. Passes will start being sent out early next week. •••

Virtual appointments make it even easier to connect

Introducing virtual appointments — the latest way we’re making it easier for customers to connect with North Shore Bank, no matter where they are. Anyone with a camera-enabled phone, tablet, or computer can set one up here, by selecting “Virtual” after clicking “Schedule an Appointment.”

“Our first meetings have ended with both the banker and the customer having had a great experience,” says VP branch sales Craig Witz. “We are finding that we can have the same high-quality conversations with customers about their needs and goals, and recommend products from credit cards to investments to mortgages through the video meeting, just like we do in person. I couldn’t be happier with the early results.”

Led by Dee Patel, our virtual banking team is Bridget Anderson, Matthew Cieslak, Tisha Kenfield, Rhonda Mckinnie, and Breanna Rooney.

Setting up a virtual appointment is quick and easy, and our virtual bankers can help with everything from opening a new account to managing savings. And of course, customers are still always welcome to schedule in-person or phone appointments, or just to drop in at a branch. Let your customers know about this terrific new option. •••

Share resources for National Financial Literacy Month
April is National Financial Literacy Month, and North Shore Bank has plenty of ways to help you and your customers celebrate. For starters, remind them about our online Learning Center, which features tons of information, demos, and tools to help with both personal banking and business banking. This valuable information is free and can be accessed 24 hours a day. Also: Let your customers know we’re sharing even more useful information than usual this month on Facebook and other social platforms. •••

Customer praises Pulaski bankers

“Very, very helpful,” reads this nice feedback card from a customer of the Pulaski branch, who also has specific plaudits for assistant branch manager Phil Koebe and teller supervisor Karen Jach. Great work, folks! •••

Thoughts transform the world, so take care with them

Thought can bring the past back to life or summon future realities into being. Because thought has so much power of transformation, we have to be very careful with it. We have an obligation to bring forth the very best of the thoughts that arise in our mind, not just for ourselves but also for our shared world.

Try this meditation for one minute every day, or longer if you want to:

MAY MY MIND BE FILLED with the thoughts of lovingkindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity.

The thought “Who am I?” will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre, it will itself be burnt up in the end. Then, there will be self-realization. —Ramana Maharshi

How did this meditation go for you? Share your experience with your fellow North Shore Bank employees at shorelines@northshorebank.com and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana.

If you’d like a daily email reminder to practice one minute of mindfulness, email us with the subject “Mindfulness reminder.” •••

North End’s Heather Somers is “pretty collaborative”
New North End branch manager Heather Somers has worked in banking for 18 years; she started as a part-time teller and has been in management for 13 years. She describes her management style as “pretty collaborative”: “I like to get input from the entire team. You never know who is going to have a great idea.” What would Heather be doing if she weren’t in this industry? “That’s a tough question,” she says. “I’ve been in banking so long, I can’t imagine anything thing else — I like to help people, and I love to solve problems. I used to write stories when I was younger, and I love to read now. Maybe I’d be someone who reviews new novels!” •••

Promotions for March 2022
The following employees were promoted in March:

• Megan Gross was promoted from Teller to Teller Supervisor at New Berlin.

Leave a comment to congratulate them!

Kidz Expo takes place Saturday
Looking for something to do? Here are suggestions from the bank’s event calendar.

The fourth annual Fox Cities Kidz Expo will be this Saturday, April 9, at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center in Appleton.

Presented by North Shore Bank and the Appleton Fox Cities Kiwanis Club, this FREE family event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and offers fun and education for all ages. More info here.

Also on Saturday: Rachel Kilgour appears in the latest installment of the Wisconsin Singer/Songwriter Series in Mequon. Tickets are on sale at North Shore Bank. More info here. •••