Tim Gluth celebrates his 20th anniversary with the bank this month.
In a sense, digital solutions manager Tim Gluth’s career has evolved right along with the tools he uses.
When he started at North Shore Bank 20 years ago, Tim was fresh out of college — full of potential, but as yet unproven. Similarly, the internet itself was still a nascent technology in 2003. The dot-com crash had taken place less than a year before, and less than two-thirds of American adults reported regularly spending time online. And although broadband access was showing signs of rapid growth, only about a third of internet-using American households had it at the time; most were still connecting via dial-up modem. YouTube and Facebook didn’t exist, and Yahoo was edging out Google as the country’s top search engine.
Online banking did exist, at North Shore and elsewhere. (Wells Fargo was the first bank to launch it, in 1996.) But mobile wasn’t a term you heard often, unless you had a British roommate. Around 60 percent of Americans did have cell phones, but used them far more for calling than for texting. Apple wouldn’t even start its top-secret project to develop the iPhone till 2004. (It would finally launch in 2007.)
Tim came onboard as our webmaster, after seeing a posting for the position online. He still handles those duties, but his title has changed as digital technology’s role in banking has grown by leaps and bounds.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” he says of interviewing for the job. “I walked in without many expectations, but I knew I wanted to work here after meeting and interacting with people through the interview process. I was excited to see what could be done and how I might be able to help.”
This screenshot from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine shows what the bank’s home page looked like in June 2003, just before Tim started as webmaster.
When he started, he was half of a two-person eBanking department. Six years later, he moved under Marketing’s umbrella. Obviously, that’s only one of many changes he’s experienced and seen here, as he’s watched not only consumer internet technology become more powerful, but also financial technology. Tim has been impressed by North Shore’s success at adapting in a landscape where new challenges constantly crop up.
“Mobile device usage brought about the need for mobile-first services, ranging from a refreshed website to our mobile app,” he says, recalling some of the biggest shifts. “The bank’s early involvement in and utilization of social media is another milestone that comes to mind.” 03220
Two decades later, life is of course different on the personal front too, Tim notes. He and wife Lisa got married in 2003, now have three kids, and own a house. “Not to mention all of the milestones that come with each of those stages of life,” he adds.
AVP of marketing communications Kate Knox feels grateful she can say she’s worked with him since he got to North Shore Bank.
“Tim is generous with his ideas, experience, and talents — always willing to help and offer solutions, and wonderful to work with,” she says. “I appreciate having him on our team and being able to rely on his insight and input. I benefit from his creativity and knowledge, and I consider him a close and dear friend.”
That kind of relationship is what’s kept him here, Tim says — along with the chance to keep growing and learning along with technology.
“The people and the work are what have kept me here and keep me motivated,” he says. “There is always something new to discover and work on, with regard to providing digital banking services, and the people I’m fortunate to work with make things fun and interesting.”