What Community Banking Means to Us
This April is a month of celebration at Lincoln Savings Bank. Each year, we celebrate Community Banking Month and our impact in the communities we serve. When it comes to volunteering, donating within our local area, and lending a hand to the customers we hold dear, no one quite does it like Lincoln Savings Bank. Today, we’d like to share just a piece of the inspiration that drives us to do the work we’re passionate about each and every day; the work of helping our neighbors.
Our first story comes from Mary Inbody, our Head of Retail for Lincoln Savings Bank.
“We had a new business that wanted to have a presence at the Art Fair downtown, however, it would have been cost prohibitive to run their booth with paid employees the entire weekend. We all volunteered our time at the booth and had a wonderful time working with them and making a difference for their business.”
Community banking means more than simply being a bank in a hometown community. At its heart, community banking centers around supporting local businesses, families, and non-profits. Community banking is all about building up those around us and growing the products and services they need to continue their personal and commercial development.
Cathy Schuler, Lincoln Savings Bank Human Resources Manager, shares it best, “The word that pops in mind first is caring. Caring for our customers, community and employees. Our employees form deep relationships with each other and our local customers.”
Whether it’s saying hello each morning to your favorite teller, calling up a local lender to pick her brain on a potential development opportunity, or simply smiling at the ease of depositing a check on our app – our passion at Lincoln Savings Bank is connecting with our customers. Most often you’ll find us out connecting at local charity events, sponsoring town parades, and rooting for the home team at the spring high school soccer games.
Mike Schick, Lincoln Savings Bank Director of Sales, elaborates on what community banking means to him. “We take pride within the communities that we reside and serve in. We want to be seen as a valued and engaged partner within the residence of the community as well as the businesses which serve these communities. We are incredibly active in the area that we serve through our volunteer efforts as well as financial resources invested back into the communities.”
Each month, Lincoln Savings Bank is a part of a number of local volunteer opportunities. Collectively as an organization, we donate our time to one non-profit group each month, encouraging employees to volunteer their time while on the clock. When we help to grow our communities, we’re giving our neighbors a helping hand, and showcasing a great example of leadership in our surrounding area.
Sometimes, the simplest acts can make the greatest impact. Dana Uhlenhopp, Chief Credit Officer, showcases this in one of his favorite community banking memories. “One the things I’m most proud of throughout my career at Lincoln Savings Bank is how members of each branch get involved in the various activities of their community. It is hard to find an event where someone from Lincoln Savings Bank is not involved, and many times that involvement is an officer or coordinator role.”
Every once and a while, we’ll have a tale of a local movement that truly moves us as a business. During the year of 2008 we were immersed in stories of neighbors supporting one and other through the trying natural disasters that hit the state of Iowa. Emily Girsh, Chief Financial Officer, elaborates on one of those stories and the impact it made on Lincoln Savings Bank.
“I still go back to 2008, and the tornadoes and floods of that year. We literally sandbagged along-side others and opened [the Aplington location] the day after the tornado to ensure customers could get to their insurance agent and come to the bank for cash if needed. After the immediate needs were met, we used the LSB Foundation to gather donations from across the [Cedar Valley] area and get those delivered back to the citizens of Parkersburg, New Hartford, and other affected areas. Additionally, we ensured our own employees who were impacted were taken care of in the form of housing, transportation, emergency funds, and time off,” shared Emily.
Caring for those around you and trusting them to do the same for you is the epitome of Iowa and the incredible people who call it home. At Lincoln Savings Bank we recognize that anyone can become a hero; whether it’s hauling bottles of water, helping to clear farm fields, or simply giving your neighbors a place to lay their head at night. We are proud to be an Iowa organization and couldn’t be more delighted to be surrounded by people who are truly Iowa Nice.
Stories like these only reignite our passion for community banking – because truly our passion stems from a desire to help others. At Lincoln Savings Bank we measure our success by the number of people and businesses we can help, serve, and support. That is what community banking is all about. If you share our passion and want to be a part of an organization that puts people first, visit our careers page and discover if community banking may be calling you.
Lincoln Savings Bank. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.