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Notes, news and views on community banking
Northwestern Financial Review, Oct 1-Oct 14, 2004
South Dakota bank becomes port in a storm
It's right there in CorTrust Bank's mission statement: to deliver high quality customer service. Elaine Schabot, a longtime customer of the bank's Mount Vernon, S.D., branch can tell you a thing or two about how CorTrust Bank delivers customer service.
Schabot and her husband, Rodney, had been speeding their way to a Mitchell hospital so the Plankinton woman could deliver her second child. But heavy rain slowed the couple's progress on Interstate 90 about the same time the pregnant woman's labor sped up. Looking for a safe harbor, the couple exited into Mount Vernon, where they knew their "clean" bank was located.
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Diana Descombaz, assistant manager at the branch said the couple ran in at about 9:45 a.m. saying they were about to have a baby. Descombaz immediately dialed 911 and moments later the Mount Vernon Fire Department First Responder unit showed up with sheets, blankets and other sterile supplies. Descombaz also called Mount Vernon resident Paul Morris, a Mitchell firefighter and paramedic who, as luck would have it, happened to be off duty that day.
Descombaz and branch manager, Phil Kempf moved the couple to a private room in the back of the bank where 6-pound, 16-ounce, Breann Tiffany Schabot came into the world with Morris' assistance. It was the firefighter's first delivery. An ambulance arrived shortly after the birth to take mother and daughter to the hospital.
Baby Breann's birthday also was Kempf's first day as manager of the Mount Vernon branch; previously he had worked at CorTrust's Mitchell office. "This is something they don't prepare you for in manager's training," Kempf commented.
"We're encouraging our staff to take this issue seriously," commented Jack Hopkins, the bank's executive vice president. "I'm sure the OCC will require us to implement a new policy to cover this."
CBW names Banker of the Year
The Community Bankers of Wisconsin named Phil Holland, ISB Community Bank, Ixonia, its 2004 Community Banker of the Year at the group's recent convention. In making the announcement, 2003-2004 Chairman Gary DeMaster, said Holland represents the ideals of community banking. "Holland left his position with a large bank 20 years ago to take the helm of a troubled community bank in his hometown," DeMaster said. "He's built that bank from $37 million in assets to $250 million with six locations."
Holland had been a correspondent banker for First Wisconsin and said he always thought he'd finish his career there. It was a chance encounter with Ixonia State Bank's president as he ordered a snowmobile part that led Holland to leave correspondent banking at First Wisconsin. Despite a rough first day on the job that coincided with an FDIC exam, Holland never regretted his decision to move to a small bank. "I love being a banker," Holland beamed.
A banker in the blogosphere
When CBS News anchor Dan Rather reported on "60 Minutes II" that the network had obtained four documents casting doubt on President Bush's National Guard service, the blog world kicked into high gear. People who keep web logs, or "blogs," doubted the authenticity of the CBS documents before the Sept. 8 show was even off the air. At the center of the worldwide Internet discussion was Scott Johnson, an attorney at TCF Bank in Minneapolis.
Johnson and two fellow attorneys run a popular blog - Powerlineblog.com. Since Memorial Day, 2002, the blog has offered a generally conservative take on political issues. Before going into work on Sept. 9, he posted an e-mail message from a Power Line reader who questioned the authenticity of the CBS documents. Johnson linked the letter to another blog, "FreeRe-public.com" - the web site that first raised the issue. By the time Johnson got into work, he had more than 50 emails waiting for him from people commenting on the documents. Johnson said a flood of responses came that morning.
"I have never experienced anything like that," he said of all the attention, which included a telephone call from an ABC television reporter. By that afternoon, the Drudge Report had linked to Powerline, increasing responses so much that the server crashed and Johnson's site was unavailable for a while. That evening, ABC reported the documents may be fake. CBS eventually admitted the documents were forged.
All the attention has made Johnson a hero of sorts in the blogosphere, a universe that generally lacks respect, especially among traditional journalists like the folks at CBS. Johnson, who has had articles published in the National Review as well as the local newspapers, said he prefers publishing through a blog because of the immediacy of the medium. He also likes the fact that there are no constraints caused by editors or lack of space.
Copyright NFR Communications Inc Oct 1-Oct 14, 2004
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