business - Community First Bank

NOVEMBER 2012 • Volume 1 • Issue 4
BUSINESS
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Partnering to Promote a Land Ethic
The Aldo Leopold Foundation staff: (L to R) Jennifer Simoni, Alanna Koshollek, Teresa Searock, Anna Hawley,
Leann Wolthusen, Jennifer Anstett, Steve Swenson, Buddy Huffaker, Alan Bennet, and Benjamin Van Thiel
GenGold® is a Golden Opportunity 3 // Spotlight on Aldo Leopold Foundation 4
Who’s Minding Your Business? 5 // Tips for Growing Your Business 6
First 7 2012 1
Reedsburg Branch Expands 6 // Putting CommunitiesNOVEMBER
COMMUNITY FIRST BANK LOCATIONS
Visit us online at www.cfbank.com
Call us toll free at 1-800-485-2871
Community First Bank has six locations
throughout Southwest Wisconsin to
serve you.
Baraboo
129 8th Avenue
Baraboo, WI 53913
Ph: 608-356-2552
Branch Manager: Gary Wegner
Blue River
209 Exchange Street
Blue River, WI 53518
Ph: 608-537-2391
Branch Manager: Brian Hach
Boscobel
925 Wisconsin Avenue
Boscobel, WI 53805
Ph: 608-375-4117
Branch Manager: Brad Bodenbender
Muscoda
101 N. Wisconsin Avenue
Muscoda, WI 53573
Ph: 608-739-3154
Branch Manager: Brian Hach
Reedsburg
115 East Main Street
Reedsburg, WI 53959
Ph: 608-524-5395
Branch Manager: Art Shrader
Richland Center
1200 Sextonville Road
Richland Center, WI 53581
Ph: 608-647-4029
Branch Manager: Tom Delagrave
Business Solutions is a publication of
Community First Bank.
115 East Main Street, Reedsburg, WI 53959
No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form, electronic,
photocopying, recording, mechanical
or otherwise without the prior written
permission of Community First Bank. All
rights are reserved.
Editorial and Circulation Contact:
Catherine Rice, 115 East Main Street
Reedsburg, WI 53959, 608-524-5395
All brand names and product names
used in this publication are trade names,
service marks, trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Extra issues are available to business
customer employees on a limited basis
while supplies last. Contact: Catherine Rice,
115 East Main Street, Reedsburg, WI 53959,
608-524-5395
Copyright© 2012 by Community First
Bank and Cornerstone Publishing
Group, Inc.
Postmaster send changes to:
Catherine Rice, 115 East Main Street,
Reedsburg, WI 53959
2 NOVEMBER 2012
BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS
Grow where you’re planted. This advice can be applied to many
aspects of your life, including your business. It may inspire you to consider what you
can do, right here and now, to nurture growth by accessing additional resources or
trying new approaches.
I invite you to think of Community First Bank as a collection of tools that can help
your business grow. As this November issue of Business Solutions illustrates, we offer a
variety of products and services to enable customers to reach higher, dream bigger,
and reap more.
For example, you’ll find an overview of our new GenGold® Local Business Partner
Program on page 3. This is an excellent opportunity for your business to get free
advertising to grow your customer base and I encourage you to check it out, particularly if you own a retail store or restaurant.
A Business Spotlight on the Aldo Leopold Foundation is on pages 4 and 5. This
Baraboo organization’s mission is to inspire an ethical relationship between people
and the land, so it makes a powerful contribution to this growth-themed issue. A
commercial loan from Community First Bank helped the foundation build the Leopold
Center years ago and our working relationship has grown ever since.
Don’t miss the tips to grow your business found on page 6 along with news of our
Reedsburg branch expansion. As always, we look forward to meeting your banking
needs as they continue to develop.
Sincerely,
Dan Klahn
President
Community First Bank
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
GenGold® is a
Golden Opportunity
Your business gets free advertising plus a free GenGold membership
Community First Bank recently began offering the GenGold membership card to our checking account customers.
GenGold is an exclusive rewards program that provides discounts to members on everything from weekly groceries
to a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. By participating in the GenGold Local Business Partner Program, your business
gains a golden opportunity to increase sales at your place of business and save money personally.
Free Advertising on Two Websites
Just Three Easy Things to Do
The GenGold Local Business Partner Program is an exciting
opportunity for your business to reach local customers without
the cost of advertising. Your business will be continuously
promoted, for free, to the local community on the Community First Bank and GenGold websites — www.cfbank.com
and www.gengold.com. It’s an effective way to attract new
customers as well as encourage current customers to come
back more often.
To be part of the GenGold Local Business Partner Program, your
business simply needs to:
Discounts at Hundreds of Businesses
3. E ducate your employees about the discount offered to
GenGold Members.
Community First Bank checking account customers with
GenGold won’t be the only people enjoying great savings.
As a participant in the GenGold Local Business Partner Program, your business will receive one free GenGold Corporate
Membership. It entitles you, your family, and your business
to get national and local discounts on products and services
including travel, clothing,
restaurants, entertainment,
health services, office supplies,
groceries, and more. There are
so many ways for you to save
when you have GenGold.
1. O
ffer an exclusive, meaningful, and ongoing discount
(generally 5 percent or more off the regular retail price)
whenever a member presents their GenGold card and
makes a purchase.
2. P
rominently display the “GenGold Welcomed Here” decal at
your place of business.
GenGold is a win-win for everyone! Your business wins with
increased traffic and sales. Community First Bank customers
win with the best values right here at home. And we all win by
helping the local business community remain strong.
Once again, it costs you nothing to participate in the GenGold
Local Business Partner Program yet you get so many valuable
perks. For more details or to sign up, please stop by your local
Community First Bank branch soon.
NOVEMBER 2012
3
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Its mission of promoting a land ethic requires many to lend a hand
A
ldo Leopold was an American author,
scientist, ecologist, forester, environmentalist, and professor at the
University of Wisconsin. He is best known for
his book A Sand County Almanac, which celebrates a revolutionary experiment conducted
by Leopold and his family to return health to
a worn-out farm. Leopold defined conservation as a way of life in which land does well
for its inhabitants, citizens do well by their
land, and both end up better by reason of
partnership. The Aldo Leopold Foundation
encourages this spirit of partnership by educating people from across the nation as well
as connecting local landowners with the
resources they need to manage and restore
their own land.
The Aldo Leopold Foundation owns and
manages the original Aldo Leopold Shack.
It also helps coordinate and manage the
Leopold-Pine Island Important Bird Area,
which is comprised of over 10,000 acres of
private and government-owned land along
the Wisconsin River. In 2005, the Foundation
4 NOVEMBER 2012
was planning to build a new facility. Buddy
Huffaker, President and Executive Director,
recalls, “We wanted a unique building that
used local materials and that would become
a whole new standard in green building. To
achieve this, a commercial loan was needed.
We explained our vision to several potential
lenders and it was Community First Bank
that really understood who we were and
what we wanted to accomplish. They gave
us the commercial loan for the Leopold Center and have since become a critical partner
of the Foundation.”
Huffaker notes, “Community First Bank has
been there for the Aldo Leopold Foundation as we’ve grown and expanded — not
only by giving us access to capital but also
by helping us think through decisions from
a business perspective. We receive solid and
insightful counsel from people throughout
Community First Bank. For example, Gary
Wegner at the Baraboo branch meets with
us regularly, not just about the status of
our commercial loan and money market
account, but to discuss other matters. He’s a
resource for thinking through financial realities in today’s changing environment.”
Pine Trees and a Bank Branch
Opened in 2007, the Leopold Center was
built using pines the Leopold family planted
in the ‘30s and ‘40s and implements a wide
spectrum of green building techniques
and technologies. Following a rigorous
assessment, the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) program
awarded the Leopold Center 61 out of 69
possible points, more than any other building in the United States at that time.
Buddy Huffaker and Gary Wegner
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Cultivating Wisdom and Support
Another resource that’s greatly appreciated
by Huffaker is the wisdom of Bob Morrison,
Chairman of Community First Bank. “I’m
impressed with Bob’s vision and management
style, and his relationships in the community
are invaluable. The Aldo Leopold Foundation
went from simply being a Community First
Bank customer to having Bob Morrison on
our Board of Directors. We’re so fortunate,”
says Huffaker. (For more on Bob Morrison,
see sidebar.)
What’s ahead for the Aldo Leopold Foundation? Huffaker replies, “We’re looking
forward to exciting developments in 2013.
We expect our full-length Green Fire documentary about Aldo Leopold to be released
nationally during Earth Week. This will introduce the Aldo Leopold Foundation and its
work to a broader audience. Our Land Ethic
Leaders program is going national in 2013
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which
will enable community leaders across the
country to create opportunities for rich and
productive dialogue about humanity’s relationships to land. Finally, we’re expanding
the trail network around the Leopold Center
and Shack to give visitors from far and near
more reasons to visit this beautiful place and
learn about our rich conservation heritage.”
Community First Bank has
been there for the Aldo Leopold
Foundation as we’ve grown
and expanded — not only by
giving us access to capital but
also by helping us think through
decisions from a business
perspective.”
— BUDDY HUFFAKER, PRESIDENT AND
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALDO LEOPOLD
FOUNDATION
Who’s Minding
Your Business?
Bob Morrison
Chairman
Bob Morrison is Chairman of Community
First Bank, and you could say that banking
is in his blood. His family members have
been dominant shareholders of Community
First Bank (or its predecessors) since the
mid-1960s. From its humble beginnings as the First
National Bank of Boscobel in 1871, what is
Loans for Every Business Field
now Community First Bank has grown to
include branches in Muscoda, Blue River,
Richland Center, Reedsburg, and Baraboo.
Says Morrison, “It’s an extraordinary length
Community First Bank offers a variety of products to help businesses of all kinds
of time for one institution. We wouldn’t still
grow and flourish. They include:
be in existence if we didn’t serve this community and others.”
• Commercial Mortgages
Morrison began his career with Continental
Get the money you need for real estate
acquisition with flexible financing options
and a quick local decision process.
Bank in Chicago and has been active in
financial services in Southwest Wisconsin
through Community First Bank for the last
• Construction Loans
twenty years. He’s also worked with the Chi-
Turn great designs into reality through a
line of credit. Draws are monitored against
the balance of the cost to complete the
project and interest is paid only on the
amount borrowed as construction progresses.
• Business Loans
Choose from Term Loans, SBA Guaranteed
Loans, and WHEDA Small Business Loans
to cover income-producing purchases.
cago Economic Development Corporation,
Conill Bank in Vienna, and Urban Gateways
in Chicago. Morrison’s interests include aviation, travel, skiing, and biking.
His immense enthusiasm for the great
Stop in any Community First Bank
branch for a free analysis to determine which products best fit the
needs of your business.
outdoors led Morrison to join the Board of
Directors of the Aldo Leopold Foundation in
2011, where he lends his expertise in financial management to the land conservation
organization.
NOVEMBER 2012
5
Tips for
Growing
Reedsburg Branch
Expands
At Community First Bank, the needs of our
customers are growing and so are we. Our
Reedsburg branch at 115 East Main Street is
undergoing an expansion project — using all
local contractors — that is slated for completion
by the beginning of November 2012.
The expansion adds three offices and a
conference room to accommodate the
new Mortgage and Commercial Loan
Officers who recently joined our staff. If
you bank at our Reedsburg branch, you
can look forward to even better customer
Your
Business
Like a plant requiring water
and nutrients to grow, your
business can thrive if you give
it the right attention. The U.S.
Small Business Administration
offers a variety of growth tips
at www.sba.gov, including:
service from a larger staff of professionals
• Open another location. This is often the first way business owners approach growth.
with specialized loan expertise.
•O
ffer your business as a franchise or business opportunity. Franchising your business
will allow for growth without requiring you to manage the new location. This will help to
maximize the time you spend improving your business in other ways, too.
Once construction is completed at our
Reedsburg branch, Community First Bank
will host a Business After 5 event through
the Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
Join us on Thursday, November 15 from 5pm
to 7pm at 115 East Main Street to celebrate
our expansion. • License your product. This can be an effective, low-cost growth medium, particularly if you
have a service product or branded product. Licensing also minimizes your risk and is low cost
in comparison to the price of starting your own company to produce and sell your brand or
product.
• Form an alliance. Partnering with a similar type of business can be a powerful way to
expand quickly.
• Diversify. Diversifying is an excellent strategy for growth, because it allows you to have
multiple streams of income that can often fill seasonal voids. Some of the most common ways
to diversify are to sell complementary products or services, teach adult education or other
classes, and become a paid speaker or columnist.
• Target other markets. Your current market may be serving you well, but are there others
that could use your products?
• Expand to the Internet. Very often, customers discover a business through an online search
engine. Be sure that your business has an online presence in order to maximize your exposure.
When your plans for business growth require loans or other banking tools,
contact your local Community First Bank branch for assistance. We have
what you need to succeed.
6 NOVEMBER 2012
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Community First Bank
Putting Communities First
Our mission at Community First Bank is to partner with our customers and communities to successfully achieve
their goals. The inclusion of the word “communities” is an important one in this statement, for it speaks to our
commitment to give back to the communities in which we serve.
An A+ Drive for School Supplies
Community First Bank wants every child to
have the supplies they need to learn. That’s
why we recently held one-month school
supply drives at several of our locations.
Thanks to all of the Community First Bank
customers and staff who donated backpacks,
pencils, notebooks, markers, pens, and more.
Because of your generosity, students in need
at local elementary schools were equipped
to start the school year off right.
Back, L to R: Laura Melby, Jane Hackett, Deb Hines,
Jen Eulgem, Norene Schulte, and Liz Martinez Front,
L to R: Randi Noggle, Arleen Conner, and Darcy Ewing
L to R: Arleen Conner, Kari Honer, and
Tyler Anderson
Community First Bank Volunteers With GRACE
The citizens of Richland County and surrounding communities formed GRACE,
Inc., which stands for Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination. As one person
put it, “When the bad news is cancer, the good news is GRACE.” Community First
Bank employees have been busy helping GRACE raise funds to assist cancer
patients and advance the causes of research and education.
L to R: Esther Woodworth, Dr. Molly Fitzgerald,
Shelly Pugh, Gary Wegner, Kim Rabska, and Courtney
Stuber gather at our Baraboo location with school
supplies for Baraboo Elementary Schools
Walk With Grace was held August 10, 2012. The Community First Bank team
turned in a combined total of $1,051 from pledges and brat sales and has volunteered more than 50 hours to the organization through fundraising and
committee work. The two-day Brat Sale alone generated over $350 with all
proceeds going to Walk With Grace.
On the Road Again
Brooke Shemak of our Blue River location stands
with the school supplies collected for Riverdale
Elementary School
L to R: Esther Woodworth, Laura Stanek, and Courtney
Stuber from our Baraboo branch help clean up Highway 23
Community First Bank employees volunteer on a regular basis
to help keep Wisconsin beautiful by doing roadside cleanup.
We’re happy to lend a hand to
pick up litter, as it makes driving
more scenic for everyone down
the road.
NOVEMBER 2012
7
We Lend a Hand
to Businesses
Talk to us about your commercial and business loan needs
Community First Bank products offer your business competitive
rates and a quick, local decision process. They include:
Commercial Mortgages • Construction Loans • Business Loans
Brad Bodenbender
Boscobel
[email protected]
Brian Hach
Muscoda
[email protected]
Tom Delagrave
Richland Center
[email protected]
NMLS# 775633
NMLS# 775635
NMLS# 775665
Todd Polk
Reedsburg
[email protected]
Gary Wegner
Baraboo
[email protected] NMLS# 775642
NMLS #402953
For details, call your local Community First Bank branch or visit https://www.cfbank.com/business-loans-lines-of-credit.aspx