Independent Banker - April 2019 - 68

Gov. Kim Reynolds (center, in white top) presented an award to First Citizens Bank for donating
the most staff hours among medium-sized companies during the Give Back Iowa Challenge.
also donate their time.
" The governor of Iowa promoted
the [Give Back Iowa Challenge]
program to businesses in the state
to build a sense of community, and
we realized that we wanted to get
involved, " says Dan McGuire, chief
human resources officer for $1.2
billion-asset First Citizens Bank of
Mason City, Iowa.
Launched in 2015, the Give Back
Iowa Challenge is designed to engage
Iowans in employer-supported
volunteering. " Volunteering not only
has a significant impact on meeting
community needs, but employersupported
volunteering has a positive
impact on business, including
strengthening employee engagement,
organizational commitment, job
satisfaction and retention, " its
website notes.
First Citizens Bank employees
threw themselves into the challenge,
winning the award for most employee
hours donated among its category
of medium-sized employers in 2016
and 2017, and small-sized employers
in 2018. The honor is based on the
total number of employees, with sizes
from small to large, and covers all
industries.
During April and May 2018, First
Citizens Bank employees volunteered
2,335 hours, an average of 11.3 hours
per employee. " We allow employees
to select causes that are important
to them, " says Jon Prebeck, vice
president of retail for the bank.
Some volunteers spent their time
cleaning up and fixing a dilapidated
area around a high school. Others
volunteered at a county museum.
" The governor came and presented
the award to our CEO in 2018, "
Prebeck says.
Why does First Citizens Bank win
year after year? " I think it is because
of our culture, " Prebeck says. " Our
leadership strongly encourages it. I
have worked at a number of places
where management talks about
volunteering, but there is no real
action. Here, there is action. In
fact, senior management is just as
involved in volunteering as all of the
employees are. "
A while back, McGuire happened
to receive a call from a woman who
worked for an industrial plant in Iowa
City, Iowa. She wanted to discuss
various options for benefits programs.
McGuire wasn't sure why she had
selected him to call, but he was happy
to talk with her. " However, at the end
of the conversation, she explained
why she called and how she knew
us, " he says. " She good-naturedly
explained that our bank had beaten
their company two years in a row in
the Give Back Iowa Challenge. "
First Citizens Bank recently
received an email about signing up
for the challenge again. " We definitely
68 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q April 2019
plan to participate, " says Prebeck,
" and we do plan to keep track of
our hours and make sure that we
contribute our part-but we would
like someone else to win next year. "
Extending a hand
Sometimes, even small things that
community banks do can make a big
difference.
In September 2018, Hurricane
Florence ravaged North Carolina.
" We wanted to make sure customers
had time to focus on important
things, such as finding places to
live and other things to take care
of themselves, their families and
their businesses, " says Jonathan
N. Krieps, chief operating officer of
$897 million-asset North State Bank
in Raleigh, N.C. " We wanted to do
something so our customers wouldn't
have to worry about one more thing. "
The community bank notified its
customers that it was offering an
automatic extension to them for
payments for that month. " If they
wanted to use the extension, all they
had to do was let us know, and we
would automatically process the
extension for them, " Krieps says.
" Over 100 customers accepted the
offer for an extension, almost all of
whom expressed thanks to us for
doing so. "
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.

Independent Banker - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - April 2019