“As long as the Van Wert community continues to succeed we feel like we’re going to as well.” Brian Renner, the president and C.E.O. of First Federal of Van Wert, expressed this mindset often when showcasing the renovated building in preparation of their open house on Saturday, July 16. In the spring of 2020, Renner explained that the bank had such good growth that they ran out of office space. Rather than just build more offices, Renner decided that they could better serve their customers and employees by modernizing the whole building.
Foremost of these changes were to the deposit area, which now offers customers new banking features and more privacy. “In the old teller line, each teller position was side by side by side,” Renner explained. “This day and age, privacy is a big issue and we want to make sure our customers have enough privacy.” Instead of a teller line, the bank now offers three offices where customers can sit down and receive customer service, knowing that their information is secure and no one is listening.
Those aren’t the only new offices in the building. The modernization of the bank created nine additional offices in the building. Renner stressed that it’s important for local companies to grow. “We are a local institution from a local board. All decisions are made locally so Van Wert’s very important for us,” he said. “We feel if Van Wert succeeds that we’re going to succeed.”
First Federal is offering the community more than just their banking expertise. Part of the renovations is a new boardroom open to the public for meetings. The new boardroom, or multipurpose room, offers a state of the art camera system, two multicast televisions, and a state of the art speaker system. “We’re really excited about that room, not only for a new place for our board meeting and our staff meetings but if an organization needs a place to meet they can use it,” Renner said. Numerous organizations have already been using the room, including the Van Wert Area Chamber, The Van Wert County Foundation, and The Van Wert Forward.
Of course, the public aren’t the only ones getting access to upgrades. All of First Federal’s employees were upgraded to sit-stand automated desks, in addition to multi screen computer setups. “They say sitting is the new smoking or something like that, where it’s not good for you to sit all day,” Renner said. “Whether employees stand for a couple hours a day, I don’t make them, but this gives them that option to get up and be able to work. I want to make it a good working environment for everyone.”
First Federal currently has 22 employees and four departments; deposits, loans, operations, and accounting. The four department leaders formed Renner’s building team. “A part of the project was [figuring out] efficiencies to make sure each department had enough storage, enough resources, and they’re in their own section that way they’re not running across the bank,” Renner explained.
In addition, Renner worked with Design Collaborative out of Fort Wayne, architecture group, and Structure First, project consultant. The construction took three phases, starting March 24 of 2021. Renner estimates that the bulk of the work was from March to December, wrapping up in January of 2022.
“It felt like forever but it was well worth it,” Renner said. “The project turned out very, very well and very close to how we envisioned the start.” About every area of the interior received renovation or modernization, whether it was paint, carpet, new windows or doors. “We stayed open during the whole process which we knew was going to be a challenge,” Renner said. “I commend my employees for working through that and I appreciate the patience and cooperation of our customers as well cause I know that wasn’t easy for them either.” The project isn’t quite finished. Renner revealed that they are still waiting for some backordered waiting room furniture.
Aside from that, the bank is moving forward and continuing to grow with the addition of a new commercial lending program. “What the future holds, we’re not sure, but we feel like we will be able to add employees when we need them and have the space to do so and the technologies to do so.”
Renner has received very positive feedback from the community. “It was a change for a lot of customers, but they appreciate the privacy. Once they get used to the flow of how the building is, everybody’s been very positive about it.”
Posted 7/20/2022 (Article from Van Wert Times Bulletin)
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