hooray! spring 2016 newsletter

8/17/2019 Hooray! Spring 2016 Newsletter

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Brian P. Short ...........................2 Austin Update ..........................4Brownsdale Update ...................5Cannon Falls Update .................5Fairmont Update .......................7Goodhue Update ......................8Grand Meadow Update .............9Le Sueur Update ..................... 10Luverne Update .......................11Pipestone Update .................... 12Stewartville Update ................. 14White Rock Update ................. 15

Admiral Merchants Update ...... 16Calhoun Towers Update ........... 17Executive Offices Update ......... 17Eagle Awards.......................... 18Wellness .................................20Customer Service Week ............. 21News ..................................... 22

Hooray! SPRING 2016

S H O R T C O M P A N I E S

(continued on page 4)

FF&M Red Wing named Business of the Year – 2 years in a row!

Drum Roll Please!FF&M Bank was awarded“Business of the Year” for the2nd year in a row at the RedWing Area Chamber of CommerceAnnual Meeting and AwardsBanquet on February 1, 2016!Out of 20 businesses nominatedin our category of EmploymentService, Financial, Insurance,Legal and Real Estate Business ofthe Year for 2015, FF&M Bank inRed Wing was chosen as #1 byour community! The nominatorcomments say it all:

INSIDE:

“Service! Love, love, love this bank!The best thing I ever did was switchto First Farmers & Merchants, theyare awesome! I am amazed everytime I need some help or have aquestion as to how helpful andaccommodating they are! You arethe best!!! Great service, friendly,professional.”

President Brett Elford and hisstaff accepted the award on stagein front of a record crowd of 475community members. This wasa fantastic way to begin the New

Year! We were truly honored to berecognized two years in a row.


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some out. At the top of the senioritylist is Sam Tims, whose anniversaryis recognized elsewhere in this

newsletter. Sam has worked herefor 50 years, and we celebratedthat with a Leamington Co. lunchon April 6. During that lunch, itwas fascinating to listen to Sam reminisce with Larry Weisgram,Doug Swanson and CalhounTowers’ Tom Anderson about the“old days.” Much to my chagrin, Ifound that I remembered most ofthe stories. Doug will complete 45years of service later this year and

Tom will complete 41, whereasLarry retired in 2011 shortly afterreaching 50 years of service.

In addition, Patty (Bostrom) Zilkahas been with Admiral Merchantsfor almost 30 years – if you do notcount the summers during highschool and the four years she hadwith Admiral before she quit andthen later came back. Jan Muellner has been with Admiral for 33 years.

St. Paul Flight Center has DaveLessard at 31 years and PeteBrostrom at 27. Finally, BensonParking boasts Al Schroeder at 28years.

There are 25 people who have beenwith First Farmers & Merchants,or one of its predecessors, for 25

years or more. Linda Goehleat First Farmers, Luverne, hasbeen providing great serviceto our customers for almost 50years. Elaine Hansen at theData Center, Sheryl Meyer andMartha May in Le Sueur, andVicki Quist in Pipestone haveall provided dedicated service toour customers for over 40 yearsGayle Stegemann, Cliff Boomand LaDonna Van Aartsen in

Luverne, Kathy Harrison in LeSueur, Marlene Trageser with theData Center, and Lina Wiebe inFairmont have all been serving ourcustomers for over 35 years.

The knowledge that theseindividuals and all of our other“senior” associates bring to ourcustomer service proposition isinvaluable.

Relying so heavily on membersof our teams who have significantyears of service creates a dilemmaFrom time to time, even withoutmy permission, members of ourteams retire. It seems that we havebeen especially hard hit this yearHowever, I think it is one of thegreat strengths of our organization

2

Coming and Goings

Brian P. Short

I constantly remind myself, andeveryone else who works here,that we are a Service Organization.The primary stock in trade ofAdmiral Merchants, First Farmers& Merchants Banks, St. PaulFlight Center, Calhoun Towers andBenson Parking Service is highquality service delivered to ourcustomers by dedicated membersof customer service teams. Ourservice commitment is our “secretsauce.” Some of the members ofour team have years of servicewith our customers. They knowour customers well, understand ourcommitment to them, and realizehow important the needs of everycustomer are. Those who haveonly recently joined our companyalways bring enthusiasm and a fresh

perspective to solving problems forour customers. That mixture is whatenables us to create great customerexperiences. As I was doing a littleresearch for this note, I found outthat we have almost 40 membersof the team who have worked herefor more than 25 years. I’d like tomention a few, at the risk of leaving

Sam Tims

Doug Swanson, Brian Short,Sam Tims, Mrs. Short and

Larry Weisgram


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that we deal with this and,despite the loss, come out of eachretirement a stronger organization.I would like to mention a couple ofthe retirees here and introduce you

to those who have chosen to joinus or who have agreed to assumeadditional responsibilities to takecare of the challenges presented bythose retirements.

First, Penny Lynner, our long-time VP of Operations at AdmiralMerchants, retired in January.Penny joined Admiral when westruggled to do anything right.She was a valued member of the

leadership team which has broughtAdmiral Merchants to its currentlevel of success.

Succeeding Penny as OperationsVice President is Doug Milroy.Doug joined us in January and isoff to a great start. He is an industryveteran with experience rangingfrom driving a truck to executiveleadership at one of the largest firmsin our industry.

Jeff Johnson is the long-timeController of Admiral MerchantsMotor Freight. He is a truckingindustry veteran, having workedin a number of transportationservices providers before joiningAdmiral Merchants in June of2002. Jeff retired on April 1.His transportation expertise andknowledge will be missed by all ofus. However, Jeff began planningfor this event several years ago. Weare all pleased that Kelsey Rossow has accepted the promotion toController. Kelsey, armed witha B.S. in business administrationand a minor in accounting fromAugustana College, joined AdmiralMerchants on July 21, 2005 as the

Billing and Processing Lead. InAugust of 2006, she was promotedto Billing Supervisor. She earneda second bachelor’s degree, a B.S.in accounting, from St. Catherine’s

University in December 2011.In February 2013, she passed allfour sections of the CPA exam,and was promoted to AccountingManager in June 2013. Thus,when Jeff came to the end of hiscareer with Admiral, Kelsey wasthe anticipated replacement. Allof us associated with Admiral areconfident that Kelsey will continueto do a great job.

Keith Maetzold joined First Farmers& Merchants National Bank, LeSueur as its president in January2006. Over that time he reorganizedthe Le Sueur bank, was a valuedmember of the due diligence teamon the White Rock acquisition, andserved as president of both banksfollowing the acquisition. Workingwith Marlene Trageser and manyothers, Keith oversaw the mergerof those two banks and served as

the first president of First Farmers& Merchants Bank, Cannon Falls.Keith has announced his retirementeffective mid-May. Keith’s steadyhand guiding that bank will bemissed by all. However, as partof our long-range planning, wehave identified the leadership teamwhich will succeed Keith. GregWulf , president of the CannonFalls branch of First Farmers &Merchants Bank, will succeedKeith as the charter president.Greg first joined First Farmers& Merchants as the Cannon Fallsbranch president on October 20,2003. During his tenure, he hasguided that branch to the pointwhere it is now the leading bank inthe Cannon Falls community.

Brian Pfarr, Vice President, Ag andCommercial Lending in Le Sueur,will succeed Keith as the Le Sueurbranch president. Brian has beenwith First Farmers & Merchants

Le Sueur, since September 2005.Brian is a career National Guardofficer and was recognized as theShort Companies Eagle of the Yearin 2008.

This is but a short summary of theservice those who are retiring haveprovided and the skills of those whowill be succeeding them. All of ourteammates who are retiring havemade significant contributions to

our customers over the years. I willalways be grateful for what theyhave done for all of us.

However, we are proving onceagain the strength of our companyby the quality of the individualswho are assuming new leadershiproles in our company. While wewill miss each of the individualswho are retiring, I believe that ourcustomer service will continue to

be excellent, in part, because ofthe leadership of those who areassuming new roles here.

That remains one of the primarychallenges of any customer servicebusiness. We have to continue toimprove our performance, becauseall of our competitors are doing that.We cannot simply pat ourselves onthe back and congratulate ourselvesfor the good job we did yesterday.We have to be concerned abouthow we will face the challengesof the future and continue to try toimprove.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian P. Short


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Updates

FF&M RED WINGNAMED BUSINESS OF

THE YEAR(continued from page 1)

Rink Pink” hockey game. The

Bruins are a junior hockey team inthe NAHL and they are a blast towatch. It’s great to see everyone inthe community coming together forthese events.

Throughout the month we paidto wear jeans on Fridays and soldmany different items to supportcancer research. We also had acookie day with – you guessed it –pink cookies. All together the bankraised $568.

First Farmers & Merchants

AustinUpdateOnce again FF&M Austin wasdecked out in pink for Austin’sannual “Paint the Town Pink” event.This event takes place in Februaryand has raised more than $825,000for cancer research in the past six

years. This year alone, a record$272,000 was raised. Variousevents take place throughout themonth to raise money, whichis then donated to the HormelInstitute for cancer research. Theevent that everyone looks forwardto is the Austin Bruins “Paint the

A nice article also ran in the localnewspaper on March 23, 2016,highlighting what sets us apart fromthe competition. Brett Elford wasquoted emphasizing the importanceof “partnerships with smallbusinesses,” “localized decision-

making” and “participation withcommunity efforts.” Head TellerColleen Phillips shared that oneof her favorite parts of the job isestablishing a great rapport withour customers. “They know they

have friends at the bank, andthey’re genuinely happy to be ourcustomers.” Way to go, team!

On February 5, everyoneparticipated in the Go Red forWomen campaign.

We were proud to show our supporfor the RWHS boys’ basketballteam, who brought home the 3rdplace title in the Class 3A StateChampionship this season!

Colleen Phillips, Gayle Boldt,Krystyna Bremer and

Missy Anderson

Submitted by: Lisa MacRaeCustomer Service Representative

L to R: Melissa Jaenke, Lisa MacRae, Colleen Phillips, Deb Knowlton, Lynette Smerud, Martha Hanson, Julie Eckstrom

and Krystyna Bremer (center)

Patty Tewes is the new OperationsManager for Brownsdale, Sargeanand Austin. Welcome, Patty!

Submitted by: Sherrie CarlsonCustomer Service Representative


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Updates

(continued on page 6


Cannon Falls

Update


Brownsdale

UpdateThe Brownsdale/Sargeant staff isdressed all in red for Heart Month.The staff also donated $132 tothe Grace Gillette Public Libraryin Brownsdale. The money wasraised by wearing jeans on Fridayfor a fee.

Back row, L to R: Dale Larson, Lisa Kuennen, Amanda Rhodes,Kevin Welter. Front row, L to R:Sherrie Carlson, Amy Johnson,

Gloria Richardson

February was also “Paint the TownPink” in Brownsdale. Lots ofactivities took place throughout themonth. From bake sales, silent andlive auctions, to learning origami,there was something for everyone.

We want to welcome our newemployee, Darcy Drake-Tapp.Darcy is working in the loan areaof the bank as the administrativeassistant. We’ll learn more about

Darcy in our next newsletter.

Submitted by: Sherrie Carlson,CSR/Teller

Happy 2016 to all of you fromCannon Falls! It seems only fittingthat we focus on all of the newadditions to our FF&M family inCF so let’s start by welcoming ournew employees!

Fresh Faces to FF&M

Kelsey Reddel

Kelsey Reddel joined us inFebruary as a full-time CSR/Tellerat our Econo location. Kelsey isoriginally from Riceville, IA. Shehas four older brothers, and inher free time she enjoys hunting,fishing, and hanging out with

friends, family and her puppies.She attended school for MassageTherapy and Cosmetology. Herpast jobs have included being amassage therapist, a cosmetologist,a sales associate and also a staffingspecialist. Welcome, Kelsey!

Marlene Kokkeler, part-timeTeller at the Econo Foods locationhas lived in Cannon Falls since1977. She and her husbandhave four daughters and threegrandchildren. Marlene workedas a daycare provider for severalyears, was employed at the CFBeacon newspaper for 14 years, atGemini Inc. for nine years, and thenretired. She saw an opportunity towork at First Farmers & Merchants

as a part-time teller in February andshe took it. In her spare time, sheloves to garden, camp, and spendtime with her family. We’re happyto have you, Marlene!

Jennifer Buck, full-time Tellerrounded out the team in CF atthe main branch. She moved toCannon Falls about 10 years agobut is originally from North StPaul. She has been married for 18

years and has two daughters, Josie(8) and Alison (12). Jennifer looksVERY familiar to many of ourcustomers as she worked at EconoFoods as a cashier for almost fiveyears. She loves spending timewith her family, and they love to

Marlene Kokkeler


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Updates

CANNON FALLS UPDATE(continued from page 5)


walk, watch movies and go out fordinner. We’re excited to have youon our team, Jen!

We also welcome Mary Kriesel,Training Coordinator, to CannonFalls. Mary is technically a DataCenter employee, but she officesat the Operations Center in CannonFalls. Please see pages 11 and 12for a photo and more information

about Mary.

The Future of First Farmers &MerchantsAnother group of new FF&Mfamily members are brand new tothe world! We have some VERYhappy grandparents in CannonFalls. Let’s introduce the futurecustomers of FF&M.

Brenda Jackson, ConsumerLender, became a grandma again!Her daughter Tatum and familywelcomed a little boy namedJackson Michael Ayres on NewYear’s Eve. Jackson joins his twosisters at home.

Shelly Zimmerman, Mortgage

Lender, also has a new grandson.Robert Alden Ranwick III wasborn on February 8, 2016, to herdaughter Michaela. Shelly wasable to spend a lot of quality timewith her granddaughter, Robin,

while baby Robert (Robby) gotsettled in at home.

Deb Graber, Loan ProcessingSupervisor, was also blessed withanother little grandbaby in March.Her daughter Krystle and herhusband celebrated the birth of theirdaughter, Adelia Anne Eilen.

Proud Parents

Anne Leverton, Loan Processor,and her husband recently celebratedthe graduation of their son Austin from Basic Training with the U.S.Air Force on December 31. He hasenlisted for six years and is presently

in technical training for AircraftArmament. Airman Leverton willbe stationed at Whiteman AFB inMissouri. Good luck, Austin, andthank you for your commitment tothe U.S. and all of us!

Get to Steppin’The Fitness Challenge 2016 is in

full force in the 55009 zip codeWe have 29 of 39 employeesparticipating in this year’s FitbitChallenge, which is VERYimpressive! There have even beensome sub-groups formed that have

done some Weekend WarriorChallenges. I hardly took a restduring the two day challenge in fearthat someone else would pull aheadof me. I finally had to surrender toa young pup who eventually tookthe crown. But had I not had this‘wearable’ on my wrist there wouldhave been much more ‘deep couchsitting,’ I guarantee!

Kris Bodette, Head Teller, is the firstCF employee who has participatedin and completed a 5K so far thisyear. This is the second year thatKris has participated in the CloverDash in Cross Lake, MN over theSt. Patty’s Day weekend alongside

Kris Bodette

Jennifer Buck


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Updates


CANNON FALLS UPDATE(continued from page 6)

Laura Qualey

Dennis Trushenski


FairmontUpdateOn January 29 we bid AVP DennisTrushenski farewell after a 35year career here in Fairmont. Heis looking forward to years oftraveling with his wife Karen. Hisfirst adventure this spring will beto Alaska to spend some time withhis daughter’s family and tour thestate. We wish him all the best!

On February 13 Fairmont hosted itseighth annual Kids Against Hungerfood pack. 104,868 fully-nutritionameals were packaged and boxedto be shipped. Many of the mealswill be shipped to Haiti and otherneedy areas, although some wilstay in Martin County for the locafood shelves. FF&M sponsored atable again this year and our crewincluded Tellers Tami Whitmanand her granddaughter MaceyJan Nelson, and Becky Hollandand her son Anthony, CommerciaLoan Officer Adam Smith and hiswife Amanda, Loan Assistant Lina

her sister, husband and brother-in-law! Kris took 4th place in her age

category and wants everyone toknow that there are 6,247 steps in a5K and her time was 45:56. Way togo, Kris, LOVE the leggings!

Where Did the Money Go?In December, the Advisory Boardin CF made a donation to the CFRobotics Team which was featuredin the last issue of Hooray!. Well,the Robotics Team designed, builtand programmed their robot andcompeted in their first competitionin early March. Here is a photo of

the group along with the robot theycreated. Pretty impressive group ofyoung people!

Submitted by: Laura Qualey,Director of Marketing

P.S. Late-breaking news out ofCF (thanks to Katie Overby,Relationship Banker) – LauraQualey celebrated in GrandFashion her 40th birthday onThursday, March 24. She spent themorning at work and we didn’t seeher again until Tuesday! Welcometo the next decade, Laura. Wewish you much happiness andcelebration every year!

Go RED!We were seeing red on Friday, February 5 in CF as most of the teams woretheir red to show support for Women’s Heart Health Awareness Day. It’stough to get all of us together for a photo shoot, but this gives you an ideaof our team effort and group participation.


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Updates


GoodhueUpdate


FAIRMONT UPDATE(continued from page 7)

Wiebe, Receptionist Naomi Koch,retired AVP Dennis Trushenski and his wife Karen, and Personal

Banking Officer Joan Meyer.Teller Sara Becker-Sokoloski and daughter Emily were also ona team for their Girl Scout troop.This year’s pack involved over 450volunteers and raised $29,708.

Papa Murphy’s Pizza opened theirdoors in January and it won’t belong before our newest yogurt/ coffee shop will be opening up.

Joan Meyer spent a portion offive mornings in March backin Kindergarten, teaching theJr. Achievement program. Thekindergarteners’ program iscalled “Ourselves,” and teachesthe children how to earn and savemoney, and how to share withothers.

Teller Ona Springer spent many

evenings this winter attending hergranddaughter Kenlie Pytleksi’s basketball games. The GHECJaguars had an excellent seasonand post-season, losing in theSub-State game. Kenlie, who is a junior this year, was recognizedin the Fairmont Sentinel for heroutstanding efforts.

During the month of March ouremployees were allowed to wearblue jeans on Fridays in exchangefor a food or monetary donationto the Minnesota Food Sharepromotion. At this point we have a

table full of food and a nice cashdonation to be given to our localSalvation Army and/or Heaven’sTable Food Shelf.

Submitted by: Joan Meyer,Personal Banking Officer

Here we are again…first quarter Hooray! articles are due!! Our livesare so busy, the years just seem tofly by. Some of our busyness is notwelcomed, but for the most part, wehere in Goodhue fill our lives withthings that better our own lives orthe lives of those around us. Thatkind of busy is always nice.

We started out the year with a big

surprise…Holly Roschen, ourhead teller and bank employee ofalmost 30 years, announced shewould be trying something newwith her career! She put in her two-week notice in February and startedworking in the office at our localelevator, Ag Partners of Goodhue.She will be greatly missed, as she

has been a big part of our team formany, many years. I’m sure it willtake her awhile to get the “banking”out of her system... I hear she hasbeen known to answer the phoneover there, “Good morning, First

Farmers & Merchants.”q

This brings us to our next item…three new tellers! First, we haveMiranda Osterberg. Miranda ismarried to Chad and they have twochildren, William, 3, and Caden11. Miranda is very busy as shealso works part-time for her momat the Corner Bar and Grill herein Goodhue. When she does havespare time, though, she enjoys

boating, camping, four-wheelingsnowboarding, hiking and spendingtime with her family. Miranda ispictured later in this article.

Our next new teller is Dianne PankDianne moved here about six yearsago from South Dakota. She has ason who lives in Brussels, Belgiumand a daughter in South DakotaShe loves horses and has raised

all kinds, from minis to Belgiums

Dianne Pank

FF&M Fairmont Team in Red


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GOODHUE UPDATE

(continued from page 8)


Updates

In her free time she loves to ridehorses and motorcycles and loves

the outdoors. She used to raisecattle, sheep, goats and bison. Aftergetting to know Dianne, it doesn’ttake long to realize…she is still acowgirl at heart!

Last but not least…we have KatieBrinkman. Katie and her husband,Andy, live in Goodhue. She is theoldest of four kids and has livedhere since her family moved toGoodhue her senior year of high

school. When Katie has freetime, she enjoys doing just aboutanything outside and hanging outwith friends and family. Katie isalso pictured later in this article.

We are enjoying having these ladiesbecome part of our “family” here inGoodhue!

As I mentioned earlier, we havebeen so busy here in Goodhue thatI will just briefly tell you about itall! Back in February, we helpedbring awareness to heart disease bywearing red.

L to R: Paul Althoff, Holly Roschen, Miranda Osterberg,Sheri Nurnberg, Mary Majerus,

Jessica Lindholm andCorrine Stehr

Later in the month, we onceagain had our Goodhue city-wide

Customer Appreciation Day. Wehad a great turnout as usual! Wehad drawings for prizes for adultsas well as children. Our two childwinners were Max Loos and EmilyMajerus.

In March, our girls’ and boys’basketball teams both went to State!Pictured are some of the Goodhueemployees showing their supportand pride for our Wildcats.

The boys ended up getting secondin State, and our girls came homewith a State Championship trophy!

This is the firsttime in Goodhuehistory that thegirls have won

State! Personally,I think it all hasto do with wherethey bank…all but a few ofthe kids on boththe boys’ andgirls’ teams are

customers of the bank!

We rounded out March with a fooddrive to benefit the local FoodShelf. Customers and employeeswere encouraged to bring in bags

of groceries (we supplied the bags,donated by a local grocery store)to be donated to the food shelfEveryone has been very generous,as we have several bags to takeover!

One of these days, Spring willcome…and stick around fora while.q HAPPY SPRING,EVERYONE!

Submitted by: Lara Ramthun,Teller


GrandMeadow UpdateChange brings opportunity …opportunity to grow and besuccessful.

The first quarter of 2016 has seen afew changes for our charter:• Tabitha Hoffman has acceptedthe position of Assistant Manager-

Mary Majerus, MirandaOsterberg, Katie Brinkman and

Corrine Stehr


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Updates

GRAND MEADOWUPDATE(continued from page 9)


Dayna Stier


Le SueurUpdateThe Fitbit Challenge is in its secondmonth and has gotten staff moreaware of getting up and movingduring the day. We are also finding

out who’s more competitive. If youlook and listen throughout the bankyou will see groups of employeeslooking at their wrists and saying“How many steps do you have?”“I’ve got 10,000 steps.” “I’vemade it on the first page.”

Laura Qualey, Director ofMarketing, asked the staff tosupport the National Wear Red

Racine/Operations Assistant;

• Dawn Tart has accepted thenew position of Special ProjectsAdministrator/CSR;• Dayna Stier has joined theFF&M team as Loan Assistant inGrand Meadow.

Dayna was born and raised inTucson, Arizona. She moved toStewartville after meeting herhusband Jake and now resides inRacine (I wonder how she feels

about that when it’s -15 degrees?).They have three energetic boys wholove to ride dirt bikes. In their freetime they hunt, ride motorcyclesand travel. Before coming to workat First Farmers & Merchants,Dayna worked at Merchants Bankof Rochester for seven years.Welcome, Dayna!

Second graders from the GrandMeadow School visited the bank inFebruary, celebrating “Pennies forPages” with all the change they hadcollected. Preschoolers throughsixth graders raised money to buybooks for the library and exceededtheir $800 goal, collecting $985.52!!

The winning class received a pizzaparty and their choice of activitiesduring phys ed class.

First Farmers & Merchantsparticipated in a benefit for one of

our long-time business customersand friends. “Hope for Georgena”was held on February 7. DawnTart and I helped to organize andworked at the event and DaveFeddersen, President and CEO,was in attendance. The benefit wasa huge success. Food was donated

by FF&M, Odey’s Meats and theMeadow Market. Silent and liveauction items were provided bylocal merchants, vendors, and evenprofessional sports teams. Thanksto everyone at the bank for theirhelp, with me bringing in depositsand the girls keeping track of

everything while I was in RacineThe team effort was incredible.

Last but not least, I am sad to saythis will be my last Hooray!. Myhusband and I will be leaving

the great state of Minnesota inMay, heading north to AlaskaMy last day with First Farmers &Merchants will be April 29. It hasbeen a pleasure putting togetherthe Hooray! for our location and apleasure working with all of you.

Submitted by: Kelly WytaskeCustomer Service Representativeand Assistant Branch ManagerRacine


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Updates


LE SUEUR UPDATE(continued from page 10)

Michelle Jansma


LuverneUpdate

Day-Go Red for Women bysporting our Red on February 5.

As you see by the picture, we hadgreat staff participation.

It is with sadness but certainlywith great appreciation that we

announce that Keith Maetzold has decided to retire from hisposition as President and CEO ofFirst Farmers & Merchants Bank,Cannon Falls effective May 13,2016. Ten years ago, Keith joinedthe First Farmers & Merchantsorganization as President andCEO of First Farmers, Le Sueur.We are hosting a reception for ourcustomers and the community toexpress our appreciation to Keith for his 10 years of service on May10, between 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.in our Valley Room. This will befollowed by a Chamber BusinessAfter Hours at the Le SueurCountry Club from 5:30 p.m.–7:30p.m. We would like to congratulateKeith on his upcoming retirement

and the next phase of his life. Keith will be able to spend more timewoodworking, fishing and golfing.

With Keith’s retirement, GregWulf will be promoted to President

and CEO of First Farmers &Merchants Bank. Brian Pfarr,currently Senior Vice President,will be promoted to President,First Farmers & Merchants Bank,Le Sueur, effective with Keith’s retirement on May 13, 2016.

Submitted by: Linda Grack, RetailOperations Manager

Keith Maetzold

Welcome to Michelle Jansma, ournewest employee who started inFebruary as a teller. Michelle andher husband Bill live on a cattlefarm outside Ellsworth and have

three children – Amber, Grant, and Joshua. Michelle enjoys cardmaking, shopping and spending

time with friends and family in herspare time. She is also active withthe GEMS Girls Club with herchurch.

Welcome also to Brian Mitchel

and Mary Kriesel, our two newestData Center employees. Brianis Vice President of InformationSystems and is located at the DataCenter in Luverne. Brian lives inSioux Falls with his wife Amy andthree children, Jena (15), Lauren(13) and Brycen (10). Most of theirtime is spent following the kids’sporting events. Jena is a soccerplayer, Lauren is a gymnast, andBrycen plays football, baseball andbasketball. Brian enjoys golf andcoaching the sports his children areinvolved in.

Mary is our Training Coordinator(a brand new position to thecompany) and offices at the

Operations Center in CannonFalls. She lives in Randolph withher husband and two boys; Rubenis 10 and Hunter is 9. Mary andher family also have two yellowlabs, Bella and Marley. Her boys

Brian Mitchell


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Updates


LUVERNE UPDATE(continued from page 11)

keep their schedule very busy withBoy Scouts, football, basketball

and baseball. Mary’s family has apermanent camping site in CannonFalls and enjoys spending weekendsat the camper. In her free time shelikes to scrapbook, work on jigsawpuzzles, and also loves to read.Mary is very excited to be workingfor First Farmers & Merchants, andwe’re excited to have her!

A big shout out to the Data Centerin Luverne! The Data Center teamhas 100% participation in theShort Companies Fitbit Challengefor 2016. They are committed,motivated, and driven to reach

their step goals every day! Great job, team!

Congratulations to Carol Foster,Customer Service Representative,who celebrated 25 years with thebank this quarter.

The staff volunteered once againto pack backpacks for the localstudents during the month ofFebruary. Four different volunteerspacked 100 bags each week for thekids who are a part of the localprogram through the school. Thisprogram provides food for the kids,ages preschool through middleschool, that they can prepare overthe weekend.

The bank will be participating

in the Relay for Life for theAmerican Cancer Society with abank team. A bake sale was heldon Valentine’s Day as a fund raiserand $430 was raised. They alsoheld a baked potato bar over lunchfor employees and guests in Marchfor an additional fund raiser for theFF&M team.

The Luverne High School MockTrial team placed 8th at state. This

was their second consecutive yearappearance and they improved theirperformance from the previousyear.

Congratulations to the Luvernegirls hockey team for being Section3A champs and first time statetournament qualifiers.

Mary Kriesel

Carol Foster and Mike Engesser

Submitted by: Tara ZewiskeAuditor, FF&M Luverne andElaine Hansen, Data Center


Pipestone

UpdatePipestone was host to the onlyone of its kind (as far as we couldtell) Christmas Valentine’s EveParty on February 13. Luverneand Pipestone employees gatheredat the Pipestone Country Clubfor dinner and afterwards weretreated to “Duelly Noted,” apremier dueling piano event at thePipestone Performing Arts Center

Dale Roemmich, President, andTammy Ogdahl, Chief OperationsOfficer, organized the event thatcelebrated not only Christmas, butthrew in another bonus holidayValentine’s Day!

The Pipestone spring Home &Health Show and EmploymentFair was held Saturday, March 19

FF&M Luverne Team on February 5

FF&M Pipestone Team in their“Red”


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Updates

PIPESTONE UPDATE(continued from page 12)


with 54 businesses participating.FF&M highlighted its home

purchasing and home improvementloans. The event featured home-related businesses as well as anopportunity for area employers torecruit prospective employees byanswering questions and acceptingapplications. The Pipestone CountyHospital participated, and providedhealth screenings and testing.Rhonda Smith, Personal Banker,is a key member of the organizingcommittee and reports that the show

was another success. Rhonda,Vicki Quist, Vice President, andTim Paulson, Vice President,collaborated to provide FF&M’spresence at the event.

First Farmers & Merchantsin Pipestone dedicated theircommunity outreach efforts inthe month of March to help fighthunger in the community. Alongwith the ongoing staff collectionefforts for local non-profits, theemployees challenged customers

with taking up the torch for thePipestone County Food Shelf. DaleRoemmich provided beneficialinformation regarding the needsin our community and countyby hosting Roger Raschke, Food

Shelf Chairperson, to present at astaff meeting. Between bank andstaff donations, coupled with thegenerosity of FF&M’s customers,we were able to raise over $1,000for the local food pantry. JamieCordell, Teller/Customer ServiceRepresentative, Brooke Legler,Customer Service Representative,and Pam Kuyper, InformationSystems Assistant, organized thebank’s participation in MarchHunger Awareness Month.

Dale Roemmich is pictured withBrooke Einck, local Girl Scout, andthe dozens of boxes of deliciouscookies that FF&M employees willbe hand delivering during the monthof April. We will send a report ofhow the confections are distributed– and the customer response – inthe next issue!

Whitney Norberg, Teller, wasselected for the high honor ofparticipating in the Minnesota All-State Band, held February 11-13Whitney plays the alto saxophoneand was selected for her outstanding

proficiency with the instrument andthe leadership qualities that sheexhibits in her role as senior bandmember. Whitney shared that “itwas the best band experience that Ihave had in my life so far.”

Friday, March 4, was NationalEmployee Appreciation Day. DaleRoemmich and Tammy Ogdahhosted the entire staff to a kick-off breakfast of subs from Subwayto start the day, and then treatedthe staff to fresh baked pies fromLange’s Café in the afternoon.

First Farmers & Merchants inPipestone hosted a customer openhouse in honor of National CherryPie Month on Thursday, February25. Vicki Quist arranged for freshhome-baked cherry bars that wereserved. Simultaneously, Marjean

Ossefoort with Invest FinancialServices hosted a meet and greet forher new financial service customersFirst Farmers in Pipestone nolonger has an investment officeas we transferred our business toMarjean.

Dale Roemmich was the MC forthe Pipestone Hospice’s 18th annualbenefit that raised over $27,000 forupdates and improvements to the

local Hospice House. A five-dayfour-night stay in the Black Hills ofSouth Dakota sold for over $2,000garnering the bid for the highestselling live auction item. In additionto the normal auction items, we alsoauctioned off the right to be the


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Updates

PIPESTONE UPDATE(continued from page 13)



StewartvilleUpdate HOORAY!….spring is here! Weare all looking forward to moresun and warmer temperatures, andwishing our farming customers asuccessful planting season.

Sabrina Kingery, Teller/CSR,began her employment withFF&M on December 28, 2015. Sheattended AIB College of Business,graduating with associate andbachelor degrees in accounting.She then went on to get her master’s

degree in accounting at AmericanMilitary University. She and herhusband, Justin, have been marriedfor eight years. They recentlyrelocated to a home in Cresco,IA from Fort Hood, TX. Justin

recently separated from activeduty army and is now in the armyreserves. Sabrina and Justin enjoydeer and duck hunting together,horseback riding, and anything elsethat gets them outdoors. Sabrina is looking forward to a long andrewarding career with First Farmers& Merchants! We enjoy workingwith her and welcome her to theteam.

All of our local service clubs andorganizations are gearing up fortheir spring and summer events.We welcome the opportunity toparticipate, enjoy and attend, and

end our “cabin fever.”We thank all of their members fortheir service and dedication, andfor making Stewartville such a niceplace to live!

We are looking forward to the LionsClub Meal-With-A-Peel (formerlyknown as the Baked Potato Supper)

on Monday, April 11. The foodthey provide is delicious and thefund raiser provides many benefitsin Stewartville and the surroundingarea.

The 2016 40th Annual RochesterWoodcarvers Show was held at theOlmsted County Fairgrounds 4Hbuilding on March 19-20. One ofour customers, Terry Johnson ofRacine, has shared photos of thebeautiful and intricate carvingsThe detail on these pieces isamazing! The club produces anannual woodcarving show to offerthe public an opportunity to seethe wide variety of carving stylesperformed by club members. Eachyear admission is free and the cluboffers classes, carvings, wood, andtools for sale. I would recommendthis show to all!

Our Kiwanis Club has receivedapproximately $7,500 in Foodfor Kidz pledges. Every springStewartville reaches out to feed thehungry. The annual tradition will

continue once again this year whenlocal and area residents gather atthe Stewartville Civic Center onSaturday, April 9 to donate theirtime and contributions. The workerswill package meals to be distributedin many countries, and some willalso stay in Olmsted County. Lastyear they surpassed their goal andpackaged 1,246,928 meals for thehungry. Job well done!

The Stewartville Area CommunityFoundation is busy preparingthe 1st Annual SoutheasternMinnesota Toast & Taste at theRochester Event Center on April 1All proceeds will go to the futureBear Park Outdoor Community

first table to go through the dinnerline with Prime Rib and Walleye as

the main course. The first table bidwas $200. Dale also sold his scriptof jokes for the evening for $300 sohe would stop telling them.

The annual Ag Awareness Breakfastwas held on Wednesday, March16, with many FF&M employeesattending the 55 cent meal hostedby the Pipestone County FarmBureau. The cost is reflective of theamount that a farmer earns from a

typical breakfast. Organizers of theevent state that the purpose is tobring awareness to the public thatonly around 15.8 cents out of everydollar a consumer spends on foodgoes to the farmer. Tim Paulson helped to serve the breakfast thathosted over 700 people.

Submitted by: Linda Erickson,Customer Service Representative

Sabrina Kingery


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Updates

STEWARTVILLE UPDATE(continued from page 14)


White Rock

UpdateAs I sit at my computer wonderingwhat to write, nibbling on treats theEaster Bunny left, and hoping andpraying the weather man is wrongand the two feet of snow will fallon Iowa and not here, I realize thereisn’t a whole lot to write about. Wehave had the farmers continuing toreview their financing plans withPaul Drackley, President, and

Calvin Ryan,Jr Ag Lender, makingsure they are set for the plantingseason. We have all been going tothe multitude of athletic events thatflood the winter season so that wedon’t get too sedentary. The Fitbitprogram is helping out in that areaalso; it is amazing how many stepsyou can acquire just by clappingand whaling your arms around inexcitement. We congratulate all theyoung athletes who have done so

very well this year and express ourgratitude for giving us somethingto look forward to and talk about.Speaking of things to talk about,how is your bracket looking? Whata crazy year this is looking to be.It just keeps us coming back formore.

Our bank Holiday Party thatwas held in January at TreasureIsland Resort & Casino was veryenjoyable, with a good meal andbowling like you have never seenbefore. Thanks to Laura Qualey,

Director of Marketing, for allthe preparation to make it a nightfull of fun and laughter for a verylarge group of people. Not bad foran almost “40” year old. Happybirthday, Laura, on the 24th ofMarch.

We are in the midst of the FoodShare campaign, and hopefully wewill be able to boost the area foodshelves as the demand seems tokeep growing.

We have also been talking gardenand getting the itch to dig in theground and see that miracle ofgrowth, and the promise of anabundant harvest. That will takesome cooperation from the weatherman also. I hope he is listening.

Employees are almost done using

up their carry over vacation daysand it sounds like there have beensome very warm and relaxing placesvisited. It is good to get away, butthere is no place like home!!!

Reviews are done and it sounds likethis team is doing a good job. Likemost teams experience, however,there is inevitable change; it is justa matter of time. Congratulations toKeith Maetzold on his retirement

and, subsequently, to GregWulf and Brian Pfarr on theirpromotions.

It has been pretty much the statusquo here in beautiful downtownWhite Rock, except for the otherday when WR lost power and the

Amphitheater. This venue willbe a great addition to our town

for concerts, family gatherings,weddings and other social events.

Have a wonderful spring!

Submitted by: Jan Cowan, Teller

alert went out that the squirrels hadstruck again. This squirrel’s lifewas spared as it was just the treebranch he had been jumping onthat fell on the lines and put us outof commission. That is my take on

the story as I wasn’t here. This teamhad to do some creative thinking toget the daily work done. Thanks toGoodhue for the use of the branchcapture at their office. Maybe itwas a blessing in disguise, as whenCarna Visagie, WR Teller, gotto Goodhue to run WR’s work itwas a little hectic and Carna wasable to assist the new trainees in acouple of processes they were notvery familiar with. It all workedout with a little team work.

It seems that I have rambled enoughso I’ll sign off with a Happy EasterHappy April Fool’s Day, ContentoCinco de Mayo Day, and lastly, anenjoyable Memorial Day.

Submitted by: Babe NelsonCustomer Service Representative

Carna Visagie, Julie Benrud

Luhman, Kenzie Visagie and Babe Nelson wore red on February 5


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Updates


AdmiralMerchants

Update

Brian Short and Jim Mallinger

Jeff Johnson

Admiral rang in the New Year withlots of changes in the Minneapolisoffice.

• Kim Krause joined the Admiralteam as our newest FreightCoordinator in January. Kim previously worked at T-Chek andhas been enjoying being back in thetransportation industry.

• Congratulations to PennyLynner, who retired in January after15 years with Admiral. As the VPof Operations, we are grateful shedevoted such a significant part ofher career to our success, and wishher the best of luck in retirement.

• Doug Milroy joined the Admiralteam in January as the new VP ofOperations. He is a transportationprofessional, with over 22 years ofexperience that will help him in hisnew role. Doug has made a greataddition to the company alreadyand we are lucky to have him.

• Jeff Johnson, Admiral’sFinancial Controller, announcedhis retirement, effective April 1.Jeff has been with the team for14 years, and has contributed to

many of the valuable changesimplemented within the Processingand Settlements departments. He islooking forward to spending more

time fishing and working on hisgolf game. Congratulations on awell-deserved retirement, Jeff!

• Kelsey Rossow, Admiral’sAccounting Manager, has acceptedthe position of Financial Controllerwith a start date of April 4. She hasbeen with Admiral for 11 years,and her experience will serve herwell in this new role overseeing theAccounting, Billing/Processing,and Settlements departments.Congratulations and good luck,Kelsey!

• Congratulations to LegalizationSpecialist Karen Hedtke, whoannounced her retirement effectiveApril 15. Karen joined the Admiralteam two years ago, and was ableto quickly adapt to the intricatedetails that come with licensingand border crossing. She is lookingforward to spending more timewith her already retired husbandand her busy grandkids. We arethankful for her time here and wish

her well.

• Karen Preusser just joinedAdmiral on April 1, as the newLegalization Specialist. She cameto us with an extensive backgroundin transportation and licensing thatwill help make her transition intoAdmiral a smooth one.

• Congratulations to TrafficManager Jim Mallinger, whoretired in March after 33 yearswith Admiral. Jim was a dedicatedemployee who was always focusedand professional, and he will be

missed around the office!

Along with all the exciting officechanges, Admiral was also luckyenough to receive a few treats fromsome of our wonderful driversDriver Joe Spears, unit 6017, wasnice enough to order Domino’spizza for the employees at theMinneapolis office on March 18What a great Friday treat to start

the weekend with!

Drivers Steve Bennett, unit 5811and Bob Norris, Unit 4221, alsowere generous enough to have FatLorenzo’s pizza delivered to theoffice on Tuesday, March 22. Theywere able to stop by that day to visit

The wearing of the red at 215 S.11th Street


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Updates

ADMIRAL MERCHANTSUPDATE(continued from page 16)

Calhoun Towers wishes todedicate this issue of the Hooray! to our longest term resident, TyneKauma. Tyne has called CalhounTowers her home for the last

31 years, having come here in1985. She has been known as anextremely generous person with akind heart and has always been oneof the bright spots here with hersmile. She will be starting the nextchapter in her life by going to livewith her son and daughter-in-law.We wish you the best, Tyne – youwill be missed.

In other news, we are now using

energy-saving LED bulbs. Acompany named Apadana Lightingwent through the building andchanged out the old incandescentand fluorescent bulbs to the newenergy-saving LED bulbs. It is niceto see a project that actually ends upsaving us money. We also installedthese in the few apartments for

which we pay the electricity. Theyhave already saved us severalhundred dollars.

With this project, we were alsoable to greatly increase the light in

our hallways without incurring theexpense of buying all new lights.This was a nice improvement thatmany residents enjoy.

Rental-wise, we are doing betterso far this year. We are 100% fulluntil at least the first of June; thisdespite the rent increases causedby our property taxes for thebuilding increasing a staggering44%. Nevertheless, we are lookingforward to a good summer.

Submitted by: Steve Ocvirek,Manager

Calhoun TowersUpdate

with all of the employees (and enjoy

a slice for themselves!) as well.Everyone was very appreciativeof the delicious lunch, and it wasso nice to be able to catch up withthem at the office!

Submitted by: Claire Gregory,Receptionist

ExecutiveOffices/

215 UpdateHunt Gildner, our long-timerelationship manager at U.S.Bank, his wife Barb, and hisson Jared had the opportunity toattend the January 10, 2016 NFCwild card playoff game betweenthe Minnesota Vikings and theSeattle Seahawks, using some ofLeamington Co.’s tickets. TCFStadium was filled to capacitythat day, although I believe thehigh temperature was 0! Hunt is avery enthusiastic sports spectator,though, and the cold did not stophim from enjoying the game,despite the 10-9 loss. He sent thisphoto to Doug Swanson, alongwith the following comments:

“This photo was taken before Ilost my voice and another fieldgoal was missed to lose a playoffgame. We were all wondering ifthe cell phone would work in thosetemps... Seattle was completelyoverwhelmed by the cold and

crowd – it should have been ashut-out. Arrrrghh. A big highlightwas when Bud Grant came out onthe field in a short-sleeved shirtThanks for the opportunity to go tothis historic game, Doug!”

A few weeks later, we learned thatHunt had decided to retire at theend of February. He orchestrateda smooth transition to our newrelationship manager, Bill

Doran, by hosting a lunch withDoug Swanson and Jim Tuttle(Leamington Co.), Jim Bemis andJeff Johnson (Admiral Merchants),and Becky Sorbel and Dawn Gast(215 Holding Co.), so they couldmeet Bill. Hunt also met with Brianand Bill over breakfast, where theydiscovered that Brian and Bill had acouple of connections, one of thembeing Notre Dame. Bill was able toattend part of our bank presidentsmeeting in March, and he arrangedfor a speaker from U.S. Bank forour meeting as well.

We truly appreciated working withHunt over the years, and while wewill miss him, we wish him the very



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EXECUTIVE OFFICES/215UPDATE(continued from page 17)

18

Eagle Awards


Eagle Awards Admiral Merchants

Wes DyerDirector of Driver RecruitmentSubmitted by: Admiral Team

It is our pleasure to announce WeDyer as Admiral’s 2nd QuarteEagle Award recipient.

Wes joined Admiral Merchanton July 12, 2011, as our Directorof Driver Recruitment. He cameto us with over 40 years of handson experience in the trucking

industry, including drivingoperations management, and driverecruiting.

Those of you who have workedwith Wes know that he worktirelessly from early morning tolate at night, continually havingto re-charge his cell phone during“his” work day. Even after dealingwith a leg injury, he did not lose astep (no pun intended).

Those who have worked a LouisvilleTruck Show with him have seenthat Wes is one of the most popularindividuals in the entire, massiveexpo hall. It is not unusual to see

best in his retirement. We also lookforward to working with Bill in thefuture. Thanks, Hunt and Bill!

Congratulations to Sam Tims, ourbuilding engineer, who reachedhis 50th anniversary with theShort Companies this quarter!On March 7, 1966, Sam startedat the Leamington Motor Inn andthe Leamington Hotel, workingfor Ralph Meyer, who had a staff

of about eight at that time. As theShort Companies holdings grew,Sam also worked at numerousother hotels, restaurants andapartment buildings. In additionto maintaining and servicing thesebuildings, he also helped withwhatever was needed to keep allof these operations functioning,including checking people in,

serving as a bellhop, haulingliquor from the warehouse tothe Leamington Hotel, etc. Bythe time the Leamington Hotelclosed in 1987, though, many ofthe other hotels and properties

were also gone. Ralph Meyer wasstill working part-time, morningsuntil noon, when he passed awayin 1993. Nowadays, Sam (nostaff, just Sam!), is the engineerin charge of our building here at215 S. 11th Street and the FrancisDrake Hotel, which is operatedby a third party who leases thebuilding from us. He also helps outat Calhoun Towers as needed. Hepicks up our mail in the morningand takes the outgoing mail to thepost office in the afternoon, doesother deliveries and errands, as wellas anything else necessary to keepthe various businesses operating.He picks out the best Christmastrees ever! Sam is a huge sportsfan, watching virtually all sports,and enjoys discussing sports,current events and politics withothers in the lunchroom. He and

his wife Clara enjoy vacationingin warm places; they visit family inNorth Carolina, and they’ve beento Florida and on several cruises.Again, congratulations, Sam!

Finally, our last bit of news for thisquarter is that Brian’s daughterKathryn is engaged! She andher fiancé Sam are planning anOctober wedding. Congratulations,Kathryn and Sam!

Submitted by: Nancy Novack,Executive Assistant


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Eagle Awards

EAGLE AWARDS

two or three potential contractorrecruits standing in line waiting to

talk to him as he asks about theirwives, kids and the trucks that theydrive. Wes never stops recruiting,knowing that eventually he will getthe person he is after.

While at Admiral Merchants just arelatively few years, Wes has beendirectly or indirectly responsiblefor recruiting several hundredcontractors. If that weren’t enough,he has been directly involved

in bringing numerous agents toAdmiral Merchants who havecontributed to our continuedsuccess.

Congratulations, Wes!

FF&M Pipestone

Kristin MulderTeller

Submitted by: Linda Erickson,Customer Service Representative

Kristin Mulder is a shiningexample of the impact that an Eaglewho soars has on those around them.

Kristin’s work product and, mostimportantly, the leadership she hascultivated in her department havemade her an example of the traitsthat are embodied by those whoreceive this award. Kristin has

been responsible as Vault Tellerfor years in a high traffic, bustlingenvironment. She is committed tokeeping the area running smoothlyand effectively, always mindfulof how her foresight and insightaffect the company to keep risk at aminimum. In 2015, there was a majorprocess change in a report for whichKristin was directly responsible,and Kristin answered the callwonderfully. This weekly reportwas diligently completed, aheadof schedule at times, and directlyaffected both her department andthe Customer Service Department.In turn, Kristin’s efforts resultedin a noticeable improvement in theprocessing of closed accounts forPipestone.

Kristin can be counted on toknow bank procedures and put

this knowledge into practice forthe good of the organization.Recently, she was presented withdocuments on a busy Saturday fromindividuals wishing to take actionon a deceased customer’s account.Due to Kristin’s exceptionalknowledge of bank procedures, shewas able to interpret the documentsand save the bank from potentialloss or negative action. She alsoresolved the situation with tact

and diplomacy, resulting in thecustomer gaining understandingwithout contention.

Looking beyond her work product,Kristin’s leadership within herdepartment has been stellar. Shehas become the “go-to” person forher team, quick with a common



sense, judgment-based, andknowledgeable answer to thosearound her who seek her guidanceShe does a great job of identifyingchallenging situations that presentthemselves to her teammates and

steps in when necessary. Kristinhas become a mentor to new hireswith her training style that couplesa calm and respectful presentationwith a vast knowledge baseempowering those individualswith confidence. She is relied on tosolve problems quickly, showinginitiative without direction. Duringa blizzard this winter, Kristin’squick thinking regarding staffingissues caused by the weatherensured that needed coverage wasestablished while allowing herout-of-town team members to gethome safely. The result of thisoutstanding leadership has been ateam that relies on each other andtrusts each other.

Congratulations, Kristin!

FF&M St. Paul

Jessica McGeeVice President and CommercialLenderSubmitted by: Pete LaNasaPresident

Jessica McGee has been a greataddition to the staff of FirstFarmers & Merchants Bank, St

Paul, since joining us in Januaryof 2011. Brian Short and AndyNoll will attest to the difficulty ofconvincing me to add an employeeto what has been for many years atwo-person office. The anxiety of


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20

EAGLE AWARDS(continued from page 19)

Eagle Awards / Wellness

adding a new personality was anobstacle to overcome, but fromday one, Jessie’s ability to train meminimized those issues. Jessie’sdedication to the company and ourcustomers has been second to none.She understands the importance ofgood quality loan growth, while

at the same time managing thedetails of some very complicatedcredits and the personalities ofour customers. Jessie has steppedin on many occasions to suggest

different pricing strategies fromothers within our organizationthat, frankly, resulted in a moreprofitable opportunity for the bank.Her attention to file managementis an important strength, as filemanagement becomes increasinglymore difficult when handling someof the larger participations ourorganization is involved in.

Jessie has adapted very well to

the St. Paul office’s tradition ofhigh quality customer service. Sheis not afraid to go the extra milefor customers, puts in hours to getthings done on a timely basis, andlooks for solutions when problemsarise. Jessie has developed a verypositive relationship with the St.Paul office’s customers, manyof whom have had a very closerelationship with me for many

years. There is not one customerwho hasn’t been comfortabledealing with Jessie in my absencewhich frankly had been a bigconcern of mine. Her professional

approach has been very positiveThe respect she shows to othershas allowed her to develop herown relationship with customersof mine.

Although we expect every oneof our employees to be honestand trustworthy, it is all the moreimportant in an office with onlythree employees. We are constantlybeing pushed on the issue of

separation of duties, coverage forhours, etc. Jessie’s commitmentand understanding of these issuesis positive, and she frequentlyreminds Gina Davis and me tomake sure these issues are takencare of.

Thanks, Jessie, for all of yourcontributions to FF&M, andcongratulations on this EagleAward!

One Hundred and Forty Six That is right;we have 146e m p l o y e e sp a r t i c i p a t i n g

in the Short Companies FitbitChallenge 2016! I am excited thatso many of you signed up and areparticipating in the program. It istoo early to share March’s results,but February’s were absolutelyamazing. All but seven participantsmade the minimum requirementand 84 achieved the 300,000 stepgoal.

From numerous conversations I

have had, it sounds like ‘gettingour steps in’ is definitely on ourminds. For example, while thebank presidents were attending aWild hockey game, some of theattendees were spotted walkingthe arena during the intermissions.I know for a fact there are a fewindividuals in the Minneapolisoffice who take a lot of pride whenthey can outstep their co-worker(s),and I’m guessing that is happeningeverywhere. I’m imagining withthe 100% participation in Luverne,Pipestone and the Data Center,there is a lot of competition. If you

didn’t initially sign up but want to join, just let me know.

With this program, many of us arechasing after that elusive top spoton the leaderboard and wonderingwho Becky C is. Is she unbeatable?Blaming writers block, I convincedBecky C to share her daily routinethat has her averaging 13 miles aday and a total of 810,858 steps inFebruary, and as I write this, over850,000 steps in March.



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Customer Service Week

Customer Service

As 2016 progresses, our CustomerService Superhero Powers andCommitment have continued toevolve by each one of us servicingour customers to the highestlevel. We acknowledge the fact

that we are indeed in the serviceindustry and we are willing andable to exhibit Customer ServiceSuper-Human Superhero Powersconstantly without fail.

Reflections of our SuperheroPowers:

• We are mere mortals exhibitingsuper-human customer servicecharacteristics.“Super Fast Service”“Super Postive Attitude”“Super Customer Relations”“Super Listening Abilities”“Super Flexible”• We are dedicated to servingour customers.“I plan on achieving a greaattendance record and making sureevery day my balancing report isright on! I’m always going to tryand take my time counting moneyback to my wonderful customers

and I’m going to prove to myseland my wonderful co-workers whaI’m capable of and show them alwhat I have to offer! This is only thebeginning and I’m so excited to star(over) with my new adventure!”• We are sincere do-goodersworking undercover to solve ourcustomer’s problems.“I feel like a super do-gooder whenI am able to help a customer withtheir daily banking needs or assis

with finding a solution to theirproblems.”• We work above and beyond tohelp perfect strangers. “After noticing on the ClosedAccounts Report this morning thaa customer's savings account wasclosed, I did some investigating andcalled the customer. I did not recalthis customer coming in recentlyto close this account. I found Markhad an automatic OD transfer se

up which caused a zero balancein his SAV, which in turn causedhis SAV to close automatically. Icalled Mark, informed him whahappened and asked if he wantedme to transfer from his CKG to

Becky C is known to us at Admiralas Becky Cao. She just celebrated18 years of service working full-time in the Billing and ProcessingDepartment and is the mother oftwo very active kids, ages 11 and7.

Her daily workout routine is asfollows:• 4:50 a.m.: 50 minutes treadmillrunning• 5:40 a.m.: 35 minutes weightedhula hoop• 6:15 a.m.: 15 minutes ab work

• 10:00 a.m.: walks a mile duringher morning 15 minute break • 12:00 p.m.: walks at least 2miles during part of her lunchbreak • 3:00 p.m.: walks a mile duringher afternoon 15 minute break • 9:00 p.m.: 30 minutes ofweighted hula hoop• 9:30 p.m.: 15-30 minutes ofweight lifting

Here is Becky C, on the right,before a 5k race which she ran inunder 23 minutes.

Now that we know Becky C’sroutine, I wonder who will top theleaderboard in April? Good luckand happy stepping!

Submitted by: Augusta Kirk, HRDirector

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX



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22

News

re-open the SAV. He authorizedthis transfer, and I ran the ticketswith the tran code to reopen hisaccount. The customer thanked mefor catching this and for contactinghim to correct it.”• We are doing our jobs withrewarding customer results.“I go out of my way to cheer upand calm drivers, make themlaugh, or just let them vent whenthey have had a bad day, bad trip or

are stressed out. A sympathetic ear,kind words, and a little humor canmake a big difference in turninga bad day around, and it takes solittle effort on our part to make ithappen!”• We exhibit and observe super-heroes in action every day.“I am constantly reminded of theimportance for customer servicewith drivers, agents, customers andteam members. Most recently I havebeen working closely with agentsto execute the online dispatch.This has been a big endeavor forthe company and a result requiringlearning for many of our agents.”

Why… Because we are “EverydayHeroes.”

Submitted by: Pat Gegner, CreditManager, Admiral Merchants, and

CSW Chair

EVERYDAYHEROES(continued from page 21)

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

FF&M AUSTIN

Connie Sprung and husbandWendel have welcomed anothergrandchild. Claire Marie wasborn January 15 to Ben and KaylaSprung.

FF&M CANNON FALLS

Please see the Cannon FallsUpdate on page 6 for several babyannouncements.

FF&M LUVERNE

Peg Gacke proudly announces thebirth of her first granddaughter.Adalynn Jewell Peterson wasborn February 22 and weighed7lbs. 8 oz. Congratulations, Peg and Vince!

Brian Short in red

Go Red forWomen –N a t i o n a lWear RedDay is

sponsoredby the American Heart AssociationHeld on the first Friday in Februaryeach year, 2016 was the 13thanniversary of this event to raiseawareness about heart disease beingthe No. 1 killer of women. Heartdisease and stroke cause one inthree deaths among women, killingapproximately one woman every 80seconds. Fortunately, 80% of cardiacand stroke events may be preventedwith education and action. NationalWear Red Day encourages awarenessand education, while donationsto Go Red for Women supporcardiovascular health research.

As you can see throughout thisnewsletter, the teams at most of ourlocations wore red on February 5Brian was out of town that day, buthe sent this “selfie” to show us that

he was wearing red as well.

Thanks to all of the teams whoparticipated, helping to raiseawareness in the communities weserve.


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23

News

ANNIVERSARIES

NEW EMPLOYEES

ADMIRAL MERCHANTS

Mike Fielding 33 yearsJim Mallinger 33 yearsJan Muellner 33 yearsLisa Hofer 19 yearsBecky Cao 18 yearsMark Wothe 18 yearsTyra James 16 yearsBrent Layton 12 yearsNate Sarchet 9 yearsSuzanne Keller 5 yearsRhonda Anderson 2 yearsMike Griffin 2 years

FF&M CANNON FALLS

Brenda Jackson 24 yearsAmy Furlong 13 yearsDeanna Hochmuth 11 yearsCathy Thumann 11 years

FF&M Fairmont

Joan Meyer 20 years

FF&M LE SUEUR

Sue Kahle 16 yearsTom Obele 11 yearsChristina Bauman 2 years

FF&M LUVERNE

Carol Foster 25 years

Paulette Richters 10 years

FF&M PIPESTONE

Rhonda Smith 30 years

ADMIRAL MERCHANTS

Kim Krause Freight CoordinatorDoug Milroy VP OperationsKaren Preusser Legalization

Specialist

FF&M AUSTIN/BROWNSDALE/SARGEANT

Patty Tewes Operations Manager

FF&M BROWNSDALE

Darcy Drake-Tapp LoanAdministrative Assistant

FF&M CANNON FALLS

Kelsey Reddel CSR/Teller(Econo)

Marlene Kokkeler Part-timeTeller (Econo)

Jennifer Buck Teller (MainBranch)

FF&M GOODHUE

Katie Brinkman TellerMiranda Osterberg Teller

Dianne Pank Teller

FF&M GRAND MEADOW

Dayna Stier Loan Assistant

FF&M RED WING

Lynette Smerud 13 years

Debbie Knowlton 13 yearsMartha Hanson 9 years

FF&M STEWARTVILLE

Jan Cowan 6 years

LEAMINGTON CO.

Sam Tims 50 years

Robert Smith 38 years

FF&M LUVERNE –

DATA CENTER

Brian Mitchell VP of InformationSystems

Mary Kriesel TrainingCoordinator

(offices in Cannon FallsOperations Center)

FF&M STEWARTVILLE

Sabrina Kingery Teller/CSR


24/24

Hooray!

SHORT COMPANIES

215 South 11th Street Minneapolis, MN 55403

(612) 332-4732

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hooray! spring 2016 newsletter

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