Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 8

108 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 8 experience; however, the timing could have been better. Fortin acknowledges, “They did a really nice job. We love our branch. It was built to be much more open and provide closer contact with the customer utilizing teller pods. It was just a little more of a challenge when we had to keep people separated.” GEM Facility Management, has been instrumental in keeping things running smoothly for First Fed Delta. When the bank had to replace two roofs in the past year, the GEM team quickly took care of it. “We started using them a couple years ago, and they have just been fantastic. They are our ‘easy button’ when we’ve had to work on different things, facility-wise,” reports Fortin. Involvement in area non-profit organizations such as the United Way and Chamber of Commerce is one way that First Fed Delta gives back to their community. Participation in local events such as the Delta Chicken Fest and other parades and festivals is also an ongoing activity for the bank. Last holiday season, instead of working through a lot more things electronically than we ever had in the past,” says Fortin. “Almost all our PPP lending was electronic because our customers did not want to come into the bank, and we were actually working as an executive team remotely. Because we did mortgage loans, a lot of our customers had banked personally with us, but not with their businesses. I would say 90 percent of them had a direct need, beginning day one, to retain employees. We were their only bank, so we really had to do this, to help get them that funding to keep their employees in place.” Fortin credits the expert assistance of both The Community Bankers Association of Ohio and The Ohio Bankers League during COVID for helping to navigate the resources and challenges that First Fed Delta faced as a smaller bank. In 2019 the bank relocated their Holland branch, working with The Douglas Company to build a brand-new building. They designed this branch to provide a more up close and personal