Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 11

141 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 President & Commercial Lending Manager, attests, “During the pandemic, our role as a community bank and partner with our businesses was to provide a sense of stability and comfort to them that we will weather this together. I believe work in its pure form is an act of service to others and a way to honor the way God created us in our specific gifts and talents. Because of that, during COVID, I feel we were able to provide peace and order in the chaos. With all the information coming out about PPP loans from the SBA, it was an overwhelming time but our team really rallied together to serve our customers and community in a way that I hope made a difference and lasting impression on them, as it did me.” Over the years, the bank has invested in enhancements to their online technology offering. In Jan. 2020, the IT department had been playing with a new VPN service and, when COVID hit, leadership made the decision to send over half of the bank’s employees home to work, knowing they had the VPN infrastructure in place; all they had to do was find additional laptops. By the end of March 2020, they were fully staffed from home, and when the Paycheck Protection Program was rolled out, they did two and a half years’ worth of loan production (237 loans) in 25 business days. Griffin reports, “Our team really stepped up, and our focus on technology over the years to take care of our customers certainly paid off in this pandemic time.” In other upgrades at the bank, the STS Group has just installed security systems and are beginning a renovation of the safe box area, as well as working on an offsite operations center. Griffin notes, “STS has been very responsive to the things we need – they are experts in their field and we look forward to a long relationship with them.” Company culture is an area of ultimate importance to everyone involved with Flint Community Bank. As Tomlinson shares, “Culture FL INT COMMUNI TY BANK is really a layer above customer service. We’ve developed a culture as a community bank where we want to be the employer of choice, and the bank of choice, and we support causes in our community. Our team puts together large events every year that benefit this community in very meaningful ways and it’s because they want to do it. It’s not about making money, but folks see us as caring more, and as a result they want to come here to do business.” Looking ahead, Tomlinson adds, “We could be on the edge of a challenging three to five years, and we have to focus on a way to stay relevant in this industry in the face of fintech, Oakie Award Cookout Frank Griffin working with Glenn