Independent Banker - March 2019 - 88

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Suzanne Sjoselius of Northeast Bank (center) and East Side Neighborhood Services'
president Kristine Martin and senior advancement off icer Mary Anstett pose with banners
detailing the nonprofit's 104-year history.
tax-increment fi nancing to get ESNS
a better rate and give the community
bank a tax break-a win-win scenario.
" We would not have gotten that if we
had gone with a large bank that isn't in
the community, " Martin adds.
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A gift that keeps on giving
Northeast Bank and its community
continue to see a return on the bank's
investment in ESNS, staff say.
Beck, who has two millennial children,
says the community bank's volunteer
eff orts and philanthropy set it
apart from other fi nancial institutions
in the eyes of socially conscious young
people, which is especially important
given Minneapolis' extremely low unemployment
rate. " I'm fi nding out as
we hire people that they want something
diff erent, " he says. " They want
something more. They want to make a
diff erence, more than just a paycheck. "
Suzanne Sjoselius, the community
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bank's director of risk management
and marketing, says the bank will continue
to benefi t from these younger
employees taking up the partnership
with ESNS. " Tom [Beck] and I will go
someday and somebody else will replace
us, but hopefully that next generation
of bankers is going to be out
there with their feet on the ground
working with the community, " says
Sjoselius, who sat on the ESNS board
for 14 years.
Northeast Bank's giving hasn't taken
away from the business. Northeast
Bank has maintained an " Outstanding "
CRA rating for more than 20
years. " We still make sound lending
decisions, but we're still lending to
communities where there's a need, "
Beck says.
Northeast Bank's commitment to its
community and employees was recognized
nationally in 2013 when it won
the Jeff erson Award, one of the country's
highest honors for public volunteerism.
Sjoselius-the bank's resident
ESNS " champion, " Beck says-described
the award as the " highlight " of
her career. Northeast Bank's work with
ESNS was a signifi cant part of why it
won. " Both organizations share a value,
and that's inclusion of all members
of the community, " she says. " East
Side has been a good fi t for me because
they operate with that too. "
Eric Best is deputy editor of
Independent Banker.
Doug Knutson
http://www.Independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - March 2019

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