the challenge: Creating a Holistic-Values Banking CultureNancy Little, Winter Park Branch Manager
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Nancy Little is always looking for opportunities to educate customers about the bank's values, and to provide services and products that support them in their regenerative practices, often partnering with other aligned organizations.
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Nancy Little joined First Green Bank in 2014 as manager of the Winter Park branch two weeks before the LEED Gold building in which it is housed opened for business. She had previously worked at a large Central Florida credit union, rising up through the ranks over five years from part-time teller to branch manager. She had always been drawn to community-based institutions and at the credit union she was seen as an expert “fixer upper,” moving from branch to branch to help strengthen their teams.
Sporting two tattoos on her wrists that say “dream” and “believe,” a nose ring, and, an “alternative” haircut, Nancy felt an immediate rapport with First Green Bank’s CEO Ken LaRoe who is himself known for his flamboyant style: “Ken is super eccentric and I love it because I am not your typical banker either,” she reports. Her first months at the new branch were a trial by fire, but Nancy was immediately energized by her customer's curiosity about the bank’s culture, many lingering after their transactions to ask questions. “Winter Park is an affluent community,” Nancy explains. “Many people had done their research about the bank and knew we had strong assets and deposits." |
"But," she reports," others had been watching the building under construction, and connected to our mission, and the green piece drew them to us.
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They wanted to know more and how that related to our product offerings.”
Nancy is proud of the transparency of the bank’s product offerings: “In my elevator speech,” she reports, “I typically say what we do is simply to do the right thing. We are not a fee-driven institution; we are not going to nickel-and-dime our customers. We are there to provide exceptional service and it really does resonate. I am very passionate about it.” That service is very much “high touch,” because First Green does not have a 24-hour call center like larger banks. Nancy gives her cell phone number to customers and, she says, “People text me or call me on Saturday if they swipe their debit card and it is not going through. At a larger institution a customer wouldn't be able to get in touch with their personal banker or they are waiting 2 days to hear back. Here we have a sundown rule. Even if I don’t have a resolution I will at least call you and let you know I have not forgotten.” The Winter Park branch, like all First Green branches, aggressively markets loans for residential solar panel installation. “There are not a lot of attractive outlets for solar panel loans out here,” Nancy explains. “You might have the option of doing a home equity loan, but then there is a lien against your home.” The other options installers may be able to offer clients are interest only payments for a year with interest skyrocketing to 18 percent thereafter. First Green’s solar panel loan is unique in that it is the panel system only that is the collateral for the loan. “Our loans are strategically designed to make the payment in a way that is comfortable for the consumer,” Nancy explains. “Right now it is 5.95 percent fixed for 20 years and there is no prepayment penalty.” She explains that the bank is always looking for other opportunities to educate and influence customers about the bank’s values. |
When someone is approved for a home equity loan for a backyard pool, for example, a bank representatives will suggest solar pumps for the pool or for their home. “It is in every conversation we have,” she reports.
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Nancy has cultivated relationships with the most reputable solar panel installers in the area and reports that representatives from a local solar cooperative, East Orange Co-op, were recently invited to speak at a community event at the Winter Park branch. “People not only got to speak to the solar contractors and find out why solar is a good option but also why the co-op is going to be beneficial for them. So it was an all encompassing discussion,” she reports.
Other after hours events include lectures on holistic health care and with another local organization, Green Destination Orlando. “It is a win/win,” she notes, “we have a great location, inviting groups that are aligned with our mission and that brings new people into the branch who are also mission-aligned.” Nancy works closely with other values-aligned organizations, including a nonprofit headquartered in south Florida, Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF), that focuses on energy retrofits and upgrades and can help First Green customers when the bank doesn’t provide a loan for their needs. Nancy is also active in a local arts organization, Village 2100 Green Arts Program, that sponsors sustainably focused arts competitions and traveling shows for children from grade 2 through high school. Achieving work life balance has been difficult for someone who is a reflexive problem-solver like Nancy. “I have never been monetarily driven,” she says, “and I have difficulty saying no and balancing things with a 3-year-old at home. I want to focus more on my family now and I have a fabulous team here that I am really connected with and have great confidence in.” What won’t change, Nancy says, is her commitment to the bank and what it stands for. |
“What the bank does in the community really speaks to me,” she reports. “I feel it has made me a better person.
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FGB Credit Analyst Justin Allender
"I am not saying we put the environment ahead of the economy. I am talking about making ethical and moral decisions as part of our economic decisions." READ MORE |
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FGB Teller Jessica Schwarz
"We see this new account as our way of being there for people in our community who are living paycheck to paycheck." READ MORE |
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Annette Snedaker
“I guess Ken thought that if I could get people to go to church in this day and age, I might be able to help people live deeper into First Green Bank’s mission and build relationships with us based on that.” READ MORE |
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Kelly Krusoe
“We are all trying to make a difference in the community, to be focused on sustainability and not just on making money." READ MORE |
