Bank Iowa Announces Winners of “Living our Values” Awards
1/31/2022(Des Moines, Iowa – January 31, 2022) – Bank Iowa today announced the winners of the family-owned bank’s second annual Living our Values awards. The awards recognize team members who have acted in alignment with one or more of Bank Iowa’s four core values: Be People Centered, Bring Your Best, Enable Great Things and Think Big.
Honored this year were the following team members:
The Be People Centered award went to Isabelle Scully, loan operations manager based in Bank Iowa’s Oskaloosa location. Scully is someone all Bank Iowa team members can count on. Colleagues say she often has a full plate of fires to put out, but is willing to set that aside if someone else needs help. She has made her team feel like a family, always leading with a smile and praising even the smallest of accomplishments. She is a visionary, continuously bringing ideas for how to make the bank run more efficiently to life.
The Bring Your Best award went to Carol Ricker from Bank Iowa’s corporate office. A mortgage operations manager, Ricker performed at an exceptionally high level over the past year, contributing to a nearly 230-percent increase over the bank’s previous record year in residential real estate loans. She played a significant role in the growth of the bank’s mortgage department through the training of team members, monitoring of compliance issues and creating efficiencies with the bank’s loan origination software system.
The Enable Great Things award went to Kim Berns from Bank Iowa’s New Hampton location. Berns has earned a reputation both within Bank Iowa and the community as a doer, achiever and someone genuinely interested in helping her clients achieve their financial dreams. She is always willing to help, regularly giving her time and talents to internal training initiatives. Berns was instrumental in helping Bank Iowa approve just under $137 million in PPP loans across both 2020 and 2021. She also helped onboard a significant new client for Bank Iowa, bringing the City of New Hampton’s new telecom system into the Bank Iowa family in 2021.
The Think Big award went to Dyanne Poppen of Bank Iowa’s Humboldt location. Poppen took the initiative to help not only her clients and those of her Humboldt region colleagues navigate the PPP loan process, but clients throughout the bank’s 23 regions. Lenders across the bank became so comfortable with her knowledge and skill that they often conferred with her before submitting applications. This is in alignment with how Poppen approaches all her work, pushing past roadblocks and exercising creativity throughout her day. Most recently, she helped innovate an internal process for submitting PPP loan forgiveness applications, as well as for monitoring and processing loan payments in a seamless way that feels effortless to the bank’s clients.
Bank Iowa also recognized the Shenandoah region office for volunteer service exceeding 1,230 hours in 2020. In honor of this award, Bank Iowa will donate $500 in the Shenandoah region’s name to a charity or cause of its choosing.
About Bank Iowa
With more than $1.7 billion in assets, Bank Iowa ranks as one of the leading independent ag banks and the second-largest family-owned bank in the state. Farmers, families and businesses access Bank Iowa’s products and services through 26 locations in 23 communities, as well as online and on mobile devices. To learn more, visit bankiowa.bank. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. ♦
