Posted 6/13/01
First National Bank Stacy open for business after six-month overhaul
By Jason Sileo
The Stacy branch of the First National Bank has undergone a serious face lift and has re-opened for business following a six-month reconstruction and remodeling project.
Bank officials hosted an open house Friday, June 8, to offer customers a chance to take a look at the new improvements made at the facility over the course of the six-month remodeling project. This is not your standard re-carpeting job:
Weíre talking brand new Everything...
In addition to that new carpeting, all-new drive-up ATM services and a new vault with safe deposit boxes, the bank now boasts all brand new: sprinkler system, walls, teller areas, foyer, security system, roof, insulation, time and temperature clock, computer system, drive-thru banking canopy with widened access lanes, climate control system,office spaces and furniture, windows and phone system... among others.
The existing building, occupied by First National since 1977, was basically gutted down to the floorboards and completely re-done ó the results are impressive, offering a much improved and more secure bank for the Stacy area.
Many of the changes which have been implemented were a direct cause of a customer-opinion survey completed by the bank in the planning stages of the remodeling.
The time and temperature clock outside the bank, for instance, was the direct result of a particular customer who said thatís just what was needed. A wider access berth to the drive-up teller windows was also incorporated per customer feedback, said bank officials.
Many of the improvements were at the direction of Diane Barsness, branch manager, said John Huss, chairman.
Huss said many of the bankís customers replied in turn when they were asked, via the survey, ìWhat do you need and what do you want?î
Safe deposit box capacity has been doubled inside the ënewí facility ó secure behind some 10î of cold-to-the-touch bank vault door.
If you can see it, touch it or hear it inside the Stacy branch of the First National Bank, itís probably brand new ó with the exception of the bankís employees.
Every staffer present at the open house Friday agreed, the re-modeling was past due.
ìIt was time,î said Kenneth Heiser, bank president and CEO.
ìWe had outgrown what was here,î Huss said.
New windows were placed to provide additional natural lighting to the assorted office spaces in the building.
Most of the new features were designed with both the bankís employeesí as well as customersí comfort in mind.
Cameras record each angle of the buildingís interior and exterior 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Motion detectors further compliment the new security features at the facility.
Even with all the new technology on site, First National officials stressed that the human touch of a small town banking experience will not be lost at the Stacy branch.
ìA human being will always be first to answer the phone,î Heiser said. ìWe offer high-tech services with that human touch.î
The bank offers about every conceivable banking service known to the country today, including telephone and Internet services.
As for the First National, tiger-striped and ëloudí VW Bug you may see around town, itís not for sale nor part of a giveaway contest: bank employees at all the bankís branches get a chance to drive the car as their own for a day from time to time.
ìItís a moving billboard,î Heiser said, and besides that itís fun to drive.
First National operates eight different branches across Minnesota and Wisconsin. For more information, call the Stacy branch at (651) 462-1919, or, online, visit www.thefirstnationalbank.com.