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Other Testimonials
CSB Takes the Time to Understand What We're About
Some business owners value a personal relationship with the people they do business with above all else. That's the case for the sister and brother team of Kelly and Russ Barker of MetroSweep, and the main reason they've switched to Clarkston State Bank.
Over the years, they have had many requests from other banks to switch their accounts, but it was the people of CSB who appealed to Kelly's and Russ's sense of family ideals.
"We've probably been approached by every bank in this area," said Kelly. "We had been with the same bank for 21 years. But after that bank implemented decentralized management, we found that decisions which affected our banking services we needed, but still had the personal feel. Their senior personnel took the time to understand what we're about, who our client base is and what services we provide. They were not just interested in our gross revenues but our ability to continue to grow and prosper. We found a bank with the vision of an entrepreneur."
MetroSweep is a 24/7 operation serving over 2,000+ commercial and industrial customers. MetroSweep provides parking lot and roadway sweeping along with the drain structure cleaning and jetting in a seven-county area. "We service customers on a repetitive basis, we get to now the project managers and owners, and in our business relationships we seek out opportunities to work with others who are relationship driven," Kelly explained. "We want someone to 'take it personally', because we take our business personally. Althought pricing and interest rates are important, many banks can offer low prices, but there are lots of hoops a business owner needs to jump through. CSB understands us and our business which eliminated many of those hoops. The decisions were being made locally by people we met, not out of state by someone who didn't know who we were and what we did for a living.
"Our business is equipment intensive. For instance," said Kelly, "We buy equipment in and out of the United States. Russ recently purchased two new pieces for the Spring start-up. To get the best deal we have to be able to fund quickly. By utilizing our line of credit we have a competitive edge so he can make the best deals knowing he's got access to funds right away."
The ease of working with CSB's V.P. and Commercial Lender Tom Clarke and V.P. and Senior Lender Jim Jeszke convinced Russ and Kelly to move their company deposits and personal accounts to CSB too. "We have direct deposit for our payroll account and we encourage our employees to switch to CSB too. We made a total commitment to CSB," said Kelly.
CSB's courier service for commercial accounts is a real time saver. MetroSweep's accounting manager is no longer standing in line at a bank, or sitting in traffic on busy M-59 during the afternoon rush hour to make daily deposits.
An occurrence at CSB's community picnic last summer underscores the importance of a total relationship between MetroSweep and CSB: "We met members of the CSB's Board of Directors who thanked us for our business, and in our discussions it was once again clear that we were not just another depositor to them, they really took the time to show us that they wanted to do business with us. That meant so much to us and we knew that we found a banking home," said Kelly.
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