Banking Through a Snowstorm
Farmers were still in the fields harvesting crops, street crews couldn’t get out, and the only way to travel across town was if you had 4-wheel drive or a snowmobile.
In North Dakota, there’s never a shortage of snow. In fact, sometimes the snow likes to pop in every now and then uninvited just to make sure we haven’t forgotten about it. That was the case for Grafton and much of the northern part of the state when the first big snowstorm of the year decided to rear its head at the beginning of October.
The storm was sudden and unexpected. Farmers were still in the fields harvesting crops, street crews couldn’t get out, and the only way to travel across town was if you had 4-wheel drive or a snowmobile.
By opening hours at the Choice Bank location in Grafton, Denny and Darren were the only ones who had managed to make it into the office.
“If I can get to work, I’ll get to work. And if I can give someone a ride I’ll do it,” said Denny, Business Development Officer. “Snow can’t stop us from doing our work!”
“If I can get to work, I’ll get to work. And if I can give someone a ride I’ll do it. Snow can’t stop us from doing our work!”
After a quiet half an hour in the office, they got their first phone call from a customer, the local bar. With the snowstorm showing no signs of letting up, the customer explained that they wouldn’t be able to safely come out to the bank to get change.
“Most businesses were closed and the ones that were open that were experiencing any foot traffic were the bars and the grocery store,” explained Denny.
Without any hesitation, Denny volunteered to put the change order together and offered to drive it out to the bar. He quickly layered up in his winter gear, brushed off his truck and took off to brave the storm.
After a slow drive, Denny finally made it to the bar and was warmly greeted by the bar staff.
Whether it was 20 inches or 2 inches of snow made no difference to Denny: he was going to do whatever it took to help his customer.
“The first thing they did was offer me a drink, but of course I had to decline!” said Denny. “I had to head back in case someone else needed something.”
Just as he was starting to leave Denny asked if there was anything else he could do for them.
“We need to make a deposit. Would you be able to take it back to the bank with you?”
“You bet,” said Denny. And then he was off.
As soon as he made it back to the bank, Denny made their deposit and settled back into work, ready to take off at a moment’s notice if another customer needed some help.
Thankfully, the rest of the day managed to pass by rather uneventfully, and by the time the snowstorm cleared it had left up to 20 inches of snow on the ground. But whether it was 20 inches or 2 inches of snow made no difference to Denny: he was going to do whatever it took to help his customer.
“If this would have happened at any one of our locations they would have done the same thing I did.”
Denny is also quick to point out that he’s not the only one that would go above and beyond for a customer.
“Every one of our customers is number one in our book,” said Denny. “If this would have happened at any one of our locations they would have done the same thing I did.”
Why?
“That’s just the way we roll,” smiled Denny.Our
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