When Sierra Schram moved to Mill Creek three years ago, she didn’t know a lot about the community. “Sometimes Mill Creek gets overlooked because it’s nestled between Bothell, Lynnwood, and Everett,” she says. “It’s been fun to learn more about this area and opportunities to support the families and businesses that call Mill Creek home. Mill Creek is made up of a variety of residents and businesses that love this community and are part of its growth and success.”
Schram, the Retail Branch Manager at Peoples Bank in Mill Creek, grew up in Everson, in Whatcom County, and worked at the Bank for ten years before relocating to Mill Creek three years ago. “Everson is a very small town, so you can quickly learn a lot about the people there. It’s the type of town where everyone knows everyone,” she says. “Moving to Mill Creek was a chance to learn a different demographic and a different way of doing business, but I love that there are similarities, too. Mill Creek feels like a small town, nestled between the big cities. Going from my county life to this new life has been a great transition.”
Your Local Banking Partner
The Peoples Bank Mill Creek office opened in the Town Center area in June of 2006 and has operated as a full-service branch ever since. That means, in addition to the staff of Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) and managers customers see when they walk through the door, they can also find Commercial Banking Officer, Shawn Carlson, Small Business Lender Chris Martinez, and Financial Advisor Keith Hamilton. This tight crew serves the needs of all personal and business customers throughout the community.
Peoples Bank offers all the products and services you’ll find at the nation’s largest banks, with an enhanced focus on service and relationships. “We help local families in a variety of ways. We see a lot of checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs,” says Schram. “We also get the kids from Jackson High School coming in to open their first checking account with a debit card because they love to go across the street to buy coffee. That’s fun because you get to interact with the high school students, building relationships and helping them learn to do their banking.”
When it comes to business customers, the Mill Creek team works with large commercial clients, especially in the industrial arena and in construction. But Schram points out that a larger share of relationships is with small businesses.
“We’re a community bank, so most of our commercial customers are the people who live and work in our same area,” she says. “We offer a full range of treasury and merchant services. We can help customers get a small business loan and ensure we meet all the needs of their business.
Headquartered in Bellingham, Peoples Bank employs 450 people in 22 locations, from as far south as Seattle’s Ballard branch to its founding roots in Lynden — as well as a full-service branch in Wenatchee. That means there’s always someone available locally who can assist with a range of financial products, including home equity lines of credit, auto loans, mortgage refinance, and estate planning.
At Home in the Community
The Bank’s focus on building local relationships and supporting the community is demonstrated in a number of ways. Staff team members speak no less than five different languages, including French, Spanish, and Tagalog. Sac Nicte Cardenas is a Senior CSR who is also a certified medical interpreter in Spanish and uses her skills to help people with social services in the community. Another CSR, Jailene Tovar-Molina, spends time outside of the Bank teaching dance to kids in Snohomish County.
Schram herself serves on the boards of the Mill Creek Chamber of Commerce and the Mill Creek Town Center and works with the local arm of Junior Achievement, a nonprofit that gives students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Members of the Mill Creek office teach financial literacy to Jackson High School students, and the branch serves as host and sponsor for a variety of community events, including Mill Creek’s Summer Concert Series, Mill Creek Golf Classic, and the Mill Creek Festival.
To Schram, being Mill Creek’s community bank means being there to serve all aspects of the community’s financial needs while putting a personal touch on every interaction.
“You’re going to feel the warmth when you walk into our office, and you’re going to be greeted by name. We’re going to remember the things in your life that you shared with us,” she says. “One of the reasons I’ve stayed with Peoples Bank for over a decade is because of what a lot of my customers refer to as ‘old school banking.’ And because we are a full-service bank, you can come to us for anything you need. It’s a one-stop shop.”
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