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Tales of a Frankenbranch

Nestled in a quaint, mist covered valley, far from the maddening crowd of the easterly metropolis, there was a branch.

It was the first branch. It was the flagship branch.

Then, it was an old branch, built and built again, cobbled together from disparate parts across several decades.

It was a Frankenbranch.

A stitch work job, it had different styles from different decades. It resembled a branch, but was something horrifyingly different.

It started off as the main branch in a proud paper mill town in the 1980’s. The branch’s street level floor carried much of the transactional load, while a small upstairs space acted as a meeting room. Eventually, it gave way to a series of expansions. While the expansion efforts successfully achieved the goal of expanding the overall square footage, they never took into consideration previous design elements. And don’t even start on the construction engineering side of the story…

One crew set out to do the job without any knowledge of the mechanics of the previous construction.

It wasn’t even really their fault. Plans were lost. People changed. Memories fade. Guesses were made. Lots of band-aids and looking the other way.

But what didn’t fade, or rather, what became increasingly obvious as the years turned to decades, was a patched together branch. It was undoubtedly historic, but also unabashedly stitched together to create a monster of a branch in which “good customer service” was a scary proposition.

It just wasn’t working anymore.

So…
Who you gonna call?

Enter the Branchbusters at LEVEL5, the nation’s leading Design-Build firm. They turn the country’s Frankenbranches into beautifully designed, expertly built revenue driving beacons on the hill that often times act as the prototype for high growth financial institutions.

Working with the existing infrastructure and maintaining the historical integrity of the building, the LEVEL5 design team crafted a modern branch that echoed the brand.

The construction crews never closed the branch to its members. Behind the scenes, however, on nights and weekends, they worked. They ripped out walls, re-established load bearing walls, refined the footprint for a better consumer experience, and reinvented a branch from the studs. The result delivered was a new, highly functioning branch. It was as if it had been built from the ground up.

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Entrusting a New Branch Experience for Farmers Bank & Trust

Magnolia, AR – Farmers Bank & Trust announced today the ground breaking of a new branch concept to be developed in Prosper, TX. The Bank partnered with Atlanta-based LEVEL5 (www.level5.com), a leading national design-build firm specializing in financial institutions. The branch represents a departure from the way Farmers traditionally operates their branches by adopting an open concept with a focus on customer experience and technology.

Chris Gosnell, President and CEO of the Bank stated, “Although customers continue to desire digital banking channels (online and mobile), the physical branch still plays a key role in the process. Our new Prosper Branch is being developed to break the traditional mold and allow our team to build deeper relationships with customers. And, we are including Interactive Teller Machines in the drive-thru for greater customer convenience.”

Brad Eller, CEO of LEVEL5 continued, “Branching today is less and less about transactions, and more about creating opportunity for customers to obtain counsel from their bankers. Financial Institutions across the U.S. seek out our team’s expertise, so their companies can maximize the impact of their branches.”

Joe Pieratt, Chief Operations Officer of the Bank offered, “We chose LEVEL5 as our partner for this project because they specialize in the design and construction of bank branches. Their team understands how function, brand experience and technology work together to optimize branching. The fact that they not only design facilities, but also construct, provides tremendous value for Farmers Bank & Trust.”

About LEVEL5

Headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in Raleigh, Dallas and Salt Lake City, LEVEL5 is a complete design-build solution that works exclusively with financial institutions across the United States. For nearly two decades, LEVEL5 has assisted hundreds of financial institutions in the development and implementation of growth strategies through its unique service model that marries site selection (consulting and real estate) with design-build (design, construction, and innovation) to maximize results.

SPC Credit Union – Branching for the Future

SPC Credit Union Introduces New Branch Approach to Florence

LEVEL5 recently celebrated the grand opening for SPC Credit Union’s New Florence Branch. The branch is the Credit Union’s first opportunity to introduce a retail-focused approach to banking for its membership and community.

Linda Weatherford, President and CEO stated, “We are excited about what we’ve accomplish in this branch. Our focus was first to create a branch that is warm and inviting, so we could introduce a new approach to branching. In Florence, the demographics skew younger, so we wanted to create an experience that would appeal to them through the use of design elements, branding and technology.”

The Florence Branch (shown below) is a departure from traditional banking. Instead a of a teller line, the Credit Union choose to deploy a pod environment. By eliminating physical barriers, the Credit Union is creating more opportunities for face-to-face conversation with its consumers. The Credit Union’s brand message of “Banking with a Heart” is layered throughout the experience.

Mrs. Weatherford continued, “We believe that nothing replaces sitting down with a member to establish trust. The value of LEVEL5 is their team truly understands what works in the design-build of branches. Their team brought together all the design, branding, technology and training (with the construction), so that we can embrace branching for the future.”

Watch the Florence Branch come to life below:

To learn how we can help you redefine your brand experience in your branch, contact us today:

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Mazuma Olathe Branch | Futuristic Beacon, Sitting on a Hill


Team and Technology come together in the Mazuma Olathe Branch of the Future

Today’s financial world is complex and ever-changing. Technology is moving at warp speeds and consumers are often left wondering what to do next. To combat this problem, we are proud to introduce Mazuma Credit Union’s new Olathe Branch. This branch of the future combines people and technology in a model that allows Mazuma to serve its consumers and communities in a completely new way.

Far from the transaction being the focus, this new branch brings the company’s unique culture and experience to Olathe. The branch is small – less than 2,000 square feet – and uses a small staff. But, it makes a big impact through the use of branding and technology. Interactive video and smart ATMs are implemented in the branch and drive-up, to bring efficiency and full-service to the entire community.

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The branch’s staff describes it as a “Futuristic Beacon, Sitting on a Hill”. (Very similar to what they said about the main office!) But, don’t take our word for it! Check out the images above, and watch the video of the finished product. Then, you can decide for yourself.

The Branch of the Future is such a mystery to so many banks and credit unions. Maybe it’s because they don’t know how to define it.

What if it was as simple as a three-legged stool?

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