2009 Rising Stars in Banking: Lisa Artz

Lisa Artz joined Grafton, N.D.-based Choice Financial Group in 2004, after Community First, the Fargo bank where she had started her career, merged with San Francisco-based Bank of the West..In the four-and-a-half years since then, Artz, a West Fargo-based executive vice president responsible for sales and marketing, has helped develop and launch important initiatives, including the bank's successful health savings account and its e-deposit program. She has also played crucial roles in employee development programs such as Trusted Advisor and Choice University.."She has been an integral part in the doubling of Choice from $262 million when she joined the company to over $530 million today," said Lynn Paulson, Choice Financial's CEO..Artz said that her first initiative after joining the bank was "a full brand analysis, to make sure that all of our materials—our brochures, our stationery products and our advertising materials—had a good, consistent use of our brand.".The company had "relied on our local newspapers to do all of our ads and some were hand drawn; our logo was sometimes misplaced or misused," she said..In 2005, the company introduced health savings accounts. Today it has "close to 5,000 accounts and accountholders in 50 states, and we're able to support that all internally," Artz said..A full-time employee sells the bank's HSAs, and there are two other employees for account service.."Lynn Paulson is very visionary and he recognized that this was one of those products that was really going to take off," she said. "We just bit the bullet and made sure we dedicated resources toward it." Now the bank is well ahead of many of its peers with that product line, she said..Artz also introduced the company's internal "Purple Cow" program, based on the book by Seth Godin. Through an intranet-based form and location-specific recognition events, the program encourages employees at Choice Financial's nine North Dakota and one separately chartered Minnesota location to submit original ideas for process improvements, community initiatives, company cost savings and "out-of-the-box customer benefits." About 400 ideas have been submitted so far. Some are "put out to pasture," Artz said, but about 100 have been accepted by the Purple Cow review committee and are being implemented in the bank..The best-known example is the bank's Random Acts of Kindness initiative, in which employees are reimbursed for good community deeds, such as picking up the grocery bill or paying for car washes for people they meet in their communities. Choice recently introduced school spirit debit cards, through which the bank donates a percentage of purchases to cardholder-designated schools; an ag lender at the bank submitted the idea through Purple Cow.."This is a way to make sure we have a more involved and engaged workforce. Also, it provides them a good avenue for submitting ideas, and they feel comfortable doing that," Artz said..In addition to her trailblazing work in the bank, Paulson said Artz was the first person in North Dakota to receive the Certified Financial Marketing Professional designation through the American Bankers Association. The certification involved on-campus instruction at Northwestern University in Chicago, homework, projects and a written exam. "It was an exceptional experience," Artz said.."We as an organization believe in continuous learning. You aren't moving forward if you aren't learning…it's very much a natural part of what we do," she said..Artz's work outside the bank includes board membership for the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota and for the Advertising Federation of Fargo-Moorhead. She also volunteers with her husband's El Zagel Shrine unit. Twice each year, Artz gives classroom presentations to first graders on work, family and financial literacy, through the Fargo-Moorhead chapter of Junior Achievement.."I love the kids," she said.Other 2009 Rising Stars in Banking include:David Wittenberg, United Prairie Bank, Mankato, Minn.Brad Koehn, F&M Bank, West Point, Neb.Amy Thiede, Prairie Community Bank, Marengo, Ill.Mike Stratton, Better Banks, Bartonville, Ill.Greg Vetter, American Bank Center, Bismarck, N.D.Barbara Finney, MidWestOne Bank, Oskaloosa, IowaAnthony Gambaiani, Jackson County Bank, Seymour, Ind.