CIANJ Commerce Magazine September 2020 Live | Page 28

■ Annual Best Practices Guide
Continued From Page 24
BANKING
COMMUNITY
Peapack-Gladstone Bank
By Douglas L. Kennedy,
President and CEO
We have had to adapt quickly
and often to the challenging
environment. From the beginning,
our focus has been the
health and safety of our employees and clients.
We quickly shifted to a remote working environment
for all back-office staff, and instituted
drive-up only banking at our locations. We
ensured all online, mobile and ATM banking
programs were fully operational. Doing this
has allowed us to remain open throughout
the pandemic, ensuring that our clients can
continue to adapt as well. We’ve outfitted
each location with partitions and require face
coverings for all in-person interactions. We’ve
incorporated virtual Zoom meetings into our
everyday life, whether it’s employee–to–employee
or, now, employee–to–client. For example,
we realize there is still a need for clients
to speak directly with our staff, so we’ve reinvented
how we open accounts, which we can
now do quickly and easily through a virtual
meeting.
Valley Bank
By Ira Robbins,
President and CEO
COVID‐19 impacted local
businesses, and we knew that
our customers needed to have
reliable, remote banking capabilities
and their banker available to help
them during a challenging business environment.
When the SBA rolled out the Paycheck
Protection Program, we worked around the
clock to stand up an intuitive, online application
platform, coupled with the individualized
support of a dedicated banking
professional. Our lenders provided direct assistance
to borrowers throughout the whole
process, guiding them through the application
and providing support in any capacity to
lessen the impact of the economic hardships
they’re facing. We assisted more than 10,000
businesses, facilitated more than 12,000 PPP
loans in excess of $2.2 billion and saved more
than 170,000 jobs. For us, this was an incredible
opportunity to support local businesses
by combining technological capabilities with
the personal relationships our customers have
come to know and trust.
Care Plus
Workforce Solutions
By Brigitte D. Johnson, Esq.,
Executive Director
A provider of integrated primary
and behavioral healthcare, Care
Plus NJ, Inc. has always understood
the importance of social support services.
With high unemployment rates, resulting from
the economic implications of COVID‐19, our
Work Incentive Services have been adversely impacted.
These programs employ individuals with
severe mental illness and economic disadvantages,
to establish independent living and improved
quality of life. The pandemic further illustrated
how this vulnerable population as well as minority
populations are disproportionately affected by
systematic inequalities and social determinants
of health. In response, our staff developed a grassroots
“Cultural Diversity Committee,” which
evaluates policies and procedures related to corporate
HR, advocacy communications, staff development
and community outreach; and runs
a weekly staff support group to discuss personal
experiences around race and culture to identify
and address patterns that occur on a universal
level and transform our work culture to create
positive change centered on equality for all.
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