“It’s amazing how quickly things fly by,” Jo-Ellen observed when asked about her career at Grand Rapids State Bank. “It’s also amazing to think about how many things in the banking business have changed thanks to technology.”
Jo-Ellen was hired in 1977, which means she began working at the bank before 35% of the GRSB employees were born yet.
“I spent my first week here processing checks, but then was moved into the teller department where nearly everyone started,” said Jo-Ellen. “I worked there for only a few years before I was given a job in the loan teller department. Back then, all loan payments were recorded on cards where we kept track manually of loan payments, interest and the loan balance. It was quite different than the way things are done today.
“I would also type up certificates of deposit and bonds, more functions that we no longer handle today. In 2009, bank management decided to remodel the loan teller area to hire another commercial loan officer. I brought most of my job functions with me to the Operations Support department, so they had to learn my functions while I learned theirs. Technology replaced some of the work I was hired to do, but with the move to Operations Support, my old job was eliminated,” she added.
The Operations Support department includes manager Teresa King, Jessie Rolle and Kjirstin Ringold. In this new role, Jo-Ellen does “just about everything.” Jo and her teammates are responsible for balancing the bank’s deposit ledgers, loans and online banking as well as debit and credit cards on a daily basis.
“There are lots of different processes we’ve had to learn,” Jo-Ellen explained. “Our team now does the accounting for loan participations. Our manager, Teresa, tells me I’m not done learning, but I’m not sure how much more learning this brain of my can do!”
Most of Jo-Ellen’s interaction with customers is done electronically, a far cry from her work as a loan teller when the bookkeeping was done manually, and customers would walk up or call with inquiries about their loans. “Things are so different today; I could never have imagined it when I started here 42 years ago.”
When she’s not at work, Jo-Ellen enjoys fishing and spending time with her family (two brothers and their wives, three nephews and one niece). Jo-Ellen lives in the house in which she was raised on the shores of Trout Lake near Bovey. One of her brothers’ wives, Carole, also works at GRSB, but Jo’s job keeps her so busy there are days when she’s only able to say ‘hi’ in passing.
“This really is a great job,” said Jo-Ellen. “All things considered, things have gone pretty smoothly.”