During the midst of uncertainty and change, it’s good to know you can still find touchstones in life to keep yourself centered. Stephanie Gambill, the Grand Rapids State Bank’s newest officer, can count on being needed not just at work, but at home as well.
“Justin and I have two children: three years and 10.5 months old,” Steph explained. “They have a great time with our day care provider, but when we get home from work, the fun begins. With a toddler and one who will be walking very soon, we are always on our toes.”
Steph Gambill was hired as a GRSB credit analyst five years ago. In September, she was promoted to the position of junior commercial loan banker, and on December 15 she earned yet another new title: assistant vice president–business banking.
“I was on maternity leave from January through April of this year. Even before I returned, we were making adjustments to operate in shutdown mode due to the pandemic,” said Steph. “We’ve all learned how to work differently.”
“As a credit analyst, I learned a lot about our business customers and worked with the business bankers to help those customers with a variety of financial needs. In my new job, I will have direct customer contact, and I’m looking forward to that,” she added.
“In addition to responding to loan requests and maintaining customer relationships, it’s my responsibility to manage the PPP loan forgiveness platform,” Steph continued. “Earlier this year we processed 198 PPP loans totaling $18.3 million between both rounds, and now we need to follow up with repayments and forgiveness. We chose to use an online platform that should make it easier for customers and us as a bank. The work of completing these documents can be daunting, but we’ve found this platform makes it much more manageable. We can make life easier for our customers.”
The majority of the PPP loans processed by GRSB were from the area, but thanks to referrals, there were a good number that came from all over the country.
“Since customers have up to 10 months after the covered period to submit applications for forgiveness, we understand that completing the forms can easily be set aside and forgotten,” continued Steph. “We review the applications for customers, and the platform streamlines it for the Small Business Administration, the federal agency overseeing the process. The SBA has up to 90 days to approve the forgiveness application.”
Steph has worked hand in hand with Josh Gehlen at Minnesota Lakes Bank, GRSB’s sister bank in Delano. That bank processed more than 270 PPP loans, and being able to share knowledge about how the online platform works has helped them both.
The GRSB business banking team consists of Nate Lloyd (vice president—business banking), Tyler Steinke (credit analyst) and Steph.
“I’m excited about the new role,” Steph remarked. “Having the opportunity to manage the PPP portfolio is fresh and exciting, even if it is a lot of work, and it provides an opportunity to get to know many of our existing as well as our new customers.”
When Steph isn’t busy at work or wrangling three-year old Briella or Cooper, she and her husband, Justin, enjoy time outside.
“Justin is working to complete his doctorate degree in clinical psychology,” continued Steph, “so our life at home is full of activity. During these times when we can’t be engaged socially with others, we try to get outside as often as we can as well as spending time doing house projects. Briella has skates and a helmet, so we are looking forward to spending time skating on the lake and at the rinks this winter. Cooper is such a fast crawler, I’m sure he’ll want to be out there with us as soon as he can.”