SpiritBank's Business Resource Center Assists Owners
ENTREPRENUERIAL BANKER: Ted Cundiff, president of the SpiritBank Business Resource Center, at his office at 1800 S. Baltimore Ave. in Tulsa.
D. J. MORROW for GTR Newspapers
The Business Resource Center at SpiritBank's branch at 1800 S. Baltimore Ave. has opened its doors to assist local entrepreneurs. The center provides confidential business consultations, business plan assistance, analysis of business finances and marketing strategy advice, as well as seminars and training programs.
An additional innovative tool the bank offers is its preferred partners.
This is a relatively new concept in banking, says Ted Cundiff, president of the center. We are building a group of service providers that we feel is imperative to the success of a business owner. Accountants, attorneys, business consultants, human relations consultants and technicians are just a few of the service providers on our preferred partners list.
We want to give our customers every tool possible to be successful.
Cundiff says many times small business owners are so busy running their businesses that they do not have the time to research these types of services when they are faced with a problem. SpiritBank is closing this gap by referring proven, competent service providers to help address those issues.
The concept is probably best explained through our mission statement: The SpiritBank Business Resource Center is the small business financial partner in Oklahoma providing critical information, tools, and resources to business owners, resulting in a high level of profitability for everyone.
We want to put nontraditional banking practices together so the small business person can come to us and ask about any issue they may have.
Another area that the Business Resource Center is helping the small business community is through its Business Solutions Series. Cundiff explains, The Series consists of speaking events where the tough issues of the business world are addressed.
During the series sessions, focus groups with business owners are sometimes held to better understand the critical issues and hot topics that small business owners are facing. The information gathered from the groups is narrowed down to the key topics of interest and sources are identified to give solutions or options to the critical issues. The upcoming calendar includes sessions on employee training, health insurance, marketing, and using the Internet. The next session will be held April 13 with the topic Employee Training. The session begins at 3:15 p.m. at the Baltimore location.
We've designed the Business Resource Center to be a one-stop shop for the small business owner, says Cundiff. The center has the tools a small business owner needs to stay competitive and connected from loans and deposits to non-traditional preferred partners services.
The concept was developed during the strategic planning process for the bank.
We wanted to find a way to truly differentiate ourselves from the banks that advertise they are small business oriented and lenders and be the bank that really helps the small business person.
We believe if we help the small business owner become successful, we'll be successful.
Cundiff says that a small business in the Tulsa area is probably defined as one that has less than 1,000 employees. He adds that 90 percent of businesses in the Tulsa area probably fit the category.
Critical to the success of the center will be the preferred partners list.
There is an application process to be a preferred partner that requires confirmation of experience and references.
We have to be sure our preferred partners provide the same level of service to our customers that SpiritBank does.
The Center is currently located on the west side of the Baltimore branch but it has already outgrown its space and the bank is looking for a standalone building that would also offer rental space to preferred partners.
It would be a big advantage to the business person to have everyone under the same roof so they can talk to a CPA, attorney, business consultant and their banker in one stop.
The next step for the center is the development of a group of non-traditional banking services that will be offered to customers including strategic planning, human resource compliance reviews, financial reviews and management training.
For more information on the SpiritBank Business Resource Center, call Cundiff at 295-7223.