Submitted Photo Dan Reininga, president and CEO, says Lake Shore is “meeting the needs of customers.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused setbacks for several different types of businesses, one type of local business that has been able to not only sustain themselves but also progress is banking. Dan Reininga, the President and CEO of Lake Shore Savings Bank, said that the institution’s primary focus during the pandemic has been meeting the needs of its customer base and that they’ve done a good job of doing just that.

“There are different components we’re doing well in,” Reininga said. “We’re meeting the needs of customers during the pandemic, and it’s critical we continue to provide exemplary customer service. It’s all about meeting the needs of customers, how and where they want to be met.”

While Lake Shore has had to change how they operate during the pandemic, they’ve tried to remain as loyal to their customer base as possible. Their locations across the area are still open, and although they aren’t open for people to walk in, hours to make appointments are incredibly flexible. In addition, the bank has updated how they handle certain programs, tailoring their whole business to customer needs.

“Mortgage applications can be started electronically and finished in person or continued electronically,” Reininga said. “We’ve continued to provide customer service, and it’s tailored to their needs where it can be tailored.”

Reininga has personally taken on the role of being nimble and engaged in how the bank has adjusted. Even when programs shrouded with uncertainty, such as the Paycheck Protection Program the government rolled out, Reininga made it a top priority for his employees to answer as many questions as they can, even with uncertainty. Because of Lake Shore Savings Bank’s focus on being adaptive and adjustable, they were able to increase their clientele base.

“The great thing about the Paycheck Protection Program was we were able to meet the needs of customers left behind by bigger banks,” Reininga said. “I know a few customers from Bank of America that couldn’t get a loan and we were ultimately able to secure a few customers that way.”

As much as Reininga’s days changed, as he worked 12 to 16 hour days at the start of the pandemic back down to a normal shift now, the nature of the job itself for everyone else within the bank remained largely the same. With additional protective measures being put in place for the employees, the Lake Shore Savings Bank playbook for COVID-19 went into effect, and the culmination of everything was a major success for the bank.

“2020 was a record year of providing service to customers,” Reininga said. “As rates declined, many individuals took advantage of refinancing mortgages, so we saw record volume in mortgages and continue to see robust mortgage business. We continued to meet the needs of customers by providing services electronically and in person.”