HEARTLAND GROWTH
BANKING report DOUG NODGAARD, COMMUNITY BANK PRESIDENT, EQUITABLE BANK
Focusing on Service
EQUITABLE BANK BUILDS ON ELKHORN AREA GROWTH Equitable Bank’s second Omaha location at 20112 Pierce St. in Elkhorn has opened in one of the most financially dynamic areas of the state. However, Community Bank President Doug Nodgaard — a 37-year industry veteran — said the $3.5 million investment in the land and building needs to be tempered with an admonishment: “Service is the ultimate form of respect.” The new 4,300-square-foot location in a retail flex-space building has 10 employees. Equitable Bank’s other Omaha location at 10855 West Dodge Road, with six employees, is part of a state-wide full-service community bank with additional locations in North Platte and Grand Island. Overall, Equitable Bank has 80 employees. Fremont native Brandi Peatrowsky, with a 13-year background in financial services, is manager of the Elkhorn facility.
Building a family Nodgaard said he remembers at age 7 or 8 when he and his mom, a legal assistant who did work for U.S. Senator Roman Hruska, would visit the former Center Bank near 42nd & Center streets to make routine financial transactions. He said the precision and professionalism of the tellers helped him build a respect for
the importance of customer service with small $5 and $10 deposits. Years later as a young banker at Douglas County Bank & Trust, a mentor drove home the cliche’ “It’s the customer that signs your paycheck.” “It’s the little things that add up building the customer relationship,” Nodgaard said. “Answering the phone call on the first ring, offering the person who walks into our office a beverage and greeting them appropriately remain important and help differentiate our services from those of our larger competition.” The Elkhorn facility, southeast of 204th & Pacific streets, offers flexibility for growth as Nodgaard and his staff enhance the market share in one of the city’s fastest-developing and wealthiest areas. The objective is to attract a younger demographic in both customers and employees. The firm offers full-time employees with at least one year of service participation in an employee stock ownership program, a decision that Nodgaard feels encourages a greater degree of engagement with a pride in ownership. “We want parents and kids to come into this facility,” he said, stressing the investment in technology and digital banking platform. A centerpiece of attention in the lobby is a $16,000 coin-counting machine
Page 14 • November 19, 2021
