Jessica Griffel is one-half of the two-person loan processing department at Minnesota Lakes Bank. She is eagerly awaiting the hiring of a replacement for the colleague who resigned to accept another position two months ago.
“Our office is in Delano, and the two of us share office space and work together closely,” Jessica explained. “We are responsible for commercial and consumer loan processing, and we’ll both be trained to do everything involving loan processing. We work collaboratively. It keeps us on our toes to be prepared to work on any type of loan.”
The loan processing team is responsible for the full documentation and record-keeping associated with all loans made by the bank at either the Delano or Mound offices. After loans are approved by the lending team and management, the loan processors fund the loans by initiating wire transfers or depositing funds directly into the customer’s accounts. All paperwork associated with the loan is imaged for easy retrieval.
“When I first started here, Minnesota Lakes Bank was just beginning the transition from paper documentation to a full imaging process,” Jessica said. “The transition period was a bit daunting and overwhelming, but once we made the move, it became so much more convenient for all parties.
“We instituted e-signatures in 2020,”she continued, “and customers seem to be pretty accepting of this, too. “We still provide the option for people to have paper copies of everything, if that’s their preference,” she continued. “However, we now find people, seven years later, pretty comfortable with doing things this way. It was new for many banks several years ago, but it’s commonplace now.”
Jessica grew up in Bloomington and participated on the high school softball and bowling teams. She graduated from Winona State University with a degree in business. Her first job was at a community bank in Shorewood; she was hired into an entry-level loan administration job. The work was interesting and meshed with her college background. She learned all the back office roles during the next 11 years before accepting the Minnesota Lakes Bank job seven years ago.
When she’s not at work, Jessica and her husband are “very, very, very busy chasing kids” from one activity to another. “Our children—ages 13, 10 and 3 years—seem to have non-stop activities,” she added.
Jessica really likes her job and, like others at Minnesota Lakes Bank, finds that her family of coworkers makes the work fun.
“People are willing to help one another when it comes to getting customers what they need,” she said. “I like to work on different types of loans, and I find there are different challenges every day. We work closely with the loan officers, and occasionally we’re called on to answer questions from customers when the loan officer is unavailable.”
Like other Minnesota Lakes Bank employees, Jessica is involved in several of the community events in which the bank is engaged.
“Whether it’s hot and humid or rainy and overcast, the Delano Fourth of July parade is a huge event that the community really turns out for,” said Jessica. “We also have a team of bank employees who work on the Taste of Delano event later in the summer. It’s a busy time of year, but it’s what our community is all about.”