When you walk through our doors, we see a neighbor; not a number

When 2018 rolls around, resolve to know the difference between banking with a mega corporate financial institution and Lakeside Bank.

Migrating to locally owned and operated Lakeside Bank won’t miraculously boost a checking account dented by Christmas shopping. However, it can be rewarding to understand how banking locally is like casting a vote to build the community where you live and work. Never paying an ATM fee again – anywhere – when you bank with Lakeside Bank can be liberating. And entrepreneurs should never underestimate the importance of finding the institution proud to serve as a lender to small and mid-sized local business.

“All banks are made of bricks and mortar,” said Mike Harmison, president and CEO of Lakeside Bank. “However, the internal foundations are quite different between local banks and big banks with headquarters in other states.”

Here’s how Lakeside Bank differs. It’s a locally owned and operated community bank. Community banks – and there are only two in Calcasieu Parish — provide 77 percent of the agriculture and 50 percent of the small business loans nationwide, yet hold only 12 percent of the banking assets, according to Harmison.

Big banks control the larger piece of the pie, but fewer of those dollars stay local. Big banks are also closing doors at some of their Southwest Louisiana branches, as well as cutting staffing on the customer-service side of banking. Lakeside Bank, on the other hand, is adding a new branch and their commitment to personal, face-to-face service remains unwavering.

“We broke ground in November on the new location on Maplewood Drive in Sulphur,” said Harmison. We’ve already moved a temporary building in to serve customers. This location, adjacent to the new building, will be open at the first of the year to allow us to begin serving the Sulphur community.”

How can Lakeside Bank thrive and continue to focus on personalized service during a time when others are not?

Banking with a community bank benefits personal customers and small business owners in a way a large conglomerate can’t. “Our success rises and falls with yours, and we never forget that,” said Harmison.

When a customer opens an account at Lakeside, deposits are used to fund loans that invest in local people and businesses, which can mean more jobs – right here in Southwest Louisiana.

Lakeside Bank decision makers are accessible, not a number cruncher in an office miles away or on Wall Street reviewing a computer screen application. They know their customers and possibly even their customers’ family. They know local business owners. And they know what’s going on in the local economy. Getting a business proposal off the ground, ahead of the competition can make a difference. Large banks often seem to reduce an individual to an algorithm, make blind decisions and waste time on layers of bureaucracy.

“Over the years in banking, it seems that the bigger the bank gets, the more empathy it seems to lose for customers,” said Harmison.

Lakeside Bank is active in the community, involved in local events, clubs and charities. Lakeside Bank has developed a reputation for helping local high school sports teams and for honoring veterans and emergency responders.

Lakeside Bank offers state-of-art online and mobile device banking technology – in addition to, not instead of – personalized service.  

Lakeside offers fees that are better or comparable to large banking entities.

While Lakeside Bank is locally controlled and operated, deposits are federally insured just like the deposits at big banks.

“There’s a saying,” Harmison said, “big banks standardize and community banks customize. Lakeside believes that it is important to continue to offer customized, personal service for you, your family and your business. Now we’re making that level of service available and more convenient in the Sulphur market.”

An architectural rendering of the new Sulphur Lakeside Bank branch is shown here. A temporary building will accommodate customers beginning in January. Find it near the corner of Shasta Drive and Maplewood Drive.  

Lakeside Bank is known for understanding the local economy and community needs. Lakeside Bank is known for honoring veterans and emergency responders and helping local youth. 

Lakeside Bank is growing with Southwest Louisiana by continuing its personalized service. Meet the staff that will be providing this service in the new Sulphur location: From left, Kala Kuhlthau, Sulphur Branch Manager, Janet Isaac, Univeral Banker, Jessice Rigley, Teller; and Madalynn Roney, Teller.