For the team at Northwest Savings Bank, third times are a charm.
Northwest marked its third consecutive J.D. Power and Associates Award for highest customer satisfaction in retail banking for the Mid-Atlantic Region on Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of employees from across the bank's service area converged outside the company's offices in downtown Warren to celebrate the award. The employees wore matching green shirts and sported three-fingered foam hands in honor of the event.
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Threepeat
Northwest Savings Bank held a celebration with employees from across the region Wednesday afternoon to commemorate its third consecutive J.D. Power Award for customer satisfaction. The bank ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Jim Cheronis, manager of Northwest's Sheffield office, opened the program and spoke on the challenge of winning multiple awards and the focus on winning a fourth in 2013.
"It's not easy winning the trophy more than once," Cheronis said. "Just ask LeBron James."
Cheronis also started off the entertainment singing a parody of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." about Northwest Savings Bank. It would not be the last alternate song rendition of the afternoon.
After Cheronis, Kim Hasara from the bank's Bellvue office, performed an alternate version of Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and Julie Pacinelli, a branch manager from the Erie area, performed an alternate version of Journey's "Don't stop Believin'".
The three then took to the stage together to sing Kool and the Gang's "Celebration".
After the entertainment, the program took a more serious turn as company management and a representative of J.D. Power spoke to the crowd.
Executive Vice President of Banking Services Steven Fisher commended the employees' hard work in achieving the award. Fisher also talked about the focus required to continue winning recognition in the industry. The bank has also been recognized as one of America's 100 most trustworthy businesses by Forbes magazine.
Fisher presented video clips in recognition of the J.D. Power honor. The clips were mostly compilations of employees from the bank's different locations set to music and featured a recurrent theme of three.
Account Director Lisa Coleno of J.D. Power and Associates spoke about the achievement the award represented and congratulated Northwest's employees on their outstanding service.
Northwest President and CEO Bill Wagner talked about what he claimed is a national environment hostile to banks, calling attention to the government and financial industry regulators as being particularly unfriendly. He repeatedly asked the crowd, "Does that sound right to you?" in reference to whether they felt such sentiment was right or wrong. Wagner congratulated employees and noted the achievement occurred during tough economic times.
The award presentation followed. Three employees with the word 'pete' in their names each took a place to unveil covered J.D. Power awards. The three wore shirts with 'pete', 'repete' and 'threepete' written on them and unveiled the awards to confetti, cheering and a sea of waving foam hands.