Case Studies Financial Services

Many people like to start their day with a hot, steamy cup of coffee—and those working at Freedom Financial Network are no different. Yet, Terri Candelaria, senior director of facilities and administration for the digital personal finance company, has elevated the daily ritual—and added a pop of fun. One of the two FFN buildings in […]

During the 22 years that Linda Besetzny worked at the international law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, the most memorable event was not, in fact, her leading a two-and-a-half year, $10 million dollar renovation across the 76th and 81st floors of Chicago’s Willis Tower—which won her the firm’s Above and Beyond Award. It was, […]

There might be some hyperbole when Doug Myers laughingly describes how the real estate director in any enterprise—of which he is one—can still be perceived as the proverbial redheaded stepchild. Given the difficulty of property transactions, he understands the basis for the stereotype. But he sees it getting less pronounced, at least for his employer. […]

When Holton Wilkerson was hired at Self-Help Credit Union in late 2019, the regional facilities teams operated independently. As the national director of credit union facilities, he was tasked with breaking down the silos that lead to inconsistencies in vendor management and branch appearance. The vision, he says, was to nationalize the team. The North […]

John Lewis had been with Collins Community Credit Union as its IT Director for about four months when, in 2014, President and CEO Stefanie Rupert asked him to accept new responsibilities. That can happen in any role. Only, Rupert’s request was a bit different: she wanted to know if Lewis would be willing to take […]

It will be a new, maybe unfamiliar, banking experience for many Virginia Credit Union patrons. When they walk into a lobby, they’ll be welcomed at a kiosk by a greeter who can handle all their transactions using a tablet. But that’s the modernized service VACU wants to provide in its latest and largest branch, currently […]

Not much fanfare was expected this past July when Stout, a global investment bank and advisory firm, relocated workers from its Cleveland office. The employees had been working remotely for well over a year and, for many, that seemed the new business as usual. The company also provided a hybrid office-home work arrangement. Nevertheless, when […]

A football fan to the core, Andy O’Dell says pretty much all of 2020 and 2021 has been game time. Like a lot of facilities directors, he had to help migrate employees to remote work to the COVID-19. But he had an added difficultly: he had to halt a major renovation to the corporate headquarters […]

It’s not unusual for anyone entering a bank to be thinking green—cash, that is. But Olivia Karavatakis wants them thinking green in another context. As vice president of facilities management, she’s considering how the bank can operate sustainably. From energy-efficient HVAC and lighting to more rain-absorbent landscaping that prevents flooding, Karavatakis sees many ways the […]

There’s a rustic sense to Emprise Bank’s newest commercial lending office. This one is a remodeled second-story flat above a restaurant in the historic Crossroads Arts District, just south of Downtown Loop and north of Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s a lively neighborhood of former warehouses and industrial buildings where coffeehouses, brew pubs, […]