First Business Bank Podcast

If you have ridden the emotional investing roller coaster, you're not alone. Studies show that 66% of investors have made impulsive, emotionally charged investing decisions they later regretted. In our latest podcast episode, we examine how to avoid making emotional investing decisions by mapping out your strategy to align with your long-term investing goals. We discuss the importance of planning your investing strategy, understanding your investments, and comparing against overall market benchmarks.

Concerns over bank failures and potential uninsured deposit losses led many business owners, investors, municipalities, and others to seek ways to insure deposits beyond the FDIC insurance limit of $250,000. While your inclination might be to spread deposits across multiple banks, this is an unnecessary inconvenience and an administrative burden. Tune in as First Business Bank's banking experts discuss the benefits of extended deposit insurance, including increased efficiency, liquidity, and earning a competitive interest rate.

Are you struggling with deciding between paying off debt or investing your earnings? It's a common dilemma, and one that requires careful consideration of various factors. In the latest episode of the First Business Bank podcast, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of paying off debt before investing, factoring interest rates into your strategy, and evaluating investment opportunities, personal financial goals, and risk tolerance.

After losing a spouse, survivors are often faced with many tasks and financial decisions while in the throes of grief. In the first thirty days, you'll need to review life insurance, contact Social Security, contact your attorney about your estate plan or will, and call your bank or Trust Advisor. What's important to do soon and what can wait? How can pre-planning help in this time of unprecedented emotional turmoil? First Business Bank's experienced Trust Advisors discuss what clients wish they'd known ahead of time, the importance of organizing finances, how a corporate trustee works, and more.

For many families, paying for college and higher education costs is confusing and overwhelming as the price of a traditional, four-year college education seems to have no limit. Over the last century, the costs of higher education have grown at four times the rate of inflation, rising a shocking 179% over the past 20 years alone. First Business Bank's experienced Wealth Advisors work with parents, relatives, and grandparents every day to design the best strategies to save for college. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast features an informative discussion about ways to pay for higher education, including specific strategies for business owners and grandparents.

Manufacturing is a major driver of economic activity in Wisconsin, leading all other industries contributing to the state's gross domestic product. First Business Bank's financial experts work closely with manufacturing business leaders on their daily and long-term financial needs and strategies to help them position their companies for growth. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast includes a discussion about the Wisconsin Manufacturing Report and the latest trends influencing Wisconsin manufacturers, including ongoing labor, supply chain, and interest rate concerns, slowing orders, pricing, and inventory management.

Renee Ramirez operates well under pressure. During the financial crisis of 2008, she founded Community Smiles Dental (formerly Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic), a nonprofit dental clinic for low-income families in Waukesha County, Wisconsin.   The clinic, which opened a second location in 2018, has provided more than $30 million in dental care to more than 25,000 patients since its founding.   This engaging episode of the First Business Bank podcast reveals the story behind how and why Renee Ramirez started Community Smiles Dental, what she enjoys most about the clinic, her numerous accomplishments and leadership positions in the community, and what it takes to make a long-lasting difference.

Operating on a lean budget, some leaders of both nonprofit and for-profit businesses take on many roles, from CEO and CFO to HR and receptionist. But if you're tasked with doing so much and there are only so many hours each day, how do you make progress on larger goals? This episode of the First Business Bank podcast features experienced leaders from First Business Bank's Advisory Boards: Stewart Myers, VP of Programming at National Cable Television Cooperative, and Amanda Berg, VP for Financial Affairs and CFO at Edgewood College. They share tips on how they maximize their time, work with trusted partners, evaluate new partners and determine what to outsource, while still effectively managing a staff and budget. Even those operating on more than a shoestring will appreciate the stories of resourceful leaders getting more done with less.

Does your industry have a cheerleader? Someone who rallies businesses, helps them network to support innovation and accomplish more together? This episode of the First Business Bank podcast takes a fresh look at the benefits of collaboration between businesses with Marty Ochs, Founder of Green Bay Innovation Group (GBIG) and A.M. Mailing, Inc., and member of First Business Bank's Northeast Advisory Board. Marty's passion — bringing people together to make a difference — leads this episode as we discuss how Marty got his start in the 5Ps industries, how he founded A.M. Mailing, Inc. and won a statewide business award, the story behind starting GBIG, what they're doing now and their goals for the future.  

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were seeking more meaning at work and the latest data show that their feelings have intensified. According to a 2022 Gartner survey, 52% of respondents say the pandemic led them to “question the purpose of my day-to-day job” and 56% say it “made me want to contribute more to society.”   On this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast, Advisory Board Members Chris Hess, President and Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, and Debby Ballard, President and Founder of The Ballard Connection, offer their perspectives about aligning businesses with nonprofit missions to provide more meaning at work and increase community engagement.   #Businessloans #Financing #Businessplan #Interestrate #bcp #sbaloan

Protecting your business from the growing threat of cyberattacks involves proactively strengthening your business' cybersecurity and protecting it financially with cyber insurance. Beyond suffering a financial loss, businesses hit with cyberattacks also run the risk of reputational damage. Cybersecurity and insurance expert Derek Laczniak, Sr. Executive, Partner and Director at M3 Insurance, and Frank Stephens, President and CEO at Computing Technology Solutions, join us on this episode of the First Business Bank podcast. They will be answering your questions about cybersecurity insurance and how to protect your business from cyberattacks.   #Businessloans #Financing #Businessplan #InterestRate    

Whether you're operating a nonprofit or for-profit business, receivables keep the doors open and efficient receivables collection can bolster your cash position. Technological advances over the past several years make it possible to drastically reduce the time it takes to get those receivables into your operating account.  In this informative episode of the First Business Bank podcast, our business banking experts, Directors of Treasury Management at First Business Bank, Melissa Fellows and Kim Preston, discuss the benefits of improving your receivables process, various options available like Remote Deposit Capture, and the potential ROI of accessing your cash sooner in a rising rate environment. #Businessloans #Financing #Businessplan #InterestRate

With more than 40 years since we've seen inflation this high, many business leaders and investors are asking our team about how rising interest rates might affect their short- and long- term decisions. With an educational look at historical economic performance, this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast features financial experts discussing metrics to keep your eye on, how the Federal Reserve is likely to act, and what that might mean for individual investors and leaders of businesses.

Using real-time payments like Zelle, Venmo, or Paypal, you might give allowance to your kids, split the bill at dinner, or pay a friend back for tickets. As consumers adopt real-time payments at a faster pace, business leaders consider dropping checks and weigh the benefits and risks of real-time payments, as well.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast discusses the ever-changing landscape of real-time payments, including the benefits and risks of real-time payments, differences between bank-sponsored payment networks and others, the latest about FedNow instant payments, and more.

During the estate planning process, you document your wishes for assets like property, investments, insurance policies, and retirement accounts. But what will happen to your digital assets like digital photos, social media accounts, or digital currency, not to mention all the related passwords?   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast focuses on identifying, simplifying, managing, and documenting your digital assets to transition them to your loved ones after your death.

The accounts payable process often is a time-consuming, complex mix of B2B payments involving ACH, wires, checks, and credit cards. Simplifying your business's accounts payable through Integrated Payables reduces labor and check costs, maximizes efficiency, decreases the opportunity for check fraud, and generates revenue through virtual card payments.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast focuses on how integrating your accounts payable into one payment file works, the benefits of increasing your digital payments (including producing revenue), and how to evaluate the ROI of integrating your accounts payable for your business.

Experts estimate that family-owned businesses worldwide contribute more than half of gross domestic product and two-thirds of employment. Family-owned businesses also are among the most trusted type of business in America, yet most lack a formal business succession plan that can help keep the peace and ensure continued vitality of the family business for generations to come. Still, only about 30% of family businesses make it to a second generation and 13% last to a third. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast includes recommendations to strengthen the future of your family-owned business.

Founded in Kansas City, Mo., in 1990, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) is “the world's only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America.” NLBM President Bob Kendrick joins us for an insightful conversation about the founding of the NLBM, the significance and magnitude of the stories and impact of the Negro Leagues in America, details about the U.S. Mint Negro Leagues Commemorative Coin program and how to buy the coins.

Improving retention in manufacturing is a multi-faceted, ongoing effort that can help manufacturers keep skilled, valuable employees, leading to greater efficiency and lower costs. In this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast, we are joined by Elizabeth Aldana, Service Line Leader/Senior Consultant for Operational Excellence from WMEP Manufacturing Solutions for a discussion with far-reaching implications for manufacturers as they look for strategies to keep more employees in this competitive job market.

Tim Keane, photographer, founder of RTMS, Golden Angels Investors, and Keane Consultants and former board member of First Business Financial Services, Inc., joins us to discuss his career, accomplishments, advice for entrepreneurs, and provide his perspectives about investing, risk, and his next chapter in life. Listen to this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast for a dynamic conversation about facing challenges and finding joy with an entrepreneurship and investing expert.

The ongoing manufacturing workforce shortage calls for smarter ways to increase capacity without adding staff. When strategic investments in automation are planned thoughtfully, they help manufacturers improve output, efficiency, and employee retention as they upskill their workforce. WMEP Manufacturing Solutions shares keys to success when implementing a multi-faceted automation plan.

Commercial real estate trends shifted faster in the past three years than perhaps the previous 30. Whether you're wrestling with a long-term lease, downsizing, or designing new office space, you'll want to tune it to this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast for timely, expert input about work-from-home (WFH) and hybrid work trends and their effect on offices, trends in creative and collaborative spaces, different commercial real estate lease options, and much more.

The workforce crisis in manufacturing is complex, but there are several ways you can influence this within your organization to successfully staff your company. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast hosts Joe Brown, Senior Consultant with WMEP Manufacturing Solutions (WMEP), discussing recruiting in manufacturing and how manufacturers can move the needle to attract the best candidates.

There's a time and a place to do it yourself (DIY), even in investing and estate planning, but it's important to know the conditions for success, risks, and limitations so you can make wise decisions. With many businesses offering DIY investing, will, and estate planning options, this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast addresses when DIY estate planning and investing can work and when it's better to ask the experts.

For employers, the competitive job market presents challenges to retain employees and opportunities to attract those with shifting career ambitions. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast features two recently hired First Business Bank employees discussing what attracted them to their positions, what employers can do to keep employees, the importance of culture when evaluating opportunities, challenges transitioning to a new company, and what's involved in a great transition to a new company.

Workforce challenges in manufacturing began in the 1990s with an aging Baby Boomer workforce and fewer skilled workers to replace them. It persists today with the added complexity of increased demand for products, higher costs, and supply chain bottlenecks. We turn to George Bureau, Vice President of Consulting Services at Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP), for his input about how they help manufacturers make changes every day to improve overall business operations, including hiring and retention. He discusses lessons from successful manufacturers, ways smaller manufacturers compete for talent and build loyalty, and more.

The unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic created chaos for many nonprofits — disturbing not only their revenue streams but also their missions. Serving nearly half of Wisconsin's counties, Goodwill Industries of Northcentral Wisconsin navigated a 10-week shutdown, recovery efforts, and ongoing operations to ensure the safety of employees and customers. Chris Hess, President & CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northcentral Wisconsin, joins us to discuss what happened and challenges that lie ahead for his organization and similar nonprofits.

When you think back to how you arrived at your current role, did people mentor you, support you, connect you, or challenge you, contributing to your success in your career? Our Women in Leadership podcast series continues with an insightful discussion about advocating for other people as a woman in leadership.   Our guests for this podcast, three women board directors of First Business Financial Services, Inc., the holding company of First Business Bank, discuss who championed them as they built their companies, careers, and reputations, paying it forward, and what advocacy means to them.

Just as the workforce crisis reaches new heights, more banks than ever are dealing with new investment portfolio challenges and responsibilities. Banks are looking for bottom-line income and there are many ways a bank's Investment Portfolio can miss its target without solid strategies in place. A bank's Investment Portfolio isn't as simple as “select and forget” and requires specialized expertise to manage productively and consistently.   This episode of The First Business Bank Podcast features the President of our Bank Consulting team discussing the fundamentals of a bank Investment Portfolio strategy, including establishing an investment committee, trends in bank Investment Portfolios, and how working with First Business Bank's Investment Portfolio experts can help position your bank's Investment Portfolio for the future.

Whether you're starting a business, leading a nonprofit, or running a multi-generational company, you're always looking for ways to save money and improve operations. Stretched thin by the competitive workforce, these needs are pressing now more than ever. With specific banking solutions, an experienced Treasury Management team helps your company profit from liquidity, protect your organization from fraud, and get more done with fewer people.   In this episode of The First Business Bank Podcast, our experienced Treasury Management team discusses the benefits of a strong Treasury Management strategy, including maximizing your cash, preventing fraud, optimizing your workforce, improving information reporting, and more.

For every 100 men promoted to a manager-level position, only 86 women are promoted, according to the Women in the Workplace 2021 report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey. This disparity, the “broken rung,” leads to far fewer women available to fill executive leadership roles. So, what does it take to get there?   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast features three female board directors of First Business Financial Services Inc., the holding company of First Business Bank, talking about their personal routes to success at the top in business. Respected women leaders in insurance, accounting, technology, health care, and the nonprofit world, they talk about seizing opportunities, leveraging strengths, building a network, and believing in yourself on your path to executive-level management roles.

As banks of all sizes experience an unprecedented level of deposits while loan demand isn't keeping up, they're challenged by excess liquidity on the balance sheet for longer than expected. Many banks are increasing their investment portfolios as a result. However, complex investments can be a struggle for some community and smaller banks to manage as they hunt for appropriate investments and spend an increasing amount of time managing their investment portfolio along with other duties.   In this episode of The First Business Bank Podcast, our experienced Bank Consulting team discusses how banks handle increased operational responsibilities, compliance documentation, trade activity, and the benefits of working with First Business Bank's Investment Portfolio experts.

For charitably inclined business owners, charitable trusts provide many benefits as they assess goals related to tax planning, wealth management, estate planning, and charitable giving. Charitable trusts can help you set aside current and future funds for a charity while preserving a current income stream and other economic benefits. When you make a transfer into one of these trust types, you may qualify for income, estate, and gift tax charitable deductions.   In this episode of The First Business Bank Podcast, our Private Wealth Trust Advisors discuss the types of charitable trusts, benefits charitable trusts offer regarding capital gains and estate tax, planning ahead before a sale or business transition, and partners you should include in setting up a charitable trust.

The value of privately held businesses, whether a multi-generational manufacturing firm, a tech startup, or somewhere in between, changes every day. So why would you seek a professional business valuation? Determining the value of your business is useful for many situations, including creating a solid plan to track and increase value, working toward an exit strategy, creating incentive plans tied to increases in valuation, retirement planning, estate planning, selling the business, and more.   In this episode of The First Business Bank Podcast, business valuation experts share valuation approaches, common reasons business owners seek a valuation, preparation tips for the business valuation process, and qualities to look for in a business valuation partner.

Tune in for the latest details about the impending transition away from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). In this episode of The First Business Bank Podcast, you'll learn about replacement rates — such as SOFR, BSBY, and Ameribor, key dates to keep in mind, more about First Business Bank's selection and process, how our team has prepared for this change, which rate banking industry regulators selected, and what to look for at your bank as you navigate this transition in 2021 and 2022.

Asset-Based Lending, an alternative funding option, helps businesses work through challenges as they experience rapid growth, navigate a turnaround, change ownership, or experience other complex situations. Unlike traditional lending, typically when lenders evaluate companies for Asset-Based Lending funding, they consider collateral, like accounts receivable and inventory, rather than the business's recent performance.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast introduces listeners to Asset-Based Lending, how it's different from Commercial Lending, situations in which Asset-Based Lending might be useful, and what to expect if your business starts down the road of Asset-Based Lending.

A companion episode to “Why Use Equipment Financing?', this episode of the First Business Bank podcast features a discussion about the advantages of offering financing to customers when you're a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer selling equipment. Offering your equipment customers financing through a responsive, reliable financial provider helps your business sell more capital equipment, increases customer retention, and builds long-term relationships. 

It's nearly impossible to name a business with no equipment needs. (Let us know if you think of one!) Businesses in all types of industries need specialized or heavy equipment, so this episode of the First Business Bank Podcast kicks off our discussions with two of our Equipment Finance experts. They touch on offering financing for equipment from the seller, manufacturer, or distributor side of the transaction, and then focus on acquiring capital equipment.   As a business acquiring new, used, or rental equipment, why would you consider equipment financing over traditional commercial lending? This episode gets to the bottom of those competitive advantages for your business.

Achieving the entrepreneurship dream of owning a business is alive and well in America as millions grabbed opportunities to start or grow their businesses in the past year. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) tracks small business ownership statistics — about seven in ten small business owners start their companies from the ground up, 22% purchase their businesses, 7% received ownership of a business through a gift, and 4% inherited ownership of their business.   Started in 1953, the SBA was founded to “help Americans start, build, and grow businesses.” Whether you're looking to purchase a franchise or existing business, refinance business debt, purchase supplies or materials, transition a business to new owners, or much more, SBA loans can do that. First Business Bank's SBA Lending team helps clients across the United States achieve their dreams of owning and building their business with SBA loans as an SBA Preferred Lending Partner (PLP).

By some estimates, before the COVID-19 pandemic Americans spent 5% of work time working remotely, which increased to an estimated 60% in spring of 2020. For many, managing remote workers is here to stay, and building effective strategies is important to maintain productivity and satisfaction of managers and their employees.     With employees all over the country, First Business Bank managers have extensive experience managing remote teams. This episode includes perspectives from two long-term managers as they discuss building team cohesion, setting clear expectations, communication tips, minimizing distractions, maintaining team culture and efficiency, and more.   Member FDIC

When traditional bank loans aren't an option, how do businesses increase liquidity so they can pay suppliers, employees, and continue to grow? Businesses in many industries turn to Accounts Receivable Financing — also known as Factoring — and Asset-Based Lending to increase cash flow. These alternative financing strategies help startups, companies in turnaround mode, and many others with cash flow challenges to access the funds they need to thrive.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast overviews two alternative financing strategies, requirements of each, common misconceptions, and industries and business situations in which companies often use Accounts Receivable Financing and Asset-Based Lending.   Member FDIC

Saving for retirement is a major life stressor for many employees. Although about 60% of U.S. employees have access to an employer-sponsored defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), only about 43% actively participate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Business executives can help employees maximize how much they save so they feel more comfortable about their future. Decreasing retirement stress leads to higher retention rates and more productivity for companies.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast makes a business case for employers to implement a robust retirement plan, including ongoing education and ways to motivate employees to save so they will have enough for a comfortable retirement.   Member FDIC

Banks are businesses, too, and require specialized financial skills and experience to operate efficiently and forecast accurately. National banks have entire teams managing their investment portfolios and refining their Asset Liability Management. How can you compete as a regional or community bank? The answer may be outsourcing to cost-efficient, professional experts.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast introduces the First Business Bank Consulting team as they discuss their experience and reasons why financial institutions outsource these specialized functions.   Member FDIC 

Planning the future of your company can be a difficult, emotional process. As business leaders thoughtfully plan ownership transition, some turn to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to help accomplish many of their top priorities.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast covers reasons business leaders transition ownership through ESOPs, positives and drawbacks of ESOPs, key time and resource requirements for ESOPs, and the importance of employee education.   Member FDIC 

Whether your organization is anticipating the retirement of a senior executive or you’re building a framework for an eventual exit, it’s important to establish a management succession plan. Employees, board members, vendors, clients, and other external stakeholders want to know your ship isn’t going to capsize after an abrupt departure or a long-planned retirement.   Leadership transition may sound simple, but it’s often a complex planning process that can take several years to get right. Nothing less than the future of your business depends on your leadership planning process, which may include identifying and training key team members now.   This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast discusses workforce planning and training, how to build your leadership pipeline, timeline considerations surrounding retirement and replacement, and internal communications and transparency during leadership transitions.   Podcast panelists include Mark Meloy (CEO, First Business Bank), Jodi Chandler (Chief Human Resources Officer, First Business Financial Services, Inc.), and Corey Chambas (President & CEO, First Business Financial Services, Inc.).   Member FDIC

Any method your business uses to pay a vendor, such as checks, Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, or wire transfers, can be intercepted or manipulated to commit fraud. Check fraud is the most common, but wire fraud and ACH fraud are close behind. The same efficiency and speed that are benefits of electronic payments also make them attractive for fraudsters because there’s very little time for you to recognize the fraudulent payments and alert your bank to recall them. This episode of the First Business Bank Podcast covers: - Important low-tech best practices to implement at your business now to prevent payment fraud - Critical steps to prevent ACH and wire transfer fraud - Out-of-band authentication and why you need to practice it every time - Dual controls internally to prevent theft and fraud - Fraud prevention banking solutions for businesses Podcast Panelists: - Mark Meloy, CEO, First Business Bank - Melissa Fellows, Senior Vice President – Treasury Management - Madison Market Leader - Theresa Wiese, Managing Director of Compliance and Risk Management Member FDIC

Business succession planning — the process of thoughtfully planning ownership transition of a business — is still uncommon among businesses with fewer than 300 employees. In fact, fewer than half of small businesses have a formal plan that transitions ownership to a family member, employees, or another company. First Business Bank’s business succession planning experts share their best tips and strategies for starting the business succession planning process, including: - Where to start and what to consider as you begin the process - General benefits and disadvantages of popular business succession options - Ranking your priorities to help make decisions - Options to stay involved in the business after transitioning ownership Business succession planning should go hand-in-hand for most business owners with their personal finance planning to protect their loved ones should something unexpected happen. After listening to this podcast, if you’d like to start talking about business succession planning, reach out to us at firstbusiness.bank to start the process. Podcast Panelists: - Mark Meloy, CEO, First Business Bank - Brendan Freeman, President – Private Wealth, First Business Bank - Christine Waldschmidt, JD, Vice President – Trust Advisor, First Business Bank Member FDIC

Check fraud is on the rise. In fact, last year’s reports on 2019 indicate 74% of organizations experienced check fraud — a 4% increase over 2018. First Business Bank’s Treasury Management Expert, Alicia Anderson, Managing Director of Compliance and Risk Management, Theresa Wiese, and CEO, Mark Meloy, share insights into the prevalence of check fraud and ways to stop it from happening. This discussion focuses on: - The most common types of check fraud - Differences between check fraud attacks on businesses and consumers - The rise of digital payment types for business - How to implement fraud prevention best practices Protect your business and personal finances from the most common fraud attacks, and get the latest news on how the financial sector is responding to fraud and proactively helping clients to manage new threats. Member FDIC

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that everything is shifting digitally, and it is imperative that business leaders make the change, too. A consistent, optimized online presence is crucial for businesses to survive today.  In this episode of the First Business Bank podcast, Mark Meloy, CEO of First Business Bank speaks with Ed Peck, Founder and CEO of Filament; Sara Kiley, Digital Operations Manager at Mid-West Family; Fritz Grutzner, President and Founder of Brandgarten; and Tom Dott, Senior Vice President – Commercial Banking of First Business Bank, about the best marketing practices that business leaders should consider as they navigate buyer behavior.  Topics include:  - How business owners can get the most profit for their marketing investment - The latest marketing trends for nimble businesses - How companies that used traditional offline marketing tactics pivoted their strategy to online during the pandemic - The historical move towards digital marketing The First Business Bank podcast is dedicated to helping business owners work better, faster, and smarter to achieve their financial goals.    For more interviews like this one, subscribe to the First Business Bank podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. First Business Bank, member FDIC.

Business Email Compromise (BEC), also known as email account compromise (EAC), happens when someone illegally accesses an organization’s security through email and uses the access to commit fraud. All firms that use email are at risk, but those that conduct business using wire transfers and with overseas suppliers are at a higher risk. In this podcast, Mark Meloy, CEO of First Business Bank, speaks with the First Business Bank’s Managing Director of Compliance and Risk Management, Theresa Wiese; Director of IT Security and Compliance, Dawn Wilcox; and Milwaukee Market Treasury Management Leader, Kim Preston — each with over 25 years at First Business Bank — about their experiences with BEC and best practices for avoiding it.   This discussion provides insights on:  - What is BEC?  - How perpetrators use BEC to steal company funds  - Tips to recognize suspicious emails before you click  - How to prevent BEC scams from occurring in your business  This First Business Bank podcast is dedicated to increasing awareness of BEC fraud so business owners and their employees can detect social engineering attacks instead of falling for them.  For more interviews like this one, subscribe to First Business Bank podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere you get your podcast content. First Business Bank. Member FDIC. 

The end of this year marks a big change for financial institutions worldwide with the elimination of LIBOR as a base rate. LIBOR, or London Interbank Offered Rate, has been around for almost fifty years as a reference rate, or index, that many banks around the world have relied on for a wide range of financial products. The upcoming elimination of LIBOR will affect banks and borrowers significantly. Mark Meloy, CEO of First Business Bank, speaks with Ed Sloane, Chief Financial Officer of First Business Financial Services, Inc. and Bill Uelmen, Director of Treasury at First Business Bank, about the role of LIBOR and its likely replacement, SOFR (Security Overnight Funding Rate). This discussion focuses on: - The products and services LIBOR impacts - The risk to banks and borrowers without LIBOR - SOFR as a potential replacement index in 2021 - When First Business Bank plans to announce a new rate The First Business Bank podcast is dedicated to helping business owners work better, faster, and smarter to achieve their financial goals. For more interviews like this one, subscribe to the First Business Bank podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. First Business Bank. Member FDIC.