Kathy Pierce, President of Designer Walls, Inc.
understands the importance of developing long-term business relationships. She views each relationship as a partnership in the making, even when it comes to choosing a bank.
Designer Walls is a commercial painting, wallcovering and finishing contractor based in Maple Heights. The company was founded in 1987 and originally operated out of a spare bedroom in the Pierce home. After she had been in business for about five years, she recieved a call from the bank loan officer assigned to her account. He was young and inexperienced, and said the bank was going to close her line of credit. The line was critical to the company at this stage in its life cycle, as it had very little cash, accounts recievable that were hard to collect, and a labor-intensive payroll.
Having been a bank manager and loan officer herself, Kathy knew losing the line could put Designer Walls out of business. Kathy began her search for a new bank, and a friend referred her to Dale Klekota, vice president of Dollar Bank. Dale couldn't believe its previous bank was dropping Designer Walls. He says, "It was obvious that Kathy was a good businesswoman with lots of experience, and the numbers spoke for themselves." Dollar Bank immediately provided the company a line of credit to support its working capital needs.
Today, the company has grown to 20+ employees, and grosses about one million a year in sales. As the company expanded, the relationship with Dollar Bank expanded to include a Commercial Real Estate loan on Designer Walls' 11,100 sq. ft. building, and business checking and certificate of deposit accounts. Kathy also has her personal mortgage, checking, and savings accounts at Dollar Bank. She even helped her mother move all of her accounts to Dollar Bank.
When asked if she ever considered banking with another institution, Kathy explains why she is so loyal to Dollar Bank. "It's a matter of trust, of building a partnership over time. Dollar Bank operates the same way I do - provide a quality product, do what you say you are going to do, and keep in contact with your customers to understand their needs."
"It's funny. I constantly recieve calls from Dollar Bank's competitors. When they ask if I'm happy with my current bank, I explain about the quality service I recieve from Dollar Bank year after year. Periodically I get a call from the bank that closed my line of credit years ago. I tell the loan officer how Dollar Bank has helped Designer Walls prosper over the last ten years, after their bank almost put me out of business."
