Native American Bank Dedicates a Day to Gratitude

On June 28, Denver-based Native American Bank, N.A., hosted a Customer Appreciation Day at Yellow Bird Woman Park near its Browning, Mont., branch. The $350 million-asset community bank has organized these customer-focused events every year since 2014.

As the only bank directly serving the Browning community, Native American Bank sees its Customer Appreciation Day as a chance to give back to its local Blackfeet community customers. The event is typically scheduled around North American Indian Days, an annual celebration of Blackfeet tribal events. 

Anticipation for the event starts building a week in advance, when bank staff distribute raffle tickets to customers visiting the bank. On the day of the event, Native American Bank closes its doors at 11 a.m. to allow staff ample time to prepare for the gathering. During the event, attendees can enjoy games, food catered by community businesses and music from a local DJ, Ground Shak’n Music. 

“One of the cool things that I see—based on the work that [the Browning branch does]—is really looking to partner with local, small entrepreneurs like the DJ … and supporting local businesses that are in Browning,” said Veronica Lane, marketing director and interim chief lending officer at Native American Bank, N.A.

Thomasine Mittens, branch supervisor at the community bank, has helped organize the event for the past two years. “We get a lot of the same customers, [so] we get to know everybody in the community, and they really appreciate it when we do events like this,” she said.

Staff make a point to have something everyone will enjoy, whether that’s art, activities or food. Lane said, “We always try to impact the communities that we work in … supporting different conferences, native issues or indigenous issues that might not even be related to banking.”