UPDATED 5/20/2020

With the Safer at Home restrictions now lifted, we are preparing to open all lobby doors on Monday, June 1, 2020. To continue to minimize the risk of exposure and protect our employees, customers and community, we will have new precautions in place.

Please remember, if you’re not feeling well, we kindly ask that you do not enter our lobby and continue to use our drives or night depository.

Some of the safety precautions you will notice:

• In our lobby you’ll now notice protective shields at our reception desk and teller areas, which will remain in place until we believe it’s safe to remove them.
• Hand sanitizer is readily available throughout the lobby for both employee and customer use.
• Additional sanitation procedures have been implemented to keep surfaces clean after each customer visit.
• Customers and employees are not required to wear face masks, but may if they choose. Customers that enter wearing a mask will be briefly asked to lower it for security purposes. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, we ask that you continue to use our drive thru for business.
• Stickers will be on the floor near our tellers to help practice safe social distancing.

Until June 1, our lobby will continue to operate by appointment only. To schedule an appointment with a personal banker for deposit needs or your local lender for loan service please call us at (920) 788-4141.

We encourage you to continue calling to schedule appointments after June 1 to reduce waiting times in the lobby.

As always, our drive thru, ATM, night deposit box, Telebank, and 24/7 online and mobile banking services will be available for all of your banking needs.

We thank you for your continued support and patience as we reopen during this time. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!

A Message from BLC Community Bank Regarding the COVID-19 Virus

 

By now, all of you have been impacted in some manner by the CORONA or COVID-19 virus. This message is to provide you with some additional information and let you know what BLC is doing in response to the situation:

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus known as COVID-19 originated in a remote region of China, several months ago. The original case was caused by contact with an infected bat from an animal reservoir near Wuhan, Hubei Province. Later, there was evidence indicating a spread of the virus through human to human contact. As individuals traveled, the virus was spread to other parts of the world and has now been classified as a pandemic, as the virus has spread worldwide. The virus has spread easily and quickly, because this is a novel strain of virus and no vaccine or pre-existing immunity is in place at this time.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the full clinical picture of the virus is not known, as confirmed cases have resulted in very mild symptoms and also serious symptoms, including death. Older people and individuals with severe existing health conditions (heart disease, lung disease, diabetes) seem to be most likely to contract the virus. Individuals appear to be contagious for a fixed period of time, but this includes a period for some who have yet to exhibit symptoms. As of March 12, 2020, there were 1,629 reported cases in the U.S., including roughly 10 in Wisconsin.

 

With the help of the CDC, most regions in the United States are working to obtain the kits to test for the virus. Large gatherings are being cancelled or avoided, due to the pre-eminent risk of exposure being close proximity to an infected individual. This practice, known as social distancing, is the primary method currently being employed to halt the viruses spread.

 

Following guidelines of State and local governments, BLC is carefully monitoring the status of the situation in Wisconsin and the Fox Valley Region. Additional cleaning measures have been implemented and employees have been encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel. However, until it becomes impractical, the Bank will remain open for business as usual. If any employee exhibits symptoms, we will ask them to remain at home, as we would for a potential case of influenza. We would also ask customers to consider the following 3 questions before visiting the Bank:

 

If you answer yes to any of these questions, we would ask that you stay home, or conduct business through our drive-thru. We would also suggest you CALL (not visit) your doctor for advice.

 

Customer and vendors who have scheduled appointments will be asked to complete a waiver upon entering the bank.

You can stay safe and help others stay safe with some very simple habits and prevention tactics.

 

 

More than anything we are encouraging everyone to avoid living in fear. Over the past 20 years, the world has experienced at least 10 distinctive viral epidemics. Also, the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the real estate crash and Y2K. Through all of these events, those that were level-headed and took reasonable precautions managed to enjoy a reasonably normal lifestyle and resume normalcy once the situation was resolved. Please be smart and take care of yourself, but don’t be overwhelmed by the current situation.

 

While we are hopeful that a vaccine will be developed soon, it is likely it will take the better part of a year to get an effective vaccine into the production and distribution stage (CDC). However, the individuals that contract the virus and recover will provide valuable scientific data and will also begin the process of developing natural immunities to COVID-19. Because of pending school closings, we will likely have some employees working from home, similar to many other local companies. Meanwhile, we will continue to monitor the situation and make any necessary changes to continue operating as a full-service bank. As changes occur we will strive to keep you informed.

 

If you wish to review additional information, please go to the websites of the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, Department of State, or Department of Health and Human Services.