Author Archives for Enlighten Financial

Stress In Focus Stress In Focus
Advice

Stress In Focus

Posted on June 14, 2023 Published by
In our May blog, we looked at the critical need for community banks and credit unions to evaluate their commercial loan portfolio. We do this by using a process called “stress testing.” This month, we look a little closer at [read more...]
Stressing is Good Stressing is Good
Advice

Stressing is Good

Posted on May 23, 2023 Published by
In an ever-evolving financial landscape, community banks and credit unions serve as the backbone of local economies. They provide essential financial services to individuals and small businesses. Accordingly, it is imperative to assure the long-term health of these institutions if [read more...]
Do Your Job Do Your Job
Market Information

Do Your Job

Posted on April 13, 2023 Published by
When my parents caught me paying attention to things that did not pertain to the task at hand (generally involving something I was bored with), the refrain was, “Stick to your knitting”. This was rather strange, as I don’t know [read more...]
Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?
General

Are We There Yet?

Posted on February 16, 2023 Published by
As kids, my siblings and I always looked forward to visiting our grandparents in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It was a very long trip to the U.P. from our home in Lansing prior to the construction of the interstate [read more...]
“The staff at Enlighten have been available for questions, in addition to the engaged work that they do. They've been very helpful as a resource beyond the major audit.”
— Meghann Kasper, Chief Credit Officer, Bank First
“Enlighten gives us a very good second set of eyes on our transactions. They're not afraid to challenge us on some of the work that we've done, which is what is needed. I don't need to pay somebody to tell me I'm good, I need to pay somebody to tell me where I've made mistakes.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“Enlighten provided industry best practices that weren’t going to show up in an audit report. They would say, ‘Hey, I noticed you do this. This is really unique, you do a really great job of it.’ And then they might add, ‘Some other clients that I have are doing something like this.’”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“By questioning some of our methodologies, Enlighten has helped us say, ‘Okay, this is where we need to train staff better and focus on so that they understand what they're doing better.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“The organization of the communication — before, during, and after the reporting process — was certainly better with Enlighten than what I've experienced with a lot of auditors.”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“The staff at Enlighten have been available for questions, in addition to the engaged work that they do. They've been very helpful as a resource beyond the major audit.”
— Meghann Kasper, Chief Credit Officer, Bank First
“Enlighten gives us a very good second set of eyes on our transactions. They're not afraid to challenge us on some of the work that we've done, which is what is needed. I don't need to pay somebody to tell me I'm good, I need to pay somebody to tell me where I've made mistakes.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“Enlighten provided industry best practices that weren’t going to show up in an audit report. They would say, ‘Hey, I noticed you do this. This is really unique, you do a really great job of it.’ And then they might add, ‘Some other clients that I have are doing something like this.’”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“By questioning some of our methodologies, Enlighten has helped us say, ‘Okay, this is where we need to train staff better and focus on so that they understand what they're doing better.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“The organization of the communication — before, during, and after the reporting process — was certainly better with Enlighten than what I've experienced with a lot of auditors."
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection