Neyl Williams, director of Par Car Health, was not even a First Service Bank customer when the coronavirus crisis his.  He had been with a big bank whose customer service was impersonal, and had only recently spoken with Andrea Mahon at the Little Rock branch about bringing his loans to the bank, where he had experienced better customer service.  But he had not gotten any further than that discussion.

As a home care company, Par Car Health was on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis from the beginning.  With 130 ‘essential’ caregivers and 140 clients, owner Neyl Williams had his hands full taking care of his employees and their clients health, so he did not have time to pursue any loan opportunities through his bank, but he got a call from Andrea, with information about loan programs that had become available.  When he told her he was crunched for time, “Andrea told me to just send her a few things they need, and they’ll take care of it.”

“I wasn’t even a customer yet,” Neyl said, but they talked it over, and determined that it might be good insurance to have the PPP money, in case anyone got sick, or the health care guidelines changed, and affected his business.

Neyl says that Andrea and her colleague Eddy “worked like crazy” through the weekend.  He got one more call, with a request for more documents, and on Monday morning they told him that the application was approved.  He had funds the next day.

This was all Neyl needed to see.  He brought his business account to First Service Bank, and the superior customer service continued.  Neyl ran his payroll from his First Service business account, and Andrea and Eddy kept an eye on his transactions.  When his payroll spiked up—a state program had allowed him to give his employees a hazard pay bonus—they called to make sure everything was right.

In the last few months, Neyl says that he has been gaining new clients and growing the business, with new protocols for masks and gloves and quarantines, of course—and Neyl is looking into ways he can expand his business with First Service Bank.

“They’re always working to understand how your business works,” Neyl said, “and how the bank can make my life easier.  You’re not a number.  They make you feel like you’re special.”