Teche Federal, which celebrated one year of being part of the Opelousas' community earlier this month, is banking on a small-town feel with big-town services to make its mark locally.

"The culture of Teche is to go out into the community and find out what the needs of our customers are," said Branch Sales and Service Manager Jutta Codori. "We offer business, personal and lending services. We visit with our customers on a personal basis and tell and explain our services and they, in turn, tell us their needs. At that point, we can possibly help them meet those needs."

It's that hometown feel that owners Patrick and Ross Little of Franklin remain focused on.

"They're like family - very friendly and they treat you like family," said new customer Gene Stephen. "I was referred to them by another bank I was using because they were not able to do the mobile home loan that I was seeking. It's the one place I know I will always get a smile when I come in here."

Besides some of the more traditional banking gimmicks, such as a free gift for opening a new account, Teche takes customer service to another level with quarterly appreciation days for customers, which include everything from catered luncheons on Saturdays, free ice cream and hot dogs, to Christmas cookies and punch.

They personalize their thanks for banking with them even further by calling customers on their birthdays.

"These calls have brought very good responses to us," Codori said. "Someone's birthday is very special to them and the customers have appreciated that we feel that way, as well."

Teche has more than 18 branches in south Louisiana. The original branch was started in Franklin and there are plans to open three new branches in Baton Rouge next year.

"For parents in Opelousas and the surrounding areas who have children attending LSU and Southern University, their kids will have access to our banking," Codori said. "We currently now have two branches in Baton Rouge. We want to offer convenience and access to make all of our customers and their extended families happy."

Business customer Dr. Robert Lapidus expressed his pleasure with Teche's service.

"They provided me with working capital for my business. The service has been very responsive to my needs. They have also been an excellent resource for other business needs of mine," Lapidus said. "They've been doing such a good job, that I am considering transferring my personal accounts to them."

Codori began with First Federal as comptroller. When it was acquired by Teche, she was promoted to branch manager.

"My goal as manager is to help people accept change. They tend to shy away from change. I want them to know that we are here to serve them," she said. "To an extent, we have accomplished this by gaining name recognition in an already established banking community.

"People in the community are beginning to recognize us more from our community involvement. Our commercial lenders are members of the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and St. Landry Economic and Industrial Development District. Our goal is to become even more involved. This is our community and we want to be the community's bankers."

Originally published July 17, 2005