Reflections on the Summer of ‘24

As I write this article, I am watching the leaves fall outside my window. It seems that fall is finally here. And I am ok with that. Fall is my favorite season of the year here in Michigan. Fall to me means college football, pumpkin flavored coffee (pumpkin flavored everything for that matter), apple cider, cooler weather, back to school, and colorful leaves. It also provides a good time to reflect on the joys of summer.

Once again, we had a busy and successful summer at Greenleaf Trust. As I reflect on summer, here are some of my highlights.

We started the summer with client events in each of our Michigan markets. The events provide a fun, unique, and informal way to connect with all of our clients and friends and celebrate the start of summer.
As part of our strategic growth process, we held our “Up Periscope” meetings at the end of June to calibrate our progress on strategic initiatives we identified at the beginning of the year. If it’s a goal and we write it down, then it certainly makes sense that we raise our periscope to assess where we are halfway through the year.
For the benefit of our retirement plan clients and their participants, our Retirement Plan Division launched MyFuture IRA. It provides an easy and convenient way for plan participants who are no longer with their retirement plan client employers to transition out of their plans and into a customized IRA for their benefit.
Our proverbial homecoming occurred in mid-August. It’s a day when everyone in the entire company comes to Kalamazoo for annual report photos, team building, and collaboration.
Since the beginning of June, eight new talented teammates have joined our company.
Our offices in both Delaware and Bay Harbor moved to new locations and expanded.
We celebrated our 26-year anniversary.
Maybe not a highlight, but memorable just the less. We survived a gas leak and electrical fire at our Kalamazoo office. Yes, the business resiliency plans work.

We are now looking forward to a productive fall and fourth quarter of 2024. This week our executive leaders will be gathering in Grand Rapids, MI, for our annual Advance. The purpose of the Advance is to review and discuss divisional strategic plans for the upcoming year and then create a single cohesive organizational plan. We call it an Advance instead of a retreat because our plan is to move forward not backwards. For the last ten years, our strategic goal has been to be Top of Mind in the state of Michigan. With a focus on the path forward, we have been working all year on our next long-term strategic goal and are excited that we will be finalizing it by the end of the year. More to come on both the Advance and our next strategic goal.

Finally, in case you did not know, October is Cybersecurity Month. Please take a few minutes to read our Chief Information Officer’s article this month on personal cyber hygiene. It includes useful tips on how we all can take responsibility to protect our personal information and online presence.