Kroll takes pride in community involvement

As Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Park Side Credit Union, Josh Kroll’s responsibilities stretch pretty wide.

He’s out recording radio advertisements, promoting products, developing new projects, and much more. But his favorite part is connecting with people.

“It’s artistic and creative, but also scientific and analytical, because you’re trying to understand people and then approach them in the way they would want to be communicated to,” he says. “All aspects of it, it’s just a good fit. It’s just who I am.”

Kroll has been at Park Side since 2009, when he and his wife, Sarah, moved to Whitefish.

He was recently recognized as a “Credit Union Rock Star” by Credit Union Magazine, along with 49 other people from across the country.

Kroll says the recognition is a fun side-effect of hard work at Park Side.

“It’s nice, it’s not what you do it for necessarily, but after a while you build some things and you do good work and you see other people being recognized and you say, ‘You know, I think we deserve that,’” he says. “Yes it’s an individual thing, but I feel good that it says Park Side in Whitefish, Montana. It’s putting us on the map.”

Kroll is recognized in the magazine for his passion “about life” — including climbing mountains, running races with family and playing guitar at Fresh Life Church — as well as his passion for his career.

He says some of Park Side’s projects have been gaining recognition as well.

One in particular is its partner program, which picks three nonprofits at both Park Side’s Whitefish and Missoula locations and works with them for a year, sharing advertising, donating funds and working alongside the nonprofits.

“They don’t see things like this, where we’re working with them for an entire year. We had 28 organizations apply this year, and we had to narrow it down to six, because that’s what we can commit our resources to,” Kroll says. “All banks and credit unions are awesome and give back to the community, but this is unique in that we really work closely with them for a long period of time — it’s not just write a check and approach us next year.”

This year’s Flathead Valley nonprofits are the Kalispell Education Foundation, Code Girls United, and the Flathead Food Bank.

To date, the program has served 40 nonprofits.

Working directly with local nonprofits also gives Park Side employees chances to volunteer at organizations that fit their interests, Kroll says.

“Maybe some of our employees are really passionate about the food bank and want to go volunteer there, but some might have a tech background and be interested in [teaching girls to code]. So we provide our employees all these opportunities to get out and be involved,” he says.

While he never expected to end up at a credit union, Kroll says he’s here to stay.

After discovering Whitefish and working in Glacier National Park over a decade ago, Kroll moved back to his home state of Wisconsin and found a job as a teller at a local credit union. When he and his wife decided to set up shop in Whitefish for good, Park Side was a way in, he says.

“When we wanted to move out here I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a credit union, maybe I should apply.’ I kind of just got the job to move here, and it’s been a great fit ever since,” he says.

It’s the office vibe that excites him, he says.

“The culture here is different. Our tagline is, ‘We like to say yes.’ I think we’ve created a culture of ‘yes,’ meaning it’s positive, it’s optimistic,” he says. “Our employees aren’t afraid to speak up and say, ‘I think this might work better.’”