Word: skow
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Biema STAFF WRITERS: Ginia Bellafante, Christopher John Farley CONTRIBUTORS: Bonnie Angelo, Laurence I. Barrett, Jesse Birnbaum, Stanley W. Cloud, Jay Cocks, Barbara Ehrenreich, John Elson, Otto Friedrich, Pico Iyer, Edward L. Jamieson (Consulting Editor), Leon Jaroff, Michael Kinsley, Charles Krauthammer, Dennis Overbye, Richard Schickel, Walter Shapiro, R.Z. Sheppard, John Skow, Martha Smilgis, Richard Stengel, George M. Taber, Andrew Tobias
Since biblical times,moneylenders have mixed markets with ministry, and Skow, 57, wanted to do so long before he had Bush's endorsement. A 1991 Promise Keepers stadium revival inspired him to begin Bible-study groups at the bank he ran in Minnesota. When the bank was sold in 1998, Skow decided to open a Christian bank. He and his wife researched 122 high-growth markets and came down to Las Vegas and Alpharetta, Ga. They chose Georgia. "I didn't want to go to Sin City, but it's too bad now when I think of it," says Skow...
...Skow begins every business day praying with the top officers at his Integrity Bank. At the main branch in Alpharetta, a wood carving of the Prayer of Jabez hangs over the entryway, and Bibles are stacked up in the boardroom. But to attract customers, Integrity doesn't rely on prayer alone; it offers higher-than-average interest rates on CDs and checking accounts and reimburses atm fees charged by other banks. Some 10% of the bank's real estate loans are to churches--which don't get a special deal. Integrity, with $590 million in assets under management, went public...
...Christian brand doesn't hurt. Skow keeps albums full of letters from customers, evidence of the powerful loyalty that a Christian affiliation inspires. While many Christian entrepreneurs want to do good for their fellow Christians, advertising faith is also a clever branding strategy, says James Twitchell, author of Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld. "It's all part of a narrative that you buy or sell," he says. "How else do you separate interchangeable products--and what is a more powerful brand than faith...
...something you can handle, you might not feel comfortable in this environment.'" When she had a biblical mural installed at one location, a stylist stopped showing up at work. "She said Jesus was staring down at her, and she didn't like it," Griffin says. At Integrity Bank, Skow says, "we do not discriminate," adding that "we have hired probably a handful of people who had a weak following with the Lord. Through osmosis in our organization, however, they are now strong believers, and that's a fact...