Shame on TD for turning its back
Editor:
My family and I have lived in New Lowell for 25 years raising a family and have recently built a new home on our property in the hills of Creemore. We have been a part of the community for some 30 years visiting and taking in the services of downtown Creemore and supporting our town entrepreneurs. Finding out recently that TD bank has decided to relocate to the community of Stayner has left me feeling cheated again by large corporations. For TD this is just a part of doing business but with today’s lightning speed information, I feel that TD Bank may encounter much more a negative effect than positive for their decision to relocate.
It is not unheard of for large corporations to become unprofitable in areas of their business due to recessions or economic downturns but TD Bank has been providing service to the community for some 100 years. Why is it that all of a sudden the bank feels that our community no longer is supporting the bank’s needs? We are still here and have not turned our backs on TD. Through all the recessions and economic changes Creemore has come through, why now is the TD bank pulling out? It takes many pillars to hold up a roof and sometimes if one key pillar is removed the remaining pillars are left to hold the added load. Shame on you TD Bank for posting your decision on the door in such a cowardly way, forcing the hard working entrepreneurs to pick up the added load.
It was a class act when Molson bought Creemore Springs Brewery. Here was a big corporation that dug deep into their pockets to work with the community, listening and responding. Now with Molson improvement and redevelopment of their Creemore facility the town has seen much improved levels of visitors. Molson played a major role helping all the other Creemore entrepreneurs in the revitalizing of the Creemore business and community spirit. Molson found solutions rather than running away.
Do you really think that all the current Creemore TD Bank customers will continue to bank at TD? Probably not! I believe that all customers are equally important. As far as I know TD does own the building in Creemore, which is more than most of the supporting public own. Most of us still carry mortgages on our homes, paying interest sometimes well into our retirement years. The reason TD owns their Creemore facility is because of the profits from the paying customers over the past 100 years.
I can offer a few suggestions if TD is having such a hard time making ends meet operating their business in Creemore. If the hydro bill for your Creemore branch is too costly, try investing in yourselves while supporting the local community entrepreneurs and purchase some Photovoltaic (PV) panels and have them installed on the roof by local technicians. You will save on your hydro bill and reduce your carbon footprint. Another thing that could be done is purchase and have installed a new energy efficient ground source heating system, change your lighting to LED and make changes to the building’s overall efficiency. You may be surprised how fast the payback is and how much money you can save. Going a little green may actually match the color of your logo. Being a leader is hard work, being a follower is not so hard, remember!
So surely a large corporation like TD can maintain the current bank’s location in Creemore and be a profitable leader. Look at all us small town folks, we find ways to balance our books and do it all while supporting TD through the past 100-plus years without running out of town. So bear down and find the actual problem in TD, be a leader and correct the problems then stay with us for the next 100 years. You are part of a Creemore community family. Be responsible! Oh, one more thing, yes, we do need you to stay!
Rob Doucet,
Creemore.
