Now, SECU has added a new hire to bring out the most from its workforce of approximately 7,300 people. As SECUs first chief culture officer, Emma Hayes intends to leverage the credit unions diversity of views and talents to create a responsive, committed workforce that is empowered to make a difference in the financial lives of those they serve.

Hayes made the move to SECU in March after a year as the chief diversity officer with the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) and more than seven years in development and learning positions with Local Government FCU ($3.5B, Raleigh, NC). The North Carolina State University grad also spent 15 years working as and then developing technical writers with employers in the Research Triangle.

Why did SECU create the title of chief culture officer?

Emma Hayes: SECU has been around for 85 years. Weve built a reputation for providing excellence in service. Our passion for people helping people has driven our team members to go above and beyond to ensure our members are well taken care of.

SECU created the position of chief culture officer not to shift the focus away from the thing that has helped us grow to who we are today, but to broaden the focus to include those who have helped us.

The Whats In A Name series is one of several Callahan Collections available at CreditUnions.com. Check out this collection, then browse the collections available for disaster recovery, member feedback, community impact, sustainability, deposits, analytics, and more.

What challenges and opportunities does your role address? How do you plan to address them?

EH: I see my role as having four major functions that address challenges and opportunities in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI): leadership development, employee engagement, and internal brand marketing.

Leadership development is crucial. People dont leave organizations, they leave bosses. It is my responsibility to create a cohesive and inclusive leadership language that permeates throughout the organization.

SECU created the position of chief culture officer not to shift the focus away from the thing that has helped us grow to who we are today, but to broaden the focus to include those who have helped us.

The hope is to build transparency and trust into everything we do, to help our leaders navigate the evolution and changes they are currently experiencing, to help them build capacity and resilience. We intend to help our leaders build other leaders.

In doing so, we hope to engage our team members in ways that fuel their passion for our members, communities, and one another. We want them to feel they have a place with us. They can bring their entire self. Accomplishing engagement at an elevated level will produce collaboration and innovation. We endeavor to make SECU the employer of choice, a certified Great Place to Work.

We have so many incredible stories throughout our organization that speak to the real purpose of SECU. However, weve not historically done a good job of sharing our stories. Its time we shared our stories, in our voice, with our passion.

Although Im still in a period of discovery, the plan is to listen, learn, and plan with intentional focus on addressing our priorities using the information we collect from those most impacted.

Please describe your goals for developing DEI at SECU.

EH: With the recent social unrest, increase in hate crimes, and the changing landscape and evolving expectations of the talent pool, theres never been a more pressing time to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizational culture.

Therefore, the goal is to increase representation at multiple levels of the organization; provide resources, awareness, and development opportunities; create a diverse pipeline of talent; embrace diversity of thought, and implement equitable and inclusive practices that foster a sense of appreciation and belonging across the organization.

Ultimately, we want to get to a place where DEI is in the forefront of our minds, a consideration in the decisions we make, and is woven into everything we do to the point where its just who are.

Targeted giving helps the SECU Foundation make a bigger difference in the lives of North Carolinians , especially those in rural and low-income communities. Read more in How COVID-19 Pushed The SECU Foundation Beyond Its Comfort Zone.

How will meeting those goals improve member service and bring more value to an SECU member?

EH: Well never lose focus on serving our members its why we exist. However, we want to expand our focus on our team members. We want to provide the same exceptional service to them that they provide to our members.

When you treat people well, they are generally happier. Happier employees provide better service to members. Its the trickle-down effect. The exceptional service our members receive today will only be made better by achieving our goals and vision.

How did your work at LGFCU prepare you for this role?

EH: I was built for this position all of my life experiences both personal and professional prepared me to serve SECU.

Throughout my career, Ive been groomed by some of our industrys best. I had the opportunity to witness stellar leadership under the tutelage of Maurice Smith. At LGFCU, there are two credit unions under one umbrella. The challenge in serving both LGFCU and Civic FCU was to provide a collective leadership voice but maintain the integrity of the individual organizations. There, I was afforded the opportunity to design, build, and facilitate a leadership program that created a common enterprise leadership language at different levels of leadership.

Under Maurices leadership, I was encouraged to obtain my certification as a diversity professional. Creating the Leadership Academy and becoming a Certified Diversity Professional were two milestones that helped prepare me to serve in my current capacity.

Are there any other mentors who have influenced your development?

EH: I had a front-row seat watching and taking notes from Ren’e Sattiewhite, who served as an example of what it means to truly serve your purpose passionately. The AACUC, in partnership with LGFCU, was able to leverage my passion for DEI and for learning and development.

Ren’e empowered me to build the DEI Leadership Academy for Financial Professional certificate program. She served as a mentor, coach, and sponsor for my career development. I call her a curator of talent. She sees things in people they sometimes dont see in themselves. Then she gives them a platform and the autonomy to shine. Thats what she has done for me and so many others.

Its because of the things I have been able to achieve under Maurice and Ren’e that I was well-suited and properly positioned to serve SECU.

Who do you report to and who reports to you?

EH: I report directly to Jim Hayes, CEO of SECU. To make the impact we want across the organization, its important that I have a direct connection to the leader of our organization. Jim has a vision for DEI at SECU that I can absolutely get behind and support. Reporting directly to him shows his unwavering commitment and support of our DEI efforts. Im currently in the process of building a team of passionate professionals that will help support our DEI efforts.

How do you stay current with topics that fall under your role?

EH: I consider myself to be a lifelong learner. I read relevant articles from the many professional associations and affiliate organizations to which I belong. I attend conferences, webinars, roundtables, and other workshops.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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Research from Harvard Business school and PR and marketing firm Edelman shows purpose-driven organizations attract employees as well as consumers. Credit unions across the country are leading with purpose to positively impact the lives of their members, communities, and employees here are three stories to serve as inspiration for all.

This is one of three spotlights on credit union impact. Read more about member impact and employee impact.

Going Against Gentrification

Although the dividing line between what is Seattle’s north and south sides is somewhat subjective, the differences, especially as they related to diversity, are clear, says Verity Credit Union ($763.1M, Seattle, WA) COO Justin Martin.

In 2010, the 98118 zip code on Seattle’s south side was the most diverse in the city, according to U.S. Census data. But a light rail station that opened in the zip code in 2009 contributed to a decline in diversity, and by 2020, Census data indicated the zip code was the fourth-most diverse in the Seattle area.

With the light rail comes development, Martin says. With development tends to come gentrification and displacement. The cost of living goes up. All these things can have negative effects on the people who have historically lived in a place and made it a vibrant community.

In 2019, Verity committed to building a branch as part of a mixed-use development project in Seattle’s south side, then jumped at the chance to finance a limited equity housing project in the hopes the model could serve as the future of affordable housing.

Read more in Equity Housing Bridges A North-South Divide.

To learn how Five Seattle credit unions are contributing the final piece of financing for an affordable housing project to serve the city’s residents, read Seattle Credit Unions Invest Together In Affordable Housing.

Better Neighborhoods One Affordable House At A Time

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, State Employees Credit Union ($51.0B, Raleigh, NC) created a CUSO that uses the resources and ethos of the nation’s second-largest credit union to turn foreclosures into single-family rentals and owner-occupied homes.

The property management CUSO is named SECU*RE, and its mission is to rehab SECU’s real estate owned (REO) properties and rent or sell them. The result is less loss to the credit union itself and, just as critically, more affordable housing and less neighborhood decay in the communities in which those houses are located.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, SECU*RE owned 1,546 properties with a market value of $221 million. As of July 1, it was managing 1,302 occupied rental units.

SECU’s creative rethinking of REOs has created better housing opportunities across the Tarheel State and protected the credit union’s investment in those properties.

Read more in Rehab, Rent, Sell: A 3-Part Strategy To Fight Foreclosures.

Support For Small Communities

Since 2015, SECU’s SECU Foundationhas connected college students with leaders in rural communities.

That’s when the foundation created an internship program that places rising sophomore and junior students at 15 North Carolina state universities with local leaders to obtain real-world work experience while giving back to communities. The SECU Public Fellows Intern Program also helps curb the brain drain that occurs when college graduates move from rural areas to larger metropolises.

The concept was to curb that drain, says Jama Campbell, senior vice president and executive director of SECU Foundation, the philanthropic arm of State Employees Credit Union. Let’s get college kids interested in working for nonprofits or government entities in their hometowns or other small, rural communities in North Carolina.

In 2018, the foundation partnered with a nonprofit to extend local government opportunities to recent graduates and for three years has placed high-achieving program participants into community government roles to plug the brain drain.

Read more in Fellows Step Into Local Leadership Roles.

Want more stories of credit union impact? CreditUnions.com has them! Click here to see a selection of stories that highlight strategies, initiatives, products, and services of credit unions making a positive impact for the members and communities they serve.

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Top-Level Takeaways

• Nusenda began making microloans in 2010. In 2018, it formalized a program and started working with community partners to identify borrowers.

• The small entrepreneurs are posting a solid payback record while creating jobs and opportunity in their communities.

For more than a decade, Nusenda Credit Union ($3.4B, Albuquerque, NM) has provided financing to small entrepreneurs and created a community impact that extends well beyond the cooperative’s bottom line.

“We’ve funded restaurants and food services, childcare, jewelry and other artisan production, a barbershop, and much more,” says Amy Nigrelli, Nusenda’s chief marketing officer.

It All Started With A SEG

Nusenda kicked off its microlending effort in 2010 with a five-year loan pilot program created to support La Montaita Co-op, New Mexico’s largest community-owned natural foods market and one of Nusenda’s select employee groups.

According to Nigrelli, many growers in La Montaita’s network didn’t meet traditional loan collateral or credit requirements and couldn’t access the funding to increase production and grow their businesses. The microloan pilot program was Nusenda’s solution to this growing problem and it worked. In fact, the pilot was so successful, the credit union started working with other community organizations to expand the model and reach additional underserved borrowers.

“We have some fantastic organizations in New Mexico that serve underserved and marginalized groups,” Nigrelli says. ‘Their daily focus is supporting and building mutual trust with their constituents. We partner with such organizations to identify and qualify potential borrowers.

Nusenda dubbed its expanded program Co-op Capital and issued the first loans from it in 2018.

Character Fills The Credit Gap

Typical underwriting rules including credit scores create a gap that the Co-op Capital program is built to address.

“There are many people often women, people of color, Native Americans, and immigrant communities who have never had access to financial institutions,” Nigrelli says. “Co-op Capital provides a path to capital for borrowers in our community who would not traditionally have access. The microloans administered under this program use a character-based lending model, rather than the traditional five Cs of credit, to qualify a borrower.”

According to Nigrelli, the program initially relied on support from Program Related Investments (PRI) from the Kellogg Foundation, the Albuquerque Community Foundation, and the Dakota Foundation. Under that model, 70% of the loans were collateralized through PRI, 20% from the credit union, and 10% from the partner organization.

But that changed as Co-op Capital expanded and Nusenda demonstrated its ability to serve the micro market.

In 2020, Nusenda began collateralizing 90% of the loans with the remaining 10% from the partner organization, Nigrelli says.

Currently the program relies on a revolving collateral fund that contains $1 million in PRI money and $3 million from the credit union.

The Multiplier Effect

Since 2010, Nusenda has made 630 microloans totaling $1.8 million. According to the credit union, those funds have helped those small businesses create 324 jobs.

The Co-op Capital program alone, which formally launched in 2018, has accounted for 218 loans that have averaged $5,050 each and have helped establish 41 new businesses and 129 new jobs. Of those 218 loans, Nusenda has charged-off only two.

The credit union has made loans through 15 different partners representing a diverse group of tribal organizations, local economic development organizations, and more. Borrowers are located across New Mexico, primarily in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Taos counties, as well as the Navajo Nation, and their pursuits range from traditional businesses to startups like a coding school and a commercial test kitchen.

Most recently, the credit union partnered with Albuquerque’s International District Economic Development (IDED) to support small businesses and entrepreneurs in the capital city’s southeast neighborhoods, which the credit union and IDED describe as one of the city’s most culturally diverse and underserved areas.

Assistance often extends beyond loans, too. For example, the IDED partnership includes funding, office space, workshops, and training to help support the budding businesses.

But that’s not all.

“Access to capital even in small amounts has a multiplier effect,” Nigrelli says. “It helps the borrower on their personal journey and as an investment can help whole communities improve and thrive.”

The Broader Product Picture

Co-op Capital deepens the connections among the credit union, the programs it works with, and the communities they all serve.

“Nusenda is deeply involved in communities across the state,” Nigrelli says. “What’s special about our Co-op Capital program is that it fosters a deep understanding of the communities we serve and their needs especially traditionally marginalized groups. It’s powerful to see what we do come to life at a very human level.”

Nigrelli calls Co-op Capital an extension of the cooperatives efforts to ensure its products benefit the community and serve low-income members.

“We’re always looking for ways to help our members and support the communities in which they live,” she says.

Other examples of the credit union’s help include first-time homebuyer programs, checking accounts targeted to students and people working to fix their finances, and a debit card that allows members to round up purchase charges to pay down loans, save, or donate. Its efforts during the pandemic have included donating 4,200 masks and supporting first responders as well as neighbors-in-need with more than 15,000 meals from local restaurants and 1,500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

Community Connections. Lasting Impact.

According to Nigrelli, one of her goals when she joined Nusenda in December 2020 was to help expand microlending and connect more New Mexicans to safe, affordable banking.

“We’ve learned so much from our Co-op Capital work and the positive power of collaborating with community partners,” the CMO says. “I’m looking forward to even more.”

Although some borrowers have moved into more traditional banking products, the bottom line isn’t Nusenda’s ultimate goal.

“Nusenda is here to empower our members and the communities we serve,” Nigrelli says. “We have a responsibility to understand our field of membership and connect them to affordable, responsible, modern products and services they can trust. This program is a great example of how we can leverage our community connections and our people-first focus to do things together that make a great impact.”

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Jeremy Cline helps direct that effort as senior director of member success and loyalty. It’s a title the 15-year veteran of the credit union has held just since October, when the Tarheel State cooperative expanded his role as director of member satisfaction itself just created in 2020.

Here, Cline describes his role and Truliant’s approach to member satisfaction.

Why did Truliant create this new title and role?

Jeremy Cline: The title is meant to communicate Truliant’s commitment to understanding and meeting members’ needs. We believe we earn and retain their loyalty by consistently delivering products and services in ways that reduce the effort needed to work with us and exceed what they tell us they need and expect.

Accomplishing this requires constant assessment and proactive efforts to create long-term value in addition to quickly reacting to real-time feedback as members interact with us. All our different teams at Truliant are intensely focused on member experience within their lines of business.

My role’s main responsibility is to help the organization focus on how all those collective efforts connect to create that optimum member experience for which we strive.

Did Truliant create the role specifically for you?

JC: It was an opportunity that came from expanding my previous responsibilities to include overseeing the implementation of an organization-wide client relationship management (CRM) system as well as the recently formed product strategy and development department. Within that, I oversee our member satisfaction group.

Who do you report to? Who reports to you?

JC: I report to Chris Murray, our chief member experience officer. I have worked with Chris in many different capacities at Truliant. His tireless dedication to delivering exceptional member service has been influential in how I approach this role at Truliant.

Lis Mulcahy is our new director of member satisfaction and reports to me. She has more than 16 years of financial services experience, including training in innovation, customer journey mapping, and design thinking. I’m actively interviewing for a product strategy and development manager who will also report to me as we build strategic roadmaps and action plans for future enhancements.

What makes you a great fit for this job?

JC: The variety of opportunities and experiences I have been able to enjoy at Truliant are the main contributor for my fit and passion for this role.

This is my ninth different role in 15 years at Truliant. I have held roles in member service, financial advising, consumer lending, risk analysis, product management, and, most recently, member satisfaction. In each role I have maintained a strong curiosity about why we do the things we do and constantly looked for ways to improve what we provide to our members. Working in so many different areas and departments has allowed me to form some unique perspectives on how we all connect to deliver value to our members.

I’ve also been involved in large-change initiatives and corporate projects to improve member experiences.

Additionally, Truliant has supported me as I continue my education. Most recently, I will finalize my MBA degree this December from the McColl School of Business at Queens University at Charlotte with a concentration in leadership and change.

What challenges and opportunities around member success and loyalty does your role address?

JC: Member expectations around financial products, banking services, technology, and general customer service have changed rapidly over the past decade. Our members’ expectations are influenced by their experiences with us and at other financial and non-financial service organizations.

Delivering excellent, consistent member service is the foundation; however, if our products and technology solutions do not work like members expect or miss the mark on what members really need, then they will find another option. There are simply more competitive alternatives for our members to consider than in the past.

The increased adoption of digital self-service banking also is forcing us to be creative with how we design support and guidance for members interacting with us through those methods. We must constantly assess our staff structures and internal processes, which were once optimized to deliver a fully guided beginning-to-end experience through an in-person or phone interaction, for effectiveness within today’s environment. It places demands on us to become increasingly agile to meet those changing expectations and be there for our members when and how they need us.

What does improved member success and loyalty at Truliant look like? How are you working to achieve that?

JC: We hear from loyal members thanking us for their service experiences every day. They tell us the reasons they recommend Truliant to their friends and family, and we pay attention to those factors.

Our goal is to improve our ability to understand what it takes to consistently deliver those common drivers of satisfaction. We mainly accomplish that by listening to and learning from our member and service team perspectives. Then we bring business units together to identify, prioritize, and co-design our work efforts to improve our ability to exceed member expectations. Earning their loyalty is simply a byproduct of being successful in those endeavors.

Loyalty occurs when they think of Truliant first when they have a financial need because, over time, they have grown to trust we work hard to understand what they need and have their best interest at heart.

What role does technology play in member success and loyalty at Truliant?

JC: We tend to think about our member experience within channels and specific technology capabilities, but it’s clear our members do not. They expect seamless interactions among channels and for us to deliver fast, knowledgeable service no matter how or when they choose to do business with us.

This reality puts pressure on our various internal teams to document and effectively communicate the service preferences and expectations of individual members. That’s where we hope to leverage technology such as CRM to not only integrate systems for improved visibility but also support our employees in providing personalized and timely service across all touchpoints.

Additionally, we leverage our survey vendor’s platform to help us initially organize our member feedback by sentiment drivers so we can quickly be alerted to areas of concern or opportunity for further analysis.

Please talk more about the member satisfaction group. How many people are in it? What does it do? Why is it important?

JC: We receive, on average, 1,500 to 2,000 unique surveys every month; approximately 85% of respondents provide open-ended feedback in their own words about their experience and reasons for scores. We commit to our members that we will read every survey response when we invite them to take it.

The member satisfaction group helps facilitate the surveys, organize feedback, analyze scores, interpret results, and ensure proper follow-up to close service loops with our members.

The group also chairs a monthly member satisfaction committee comprising senior leaders and subject matter experts across the organization. Our chief executive planning team has charged this committee to integrate the voice of our members into our strategic plans and operation decisions.

The actual department is small with a director and a survey analyst. We plan to hire a second analyst next year.

Thankfully, everyone in the credit union is involved in delivering satisfied member experiences to varying degrees. For example, leaders within lines of business that are directly surveyed daily reach out to members who give us low scores or indicate they still need help resolving a problem. This helps our leaders act on member issues quickly and stay connected with our members’ perceptions of the service we deliver. That knowledge can then influence training, coaching, service staff recognition, and identification of root causes for member pain points.

What does your daily routine look like?

JC: I typically start my day reviewing survey trends, including some key scores we pay attention to. I stay in daily contact with Muranda Duncan, Truliant’s survey analyst, to understand what themes we’re noticing as surveys come in each day.

We maintain a list of member experience opportunities and are constantly organizing and keeping that list up to date with research findings. I attend project and planning meetings every day that tend to revolve around a variety of initiatives impacting member experience.

It’s important for me to keep a wide perspective of our corporate initiatives so I can do my part in helping the organization understand connections and impacts to the member from our individual tasks or projects.
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How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected what you do at Truliant?

JC: I officially gained responsibility of the survey program in March 2020 right as the pandemic was beginning to negatively impact our in-person service availability. One of the results of that restriction was forcing members to interact with us through channels that were not always their preferred method.

The survey program became another outlet for members to communicate their needs with us, especially as our call center experienced spikes in volume and our drive-thru lanes became busier than normal.

Although the pandemic was difficult for our communities and employees, it helped Truliant understand the needs of our members during challenging times. We learned about how we could improve our service delivery, and members shared how much our relief practices meant to them and their families.

How do you track success in your job?

JC: Our Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Member Effort Scores are the primary measurements sourced from our survey responses. We track trends by delivery channels and experiences every month. On top of that, we keep running lists of different initiatives we have influenced or supported that led directly or indirectly to improved member experiences.

For example, we might target a reduction in supervisor escalations as a way to measure success of increasing first point of contact problem resolution. We’re actively working on integrating our survey data into our data warehouse and looking to develop tracking methods and KPIs in 2022. I believe there are many engagement and attrition metrics we should be tracking along with satisfaction scores to improve our ability to be more proactive in our efforts.

How do you stay current with topics that fall under your role?

JC: I digest quite a bit of industry white papers, studies, consumer surveys, and articles every month from various sources. There’s a great deal of dedicated customer service material available through online blogs, like SixteenVentures, which I reference often.

I recommend the 2018 book Listen or Die by Sean McDade for anyone considering building a voice of the member program as that was my initial education into this space. It outlines basic information and best practices for turning customer feedback into meaningful action that I go back to frequently.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The post What’s In A Name: Senior Director Of Member Success And Loyalty appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• Afena FCU is using a five-year, $1 million commitment from a community foundation to underwrite its Bridge the Gap loans that go to borrowers with an average credit score of 411.

• The notes can be for up to five years and monthly payments as low as $35, with an average of $82. Financial counseling and a savings feature are built in.

Afena Federal Credit Union ($80.1M, Marion, IN) is using a $1 million commitment from a local foundation to make a positive impact one Bridge the Gap loan at a time. That’s the name of the program the 7,900-member cooperative launched on Nov. 1, 2020, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Grant County.

The loans are small-dollar, low-interest notes intended to help keep the borrowers away from payday lenders in the near term and by helping to build credit scores and also includes savings and financial counseling elements.

“The foundation agreed to provide $1 million over five years to collateralize the loans, which already are making a difference,” says Karen Madry, Afena president and CEO.

“Families have borrowed money for everything from putting food on their table to keeping their lights on in their homes. Some have borrowed to pay off credit cards and to stop the harassing phone calls,” Madry says. “The program is well received because the monthly payments can be as low as $35 per month, which makes it easy and affordable without causing the member to dig a deeper hole for themselves.”

“Participating in an impact investment like the alternative payday lending program has been on our radar for quite some time,” adds Dawn Brown, Community Foundation president and CEO. “It’s both exciting and timely that we are able to partner with Afena our local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to help our most marginalized families recover from COVID-related financial pressures and plan for a more stable and thriving future.”

“Afena FCU is based in a county that had the third-highest poverty rate in the Hoosier State prior to the pandemic,” she says, “and more than 50% of its members are classified as having either very low or extremely low income, earning less than $35,100 and $21,060, respectively. When the federal poverty level is $26,500, it’s clear these families struggle to make ends meet.”

“These statistics and many more made a great case for the need to develop a program designed to help these families, providing them with a safe place to turn where they are not judged based on their credit score,” she says.

“They’re also trying to keep borrowers away from the storefront lenders, of which there are at least seven in her two-county market, and interest rates can be as high as 400%,” Madry says.

The Real Ability To Pay Back The Loan

“Through June 1,” Madry says, “the credit union has underwritten and funded 84 loans for $187,730. The average loan amount has been $2,234.88, of which $1,489.33 has gone to the borrower in cash and the rest paid out into a savings account. The average interest rate has been 6.81%, ranging between 4.25% and 9%, depending on the length of the loan, which can be from three months to five years.”

“The term is based on the real ability to pay it back without stretching the household budget,” Madry says.

“The recipients have an average annual income of $23,704 and credit score of 411,” Madry says. “That includes 24 borrowers so far who had credit scores of zero. The average monthly payment has been $82 or $20.50 a week.”

“Not only does this help the member have the peace of mind that they can afford the monthly payments, it helps to ensure they’ll make payments regularly, a behavior that can have a dramatic impact on improving their credit score and building fiscally responsible habits,” Madry says.

The Bridge the Gap effort also did not call for any dramatic change in behavior on the part of Afena’s small staff. It aligns closely with what we already were doing every day, Madry says. The only difference is that this program is specifically designed for a group of individuals that need looser underwriting guidelines. It’s closely aligned with our lending philosophy and supports our mission and vision.

Marketing Through Multiple Channels And Partnerships

The Bridge the Gap program is marketed through social media, employers, internal newsletters, and word of mouth.

“With pandemic restrictions being lifted, we’re looking forward to ramping up our marketing efforts by visiting churches and social service agencies that work with families,” Madry says. “Our goal is to partner with as many local businesses as possible to encourage them to provide this information to their staff and clients.”

“That ramping up is part of a relaunch that begins this month with new underwriting guidelines and marketing messages. The marketing had actually been paused in April while the credit union assessed some loan losses.” Madry said “six loans totaling about $9,500 have been charged off.”

“We went into this program knowing we were not going to get it completely right right out of the gate. We anticipated having to modify it as needed to minimize our risk,” Madry says.

“Most of our losses are first payment defaults from new members,” she adds. “It seems that some people have the impression that this is free money’ rather than a loan. With our relaunch we will be limiting the loan amount for new members with very colorful credit to small-dollar loans not to exceed $600.”

How The Loans Are Underwritten

Madry stresses that the Bridge the Gap program is premised on not holding members to standard underwriting rules, but to instead give the members a chance to prove themselves credit-worthy.

“At Afena all of our underwriting decisions are heavily weighted on the member’s motivation. We pride ourselves in listening to our member’s story and understanding their situation,” she says.

The credit union also heavily considers previous payment patterns, the reason for the loan, and the receptiveness to financial counseling. Length of employment also has now been modified to a minimum of two years of continuous employment and at least one year with the same employer, with the exception of March to June 2020 when the county was shut down by the pandemic.

The credit union seeks to ensure the ability to repay by not allowing the borrower’s debt-to-income ratio to exceed 65%, and the relaunch also includes changing the income threshold from 200% of the poverty guidelines to 80% of the area’s median income to allow more families to qualify.

Madry says “denials are mostly because of credit reports that don’t reflect any positive payment trends, trends of accounts being turned over to collections (pre- and post-pandemic), and numerous new credit inquiries and/or newly opened tradelines.”

“We’re experienced at determining if their story matches the credit report,” Madry says.

We’re experienced at determining if their story matches the credit report.

The Bottom Line: The Program’s Goals

“We feel this program will help attract new members in our target market by lending money to people who may not otherwise be credit worthy, improving the financial health of financially vulnerable individuals by improving credit scores, and creating a financial plan for them and monitoring their success,” Madry says. “That will ultimately uplift our community as a whole, while creating life-long members, people who will return to us for future financing.”

Madry says “the goal now is to increase the portfolio to $1 million by the end of 2023 by providing Bridge the Gap loans to 500 low-income individuals or families, attracting 150 new members, and cultivating six-to-nine new community partnerships.”

“Our main objective is to create strong alliances where our community organizations will begin to refer their clients to us. While they provide assistance for their areas of expertise, we can provide financial assistance for both their clients and their employees.”

They’re already seeing some results. “Several organizations have reached out to us recently for strategic meetings to determine how they can partner with us and use this program to help their organizations reach their strategic objectives as it relates to providing financial assistance for their employees and clients,” Madry says.

The post How This Small Indiana Credit Union Works To ‘Bridge The Gap’ appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Member experience researchers are an important part of that team. These are the people who assess how products and services work from the perspective of BECU employees and members. Meg Wyble, a 15-year BECU employee, is one of the first to hold the title. Here, she talks about the genesis of her job and what her daily routine looks like.

Is member experience researcher a new role at BECU? What does it involve?

Meg Wyble: BECU created the member experience researcher role about two years ago specifically for the work my team does. Our leaders believe this type of work offers value to the credit union and our members. We conduct user experience (UX) research to better understand the experiences at the credit union both for our membership and our employees.

Our team conducts research on the experience our members have when using our products and services as well as the experiences employees encounter when helping members. We look at products and services BECU is considering offering , too.

We also help internal teams with employee-facing systems. For example, we’re researching employee needs related to how they will use the new customer relationship management technology we’re implementing. This will allow our development teams to make improvements prior to release.

It’s important for us not to guess what our users need and what does or doesn’t work for them. Therefore, we research their experiences with a variety of UX research methods.

Did BECU create this role specifically for you?

MW: No, member and user experience is an area constantly evolving and growing at BECU. The UX Center of Excellence, which supports product and digital design and research, has a team of nine researchers and researcher/designers. My team which focuses on product, contact center, retail, in addition to employee systems has three member experience researchers.

Download the job description for BECU’s member experience researcher. This description and others, along with a variety of strategic and tactical documents, are available in the Callahan Policy Exchange.

What challenges does your work as a member experience researcher address?

MW: My team works to uncover challenges members or employees face with existing products and experiences at BECU. For example, I’m partnering with our contact center to conduct member research to gain an understanding of their experience when using our call-back option when there’s a queue. We’ll then make changes to make the service more intuitive, easier to use, and more informative for our members.

How does your role create a positive member impact at BECU?

MW: Our role is to represent the member’s voice and champion member empathy when it comes to improving existing experiences or creating new ones. The research my team and I do allows our members to share exactly what their needs are and what opportunities and strengths exist for a specific experience. The data gathered is specific to the research effort and isn’t generalized like we might see if we were to capture the member’s voice from something like net promoter score survey comments.

What makes you a great fit for this job?

MW: I have received several certifications in UX and experience research, including a UX Nielsen Norman Group certificate.

Who do you report to?

MW: I report to Amber Smalley, BECU’s director of digital strategy.

What are your areas of responsibility?

MW: I’m responsible for partnering with our contact center, retail divisions, and product team to conduct user-centered research that identifies member and employee needs as well as opportunities to better understand experiences that currently exist or new experiences BECU is looking to implement.

What is your daily routine?

MW: My role does not have a daily routine. Where I’m at in the research process for a specific product, service, or experience will determine what I’m working on. No two days are the same, so it keeps things fresh and certainly keeps me on my toes.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed what you’re seeing as a member experience researcher?

MW: My job hasn’t changed during COVID-19, but the way we do our work has changed as my team has been 100% remote since March 2020.

Now, instead of meeting with members at our Neighborhood Financial Centers, we either meet with them digitally over Zoom or use the platform UserTesting to conduct research with users in BECU’s field of membership. In addition, instead of big planning or research synthesis sessions using a conference room, dry-erase boards, and post-its, we accomplish everything digitally using Mural.

How do you track success in your job?

MW: There are many ways we track success, from the business unit’s key performance indicator’s (KPI) for that experience to product or service usage and even employee time spent doing a specific task. The success metrics are unique to each research effort. In the end, it comes down to finding continual ways to benefit our members and employees.

How do you stay current with topics that fall under your role?

MW: To stay current on topics that fall under my role, I attend conferences, read blog articles, and watch YouTube videos from Nielsen Norman Group; attend classes on IDEO or Coursera; attend the UX research conference UXRConf Anywhere, and read highly rated UX books and online articles through various UX websites.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Job titles say as much about the organization as they do the person. Have you seen a title you’d like to know more about? Let CreditUnions.com know at editor@creditunions.com.

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Top-Level Takeaways

• Growing Oaks FCU, the only credit union chartered in 2020, received its charter in August and opened its doors in December.
• Earning that charter, however, required years of effort and coordination.

On August 7, 2020, the NCUA granted its first and only credit union charter of the year to Growing Oaks Federal Credit Union ($964,059, Goldsby, OK). Led by CEO Pam Greening, the credit union serves those who live, work, or worship in the Sooner State counties of Canadian, Cleveland, McClain, and Oklahoma.

According to its website, the credit union intends to be a federal credit union that distinctly returns to the cornerstone purpose for which credit unions were created, to assist the unserved and underserved.

Growing Oaks started operating in December 2020; however, its story was years in the making. In this Q A, Greening discusses the beginnings of the credit union, the chartering process, what she hopes the credit union will accomplish, and more.

When did you come to be involved in the efforts to charter Growing Oaks?

Pam Greening: We started having conversations nearly four years ago. I’ve worked in banking, primarily on the finance side, all my career. I was ready for a shift in my career, so I joined a construction company in central Oklahoma.

I started to look at some issues that were causing financial problems with our employees the company itself was offering payroll advances, car loans, and home leases with the option to purchase. I helped create educational programs for them before thinking about the bankability of our employees and how we could solve their problems. I researched a few different business models, such as starting a loan fund or a payday-type company that didn’t charge crazy interest rates, before coming across the credit union model.

We’re a faith-based company, and the whole idea of cooperation and discipleship blended well with our model. We talked about what would be possible if we had our own credit union, so I researched how to charter one. We had so many people in our community interested that we decided to go for a community charter rather than an employer-based model.

It was maybe eight months of research, then three years engaged with the NCUA fulfilling the steps and requirements, waiting for feedback, and working different channels before we were granted our charter in August 2020.

How long until you opened your doors?

PG: It took several months to get things in place. You can’t sign contracts or make any moves until the charter is granted, but we had pro forma agreements with vendors before then. It took us some time to set up our core. We opened our doors December 8, 2020, and since then we’ve been building our savings and CD funding base. That’s going well, and we’re close to launching our checking product and consumer lending. From there, we’ll continue to add ATMs and debit cards before looking into business products next year.

Do you have a physical footprint?

PG: The construction company, located in McClain County, had a building on its campus it wasn’t using, so we did a simple remodel and added a teller line. We have one part-time and three full-time employees now.

Part of our business model has an outreach component for some non-profits in Oklahoma City. We go to the city a day or two each month to meet with those clients, and we have a little office down there for that.

Right now, we don’t have a need for a big building, but we’ll make the decision if one does become available. There are one million and one steps to take a credit union from a business plan to a living, breathing entity, and we’re not there yet.

There are one million and one steps to take a credit union from a business plan to a living, breathing entity, and we’re not there yet.

Describe Growing Oaks’ mission.

PG: We believe God’s principles on the stewardship of your money is the way it works best: God owns it all, and he wants us to take care of it, help our families and our neighbors, and set some aside for the future. It doesn’t matter the size of your bank account, we want to help you transition into a more fiscally secure place.

In fact, our name relates to this. It’s about potential. If an acorn isn’t in the right environment, not getting the right nutrition, it’s not going to grow into all it can be.

Education is important to us. We offer a 12-week educational class and one-on-one counseling sessions. We won’t use credit scores when approving loans. Instead, we want borrowers to complete some education before applying and as long as they have the ability to repay, their cash flow and ratios are good, and they pass the educational component, we can approve them. We’re still tweaking how that looks, but that’s our theory.

Why do you think your charter application resonated with the NCUA?

PG: After we got our charter, I received emails from several groups asking that very question. So, I went back to the NCUA and asked. You can have all the faith in the world that the chartering process will move quickly, but there’s work you have to do.

The NCUA told me the way we described our mission and the population we intended to serve was both clear and exactly what they intend for credit unions to do. It was exactly why they wanted to issue new charters. They said they were not interested in charters that were going to look like every other bank.

Then, they want to know more than who you want to help, they want to know how you’re going to do that. When the NCUA listened to our business plan, they heard how we’d been thinking through that part for years helping our people is why we chose a credit union charter over the other options.

That’s the soft side of things. On the technical side, they told me I presented my material in the format they prescribed. Plenty of groups have great business plans, but they don’t present the plan in a way the NCUA can digest. I also think my financial background helped me address and answer questions they’d typically have for non-financial people, who might get hung up on the financial pro formas or not understand how much it’ll cost to get a credit union operational or where they’re going to find the money to capitalize the credit union initially.

Did you have help in the process?

PG: I felt like I was well equipped. I did, however, grab the CEO of Otoe-Missouria Federal Credit Union ($2.0M, Red Rock, OK), Leilani Harpole, as one of my mentors. Otoe-Missouria was the first credit union to receive a charter in 2019, and I used her and some of the other groups I’m in to ask questions: Who’s on your board? What’s it like to work with the NCUA?

Did you face any unexpected challenges in getting the credit union up and running?

PG: I’m old school. If I reach out to a vendor or other potential client, we’d sit down, have meetings, they’d sell me on the solution, and we’d hash through the agreement. My experience this time around was not like that at all.

Even before the pandemic, working with vendors was almost entirely self-service; we were very much on our own for the implementation. If I had a question, they’d spend time sharing with me how to find the answer rather than holding my hand. So, all of a sudden, I was managing 45 profiles for 45 different web-based platforms to stitch my credit union together.

It was overwhelming and unexpected. I just think that’s how business is done these days, and probably with the pandemic that will only accelerate. If you want a person, you’ll catch them when you can, and that’s a challenge. There’s a big learning curve when it comes to getting something like this off the ground. But it was a good lesson: No one else is working on your stuff when you’re not working on it.

When you look back one year or more from now, how will you know you’ve been successful?

PG: We’ll look at our members, those people we hope to walk alongside as they rise financially. They will be saving, they will be giving back, they will be telling their story to other people. When we have folks helping other folks come to the credit union, when we have folks who can see their financial life is better, then I’ll feel like we’re having success.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The post How To Charter A Credit Union appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Top-Level Takeaways

• VSECU invests directly into cooperatives both inside and outside of Vermont without running against the 12.25% member business lending cap. Leaders there say other credit unions can do the same.

• The strategy helps the credit union increase the impact of where it invests its members’ deposits.

America’s 5,000 food co-ops have more than 3 million members nationwide and ring up nearly $2 billion in sales annually. Food co-ops have played a vital role as essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, although many were hit hard by the upheavals of 2020.

The Springfield Food Co-op‘ a community staple in Springfield, VT, for more than 25 years’ adjusted to COVID protocols while in the midst of expanding into a new downtown location on Main Street that offered more shelf space, community space, and “a pandemic dining essential” outdoor seating.

The move cost more than $700,000. The co-op’s 2,300 members, a local community development group, and the private sector funded the venture, but one key investment of $125,000 came from Vermont State Employees Credit Union($955.9M, Montpelier, VT).

If it sounds unusual for a credit union to be part owner of a co-op, that’s because it is. Vermont statute allows state-chartered credit unions to invest directly into other credit unions and cooperatives both inside and outside of Vermont. Similar legislation exists in seven other states including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, and New Mexico, although few credit unions know about it.

“We’d like to see Congress follow suit by broadening the range of credit unions that are legally permitted to make such investments.”

After Matt Cropp, a VSECU member and executive director of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, brought the statute to the credit union’s attention, VSECU created Co-Op Capital, a program aimed at supporting the development of cooperatives with long-term capital investment.

Since the program’s launch in 2016, VESCU has invested in a worker-owned cooperative herbal clinic, a startup commercial hydroponic greenhouse, and, most recently, Springfield Food Co-op. So far, VSECU has invested $148,000 through Co-Op Capital.

“VSECU is constantly looking for ways to increase the impact of where we invest our members’ deposits” says Simeon Chapin, community impact officer at VSECU. “We ask ‘How does this create social, environmental, and financial prosperity?'”

A Sound Investment

Vermont’s statue enables credit unions to invest equity of up to 10% of their shares, deposits, and surplus into cooperatives, without counting against the 12.25% member business lending cap. VSECU’s business loan committee evaluates potential investments and analyzes their potential social impact. Investments generally take the form of preferred stock, non-voting shares that can pay a dividend.

Chapin says cooperatives are sound investments that support the local market. According to data from the World Council of Credit Unions, 90% of cooperatives are still operating after five years in business, compared with 3-5% of traditional businesses. Multiple other studies have shown, on average, 48% of every purchase at a local business goes back into the local economy compared to 14% at national chains.

“Strong, stable businesses and organizations that build wealth for members and keep funds working in our community are exactly what credit unions were founded to be and founded to support,” Chapin says.

Expanding The Program

To expand the program inside and outside of Vermont, VSECU established relationships with organizations and lenders such as the Cooperative Fund of New England, Vermont Employee Ownership Center, the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, and other local cooperative associations. Chapin says the goal is to support the cooperative sector in multiple ways, including using traditional products and services as well as direct investments. For example, when Oak Street Co-op in Burlington, VT, wanted to buy a building at 88-90 Oak St. and lease space to small, startup businesses, VSECU came through with a mortgage. The co-op then raised $200,000 from shares sold to 70 community members and leased the space to two businesses, Poppy Caf & Market and Caf Mamajuana, which opened in November.

Another direct investment through Co-op Capital went to Wellspring Harvest, a hydroponic greenhouse located in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, MA. Wellspring Harvest provides employment to low-income residents and year-round local produce to supermarkets, colleges, hospitals, and families in Springfield and western Massachusetts.

VSECU invested $20,000 in preferred shares to help build the greenhouse. That money became part of $450,000 in equity that enabled Wellspring Harvest to leverage another $755,000 in loans.

Patient capital like the VSECU investment is critical to the success of new cooperative businesses and makes the larger package of financing possible,’ says Fred Rose, co-director of Wellspring Cooperative Corporation.

Wellspring Cooperative has continued to operate through the pandemic, even after losing one-third of its sales when colleges and hospital cafeterias closed. It manages the Go Fresh Mobile Market emergency food delivery program that supports 600 low-income families and raised nearly $20,000 to deliver fresh lettuce to the Western Mass Food Bank.

“Long-term investment has enabled us to weather these challenging economic times and diversify our revenue sources” Rose says.

According to Chapin at VSECU supporting cooperatives is one of many ways the credit union invests in its local community.

For example, it offers home weatherization loans that help members save money on heating costs and reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change. The credit union also offers a credit card that provides a lower interest rate on local purchases as well as a line of credit for small businesses that hire and shop locally.

“We think about the impact of a loan or investment beyond the primary purpose” Chapin says.

Looking To The Future

Leo Sammallahti, marketing manager for Coop Exchange, says co-op advocates are working to identify credit unions in the other seven states to follow VSECU’s lead.

“There is also talk of lobbying other state legislatures” says Sammallahti, whose group created a mobile app that allows anyone in the world to invest in co-ops. “Eventually, we’d like to see Congress follow suit by broadening the range of credit unions that are legally permitted to make such investments.”

Chapin is unaware of other credit unions making similar investments but says there is “enormous potential” for credit unions across the country. Unfortunately, most cooperatives are hampered by laws at the federal level that limit the ways they can find and acquire capital.

“Sometimes, they are boxed in because of the specific sector” Chapin says. “It also is legally challenging to lend to or invest in a group of people rather than a single owner.”

Citing the work of Nathan Schneider, an author and University of Colorado professor, Chapin notes that public financing could be used to create more “democratic capital” or “capital that supports democratic ownership structures” which could clear the way for more credit union capital.

“Expansion needs to come from two directions’ the credit union side and the cooperative side” Chapin says. “Credit unions need more awareness of the opportunity. Better support and understanding of the cooperative business model would bring in more entrepreneurs, innovation, and opportunities for investment.”

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The seasoned technologist had been with the cooperative for three years as vice president of technology. The Tarheel State cooperative created the new role to define Hanington’s leadership as the credit union began the process of picking and deploying a new core processing system.

When it came time to test and go live, the coronavirus forced a virtual conversion. Now, Hanington is focused on building out the cooperative’s ability to leverage the functionalities of its new core platform, the multitude of ancillary systems it supports, and the people the technology empowers and serves.

Here, Hanington shares more about leading emerging technologies at Allegacy.

Why did Allegacy create your role? What challenges and opportunities does it address?

Ernie Hanington: Allegacy created the role when I was assigned to lead our core enhancement initiative. We wanted to separate Allegacy’s emerging technologies from day-to-day technology operations.

Who do you report to? Who reports to you?

EH: I report to Annette Knight, our chief experience officer. I don’t have any direct reports. I led a cross-functional team of approximately 75 people during the core enhancement initiative.

What makes you a great fit for this job?

EH: I have more than 20 years of progressive technology leadership experience developing IT strategy and leading operations in view of business goals, compliance, and security.

I have run large initiatives and led diverse teams across many industries throughout my career with IBM Global Services, and I helped build the technology consulting business for Arthur Andersen. That experience combined with time leading global IT audit while with Sara Lee Corporation enabled me to develop strategy and define technology solutions that align with business objectives.

I also hold a bachelor’s degree in information science and data processing from the University of Louisville.

Job titles say as much about the organization as they do the person. The “What’s In A Name” series on CreditUnions.com dives into notable, important, interesting, or just plain fun roles to find out what’s happening at the ground level and across the industry. Browse the whole series only on CreditUnions.com.

What’s your daily routine?

EH: I start by reviewing my calendar to plan the day and answer emails. From there, I’ll meet with various lines of business within Allegacy to discuss needs and design, plan, and implement solutions.

Collaboration is important to our industry, and I’m fortunate to participate in calls with teams from other credit unions and vendors to learn and share ideas and solutions. I also take time during the day to catch up on general and financial news and to conduct research on emerging technologies that could benefit Allegacy.

What are your areas of responsibility?

EH: Part of my responsibility is to create, implement, and direct innovative, cost-effective technological methods to advance our strategy for information management.

Through it all, I actively participate in ideation, design thinking, and experimentation of new capabilities that leverage emerging data and digitalization technologies. I also lead the development and enterprise rollout of new capabilities in reporting and analytics programs.

A key component of my role is also to work cross-functionally with Allegacy business units, legal and compliance, information security, vendor management, and external partners.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed strategies and tactics at Allegacy, and what has been your role in that response?

EH: COVID-19 required us to change strategies and tactics for both our mock core conversion and go-live weekends.

The pandemic hit right before mock weekend. I organized meetings with our strategic partners [Next Step, Fiserv, Reason Consulting and NCR] to identify steps to protect our employees health but still have a successful event and keep this critical corporate initiative on track.

We developed a plan to have all third-party consultants work remotely. This added risk, but we were well prepared and structured as a team, so we could take on this risk. We established a bridge line that remained open 24/7 and allowed everyone to get status updates, have questions answered, and request assistance.

Everyone from all sides came together during the weekend, kept their spirits high during a trying time, and achieved a successful mock conversion. That success enabled our team to pull off a successful go-live weekend in May.

I also participate on our return-to-work taskforce that meets regularly to discuss the pandemic, how to implement state guidelines, and what we can do to alleviate stress on our employees.

How do you track success in your job?

EH: Success is the implementation of technology that: improves the member experience by making it easier, more convenient, and secure; delivers business results by generating revenue, simplifying processes, and building efficiencies; and eases administrative burden on our employees.

For example, our core conversion enabled our indirect sales department to double the number of loans they could process per day by providing an interface between their system and the core platform. This met all the criteria listed above.

There’s an openness to sharing information and experiences among credit unions that I have not encountered in other industries. I find this mutually beneficial and refreshing.

How do you stay current with topics that fall under your role?

EH: I read trade magazines, use research and advisory companies such as Gartner and CEB [recently acquired by Gartner] to conduct research on different topics, and attend webinars and seminars.

I also find great value in participating on calls with my credit union peers and strategic partners to discuss emerging technologies. There’s an openness to sharing information and experiences among credit unions that I have not encountered in other industries. I find this mutually beneficial and refreshing.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The post What’s In A Name: Vice President Of Emerging Technologies appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

Now, while the movement and the nation await a wave of vaccinations to beat back a tsunami of infections, credit union leadership teams position their technology and people to turn challenge into opportunity in 2021.

As a uniquely challenging year yields to a new trip around the sun, CreditUnions.com turned to the senior leaders at cooperatives around the country for their major takeaways from 2020 and what they see coming in the year ahead.

Here’s what they said.

This is the second in a three-part series.

• Read Part 1 for replies from Brandon Riechers of Royal Credit Union, Steve Swofford of Alabama Credit Union, Tom Gryp of Notre Dame FCU, Kate Laud of Opportunities Credit Union, and Gordon Howe of UNIFY Financial FCU.
• Read Part 3 for replies from Paul Baudin of Express Credit Union, Steve Bugg of Great Lakes Credit Union, Joe Christian of Nusenda FCU, Jim Morrell of Peninsula Community FCU, George Rudolph of Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, and Brad Calhoun of Teachers FCU.

American 1 Credit Union

Martha Fuerstenau, President CEO, American 1 Credit Union

Martha Fuerstenau is the president and CEO of American 1 Credit Union ($493.2M, Jackson, MI) and has been with the Michigan cooperative since 1984.

What is the biggest lesson your cooperative learned this year from the pandemic?

Martha Fuerstenau: In 2019 American 1 embarked on a two-year initiative, implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). At that time, we were interested in changing our operational structure to gain efficiency, agility, and focus as we considered long-term goals for the company. What we learned because of the pandemic, is that EOS provides a structure to make quicker decisions about people, strategy, systems, and processes. Key to our success in navigating the pandemic is the agility that EOS provides. We have an astonishing number of employees working remotely and productivity has never been higher.

What is your biggest opportunity for the year ahead? What are you doing to respond to it?

MF: We discovered many silver linings in our experiences during the pandemic, most around the virtual member experience. One example is transforming our conventional on-site car sales into a virtual car sale. We’ve had increasing success with this new model and look forward to enhancing the virtual car sale member experience in 2021. We built our business model on encouraging in-branch visits because our sales are more successful in face-to-face transactions. In 2021 we’ll be working on the virtual sales transaction, training our team in new techniques for successful virtual sales.

At this point next year, what would you like to be able to say of your credit union’s performance in 2021?

MF: Financially, our forecast for 2021 is quite pessimistic as we predict our ROA and net worth outcomes. So, at this point next year, I’d like to say we were wrong and our financial performance exceeds expectations. Operationally, I hope our branches are safely full of employees and members conducting everyday banking transactions.

Element Federal Credit Union

Linda Bodie, President CEO, Element Federal Credit Union

Linda Bodie has been president and CEO of Element Federal Credit Union ($52.2M, Charleston, WV) since 1998.

What is the biggest lesson your cooperative learned this year from the pandemic?

Linda Bodie: Agility matters when crazy things happen. Element’s culture and philosophy includes constant innovation. We’ve developed all kinds of unconventional products, services, and processes over the years. At the onset of the pandemic, our staff, management, and board were decisive and acted quickly to shift gears into different modes of operations. We were well prepared to work remotely and to find new and old ways to serve members. It’s what we do in other situations, and this one was no different.

What is your biggest opportunity for the year ahead? What are you doing to respond to it?

LB: To become even more credit union cheerleaders and evangelists. We need to really get in people’s faces about who we are and what we do and why it matters. We’re more than just banking services; we’re integral to our local communities, and those communities need us now more than ever. Our products and services are designed for them, and sometimes by them. It’s time to take some new approaches to education and engagement.

At this point next year, what would you like to be able to say of your credit union’s performance in 2021?

LB: We’ve grown membership because people get it; they get what a credit union is and how we’re there for them through the good times and the bad. And they are advocating for us and bringing their family, friends, and co-workers into the Element family.

PCM Credit Union

Dan Wollin, President, PCM Credit Union

Dan Wollin has been president of PCM Credit Union ($308.6M, Green Bay, WI) for more than 30 years.

What is the biggest lesson your cooperative learned this year from the pandemic?

Dan Wollin: Members and staff can adapt to significant changes more than you think they can. Given trust, members and staff will create solutions that will ensure the success of the credit union.

What is your biggest opportunity for the year ahead? What are you doing to respond to it?

DW: 2021 can be the year we lock down the credit union difference and caring culture in our members’ eyes.

At this point next year, what would you like to be able to say of your credit union’s performance in 2021?

DW: Here’s hoping to say we had our most successful year ever and that the credit union has never been stronger, despite whatever economic malady is thrown our way.

State Employees’ Credit Union

Mike Lord, President CEO, State Employees’ Credit Union

Mike Lord has been with State Employees’ Credit Union ($45.9B, Raleigh, NC) for 45 years, the past four as president and CEO.

What is the biggest lesson your cooperative learned this year from the pandemic?

Mike Lord: Our biggest lesson is that our employees are exceptionally resilient and can adapt to major disruptions in their personal lives while continuing to look after and serve our members. That’s no surprise! And it goes directly to the heart of the People Helping People philosophy by which credit unions live. I’m very proud of our employees and members for how they’ve risen to the challenges we face today.

What is your biggest opportunity for the year ahead? What are you doing to respond to it?

ML: Our biggest opportunity is meeting the needs of our members during this stressful time and delivering service by whatever mode of service delivery they choose to use. We’ve improved our mobile app to provide access and convenience while improving the member experience to help our members.

At this point next year, what would you like to be able to say of your credit union’s performance in 2021?

ML: I’d like to say that we met our members’ expectations and helped them to a better place through the most traumatic time we’ve seen in our lifetimes.

Trailhead Federal Credit Union

Jim McCarthy, President CEO, Trailhead Federal Credit Union

Jim McCarthy is president and CEO of Trailhead Federal Credit Union ($140.1M, Portland, OR).

What is the biggest lesson your cooperative learned this year from the pandemic?

Jim McCarthy: We learned a lot about ourselves as a team. We were able to move quickly and make the needed changes to protect our staff and our members. The member services area has gone above and beyond to serve our members and make them feel secure. We did many COVID loans to help our members out, and they’ve been very appreciative.

Most of the back-office staff is working remotely and they have not missed a beat. They adapted quickly to their new situation and have helped us continue to move forward on our initiatives to move the credit union forward. I do miss seeing all of them on a daily basis.

What is your biggest opportunity for the year ahead? What are you doing to respond to it?

JM: It seems like things continue to change on a daily basis: new safety requirements, new regulations, new expectations. As with other credit unions our members have thrived in using digital access to their credit union. We want to continue to offer them the functionality and features they would like. We’re planning to offer many more channels to contact and work with us. Those include a new mobile app, new home banking platform, text messaging service, and other items. It’ll be a challenge having so many key players working remotely but I have complete confidence in their skills and teamwork abilities to make it succeed.

At this point next year, what would you like to be able to say of your credit union’s performance in 2021?

JM: Through hard work and caring about the staff and membership we exceeded our expectations in earnings, service, and new products/services launched.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.

The post Lessons Learned From A Challenging Year (Part 2) appeared first on CreditUnions.com.