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Springfield, MO

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A Conversation With ... Don Ackerman

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Tell us about TelComm Credit Union.

This credit union was chartered in 1940. Originally our name was Springfield Telephone Employees Credit Union, and we served the needs of Southwestern Bell employees. Over time, due to changes in the telephone industry – deregulation and things like that – the telephone industry started to downsize. Our credit union, as many have, started to diversify ... adding employee groups, including Springfield Business Journal (and) about 125 companies in town. Then, within the last few years, we’ve actually converted to a community charter (to) serve anyone who lives within a defined geographic area. The geographic area that we were approved for is the 417 area code. We currently have four offices and are negotiating for a fifth. Assets are now almost $70 million. We have 14,000 members and about 35 employees.

Is growth more challenging now than it was when credit unions were divided by industry?

It is more of a challenge – that is the proper word. It seems to me ... in a community this size, there seems to be an overabundance or an extraordinary number of financial institutions to serve the people who live in this city. Everybody’s trying to compete for the same person, and the challenge is to figure out some way to set yourself apart from other financial institutions. It’s good, healthy competition, but it forces the stronger institutions to come to the surface. There are other challenges, too. Technology changes daily, so to stay on the leading edge of technology is a challenge. Regulations and compliance issues change all the time. Another challenge is to educate the general public on credit unions.

How does a credit union differ from a bank?

A credit union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative. Every account holder we have is a member of the credit union and an owner. Anyone who has an account here has the opportunity to come to our annual membership meeting. They have the opportunity to vote, to elect the board of directors. That’s different from a bank. Our board members are all volunteers. Credit unions basically exist to serve their members, not to make profits. Earnings are returned to members in the form of higher savings interest rates, lower loan interest rates and lower fees.

Services and products, though, are very similar, aren’t they?

Yes – car loans, home loans, home equity loans, credit cards. We have automated teller machines, credit cards, debit cards, Internet banking and online bill payment – pretty much the same things other financial institutions have. This is a very progressive credit union. There are a couple of services we just started offering. One is called excess share insurance. It’s an extra deposit insurance to allow our account holders to have their deposits insured up to $350,000 instead of $100,000. We had to have an extensive audit to qualify to offer that service. ... Our individual retirement accounts are insured up to $500,000. Another new service is through a company called Benefits Plus. Members can share in some discounted products such as airfare, hotels, vacation condos, grocery coupons and Internet service, among several others.

You have been in your current position since August 1997. How did you arrive here?

I am originally from Dodge City, Kan. I graduated from St. Mary of The Plains College there with a degree in business administration. I worked for a credit union in that area for 15 years. I had an opportunity to work for a larger credit union in Miami, Fla., so I (had) the culture shock of being a farm kid going to live in Miami, and that was an experience. I was down there for seven years, and it was OK for awhile. It was a learning experience, and we saw a lot, but it exposed our kids to a lot of things that I didn’t care to stick around for. We moved back to the Midwest, where good people live, and I came to TelComm. I’ve been in the credit union industry since 1975. My board of directors encouraged me to go back to school and get a Master of Business Administration degree, which I completed at Drury University in December 2005.

Tell us about your family and hobbies.

My wife, Alicia, and I have been married for 30 years. She works for Touché. We have three children. Our daughter, Jennifer is married to Matthew Jobe, and they’re in the process of moving back to Springfield. Our boys, Paul and Sam, are students at Missouri State University. I do a lot of work out in the yard. I live close to the Nature Center, so I’m always out on the trails. And I like to travel. [[In-content Ad]]

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