A Conversation With ... Loretta Roney

On June 2, you take the helm as president and CEO of the 79-year-old credit union, which has more than $60 million in assets and about 7,400 members. What’s the next step for Community Financial Credit Union?
The next step is to continue to engage and get involved in the community we serve in Springfield. We need to grow our assets by adding loans and continuing to offer good products and services to our members.

At this point, I want to spend some time getting to know the staff and getting more detailed information, really get to know the organization from the inside. I’m not one of those people who wants to change things just to change them. I want to make sure there is purpose for change. Definitely, I think we need to continue to grow in technology and services and possibly look for a third branch at some point. Those are things the staff has communicated to me already that are of interest to them.

Open to residents who live or work in nine southwest Missouri counties, Community Financial has only two Springfield locations. Is there a need to expand into other cities?
There is definitely a need. We have opportunities through the credit union network and shared branching to be able to serve our membership through other credit unions, not only in the state of Missouri, but all 50 states. That’s where credit unions are co-operative in nature. We have the ability for our members to use other credit unions in the Springfield area for free. We want to get information like that out so people know just because we don’t have a branch, doesn’t mean they can’t do business. We also have co-op opportunities through ATMs. Specific unions join the shared branching network.

At this point, it is too early to discuss specific locations or communities. We would like to conduct surveys and traffic studies to determine the best possible location for our next facility.

You are succeeding 32-year president Cathy Stroud. How do you plan to fill her shoes?
Cathy already has left. Her last day at the credit union was May 15, so there will be no transition period for me.

It will be very difficult to fill someone’s shoes like that who has had such a strong legacy and was able to build an organization from $7 million to $60 million. She has laid a lot of good groundwork and has an excellent staff there. My goal is to continue the excellence she has already created.

You have 13 years of experience in the financial industry, most recently serving as president and CEO at Highway Alliance Credit Union in Jefferson City. What will you take away from that experience?
That’s the great thing about starting out at a small credit union: You don’t have all the staff and the manpower you would have once you move into a larger institution. Typically, at larger credit unions and banks, everything is very departmentalized. Whereas at smaller credit unions, you have your hands in everything and you are ultimately responsible for all functions.

Over the last eight years, I have handled all the accounting pieces along with core processing, components of the financial services industry that are usually departmentalized. The staff size is so much smaller, you have to be able to do everything.

My current credit union is $18 million and Community Financial is $60 million. I have a staff of two part- and two full-time, where as I will have 18 staff at Community Financial. You are enabled to empower your staff to accomplish much more when you have a staff that size.

Growing up and making your career in central Missouri, what prompted the move to Springfield?
I have two children who are 4 and 6. My husband and I felt I was getting to that point in my career where I had plateaued. I was ready to take that next step in my career. While the children are still young and transitional, we felt now was a good time. When the opportunity arose, we really liked the Springfield community. It’s larger with amenities and great networking, but not so large you lose that small-town feel.