SEE YOU LEAD
SEE YOU LEAD is a podcast aimed at talking about leadership and community involvement in the credit union industry. This podcast is brought to you by NetGiver.
SEE YOU LEAD
SEE YOU LEAD Episode 27: Michelle Dwyer, President and CEO of Franklin First Federal Credit Union
Empowering Communities through Credit Union Leadership:
Michelle Dwyer's Journey
Dive into the inspiring world of credit union leadership with Michelle Dwyer, President and CEO of Franklin First Federal Credit Union, in this enlightening episode of the SEE YOU LEAD Podcast.
Join host Glynn Frechette at the APEX 2023 conference for an insightful discussion with Michelle about her remarkable journey from a temporary teller to an influential CEO.
Michelle shares her perspective on the unique challenges and opportunities within the credit union industry, particularly highlighting her innovative approaches to community engagement and financial inclusion.
This episode also explores the critical role of credit unions in nurturing community welfare and involvement, especially through programs for young members and collaboration with local nonprofits. Listen to Michelle's story and gain valuable insights into how credit union leaders are shaping financial landscapes and community development.
SEE YOU LEAD, a DNT BLNK Venture Studio Brand
Welcome to another episode of CU Lead, sponsored by NetGiver, the app and platform that enables donors and nonprofits to give and receive on a no fee basis. On this podcast, we feature credit union industry executives and the impacts they make on communities everywhere. I'm Glenn FrEchette, and today I am joined by Michelle Dwyer, President and CEO of Franklin First Federal Credit Union in Greenfield, Mass. Holy cow, Michelle, that's a
Michelle:lot. Yeah, it's a mouthful, huh?
Glynn:It is a mouthful, and we don't know each other well. We've just gotten a chance to talk here over the past hour, and it's a pleasure to be able to sit down with you.
Michelle:Thank you. Thank you
Glynn:for having me. Well, as you and I talked before recording, my job is to break up your day a little bit. You're sitting through a conference. It's nice to, well, maybe play a little bit of hooky.
Michelle:Oh, definitely. Yeah. And we get to talk about things that are my passion in the credit union. So that's, it's great. Win win for me for
Glynn:sure. Yeah. Oh, cool. So I can sense the passion just from the last 45 minutes of chatting with you But for those listeners that don't know who the heck you are Why don't you take us through that short journey that well, maybe it's a long one. I don't know. It's yeah, you're young So I'm gonna thank you However long the journey has been Help our listeners to get to know you a bit better by talking about your experience.
Michelle:Yeah, I have a pretty fun story. So, I got into the credit union, Franklin First, in 2007. I had just moved out of my parents house, got in my first apartment, and I was working in a retail job that I decided I could no longer work in, and so I quit. And I had no job. No way to pay rent in this apartment that I had just moved into. So I ended up going to a job placement program, like a mass hire program where they, they put you in temp jobs and that kind of a thing. I went and I put in my information and the first thing they called me about was a temporary teller position at Franklin First. Wow. Yep, so I went and I interviewed and went back for a second interview and They hired me on as a temporary teller. So, summer ish of 2007, I went on as a temporary teller. Obviously, I ended up staying on as a full time regular teller. I stayed in that position for a little while and maybe a year and a half to two years in. I took on the lead teller position and then kind of rolled in a back office position at the same time. So I was doing teller for part of the day and doing back office ACH stuff for another part of the day. And at the time our comptroller would call the comptroller back then, which was our CFO. That's kind of a cool term. Let's bring it back. It is, right? A little bit. I think a little less class to it, but Really? I
Glynn:don't know. I'm into bringing it back.
Michelle:Okay. We'll talk about it later. Alright. Left, and so his assistant moved into the CFO position. And so that left open another section of a back office job. So we were able to combine the back office job that I was doing that was kind of a part time job with her part time back office job and make that one full time job. So I moved upstairs into the back office from there on and I was in that job for about five years. Went to credit union management school and I kind of was lucky enough to know at that point that there wasn't really anybody else interested in Potentially pursuing the CEO job in the succession of a retiring CEO at Franklin First. Okay. So she kind of said, two years, two to three years out, I'm going to be retiring. This might be something that you'd fit into. So went to credit unit management school, went through that whole thing. Started taking on some of her job responsibilities and then in 2016 she retired and I stepped in. Thank God the board of directors was on board with letting this person that was only in the credit union industry for 10 years Was only in her mid 30s Step into the CEO role and I've been doing that since so About six years now, six, seven years, I've been the CEO.
Glynn:Amazing. Yeah. I have to say, of all the podcasts that I've done, and I've asked a similar question of the CEO sitting in that chair, what their journey has been, nobody has talked about their parents basement. Really?
Michelle:That's kind of surprising. I
Glynn:mean, you have to have proud parents at the moment
Michelle:looking back. For sure. Oh, definitely. Yeah. I think they're very much, they were floored because certainly it wasn't a career path. That I was looking to take by any means. I fell into it and I fell in love with what the credit union was and The people I worked with I mean a lot of the people that were above me when I started as a teller are still in those same positions and happy to be there and doing their jobs every day and so It's it's one of those things where Them being able to see a journey that maybe they Wish that they had in their lives too, because they started working at young ages and worked their ways up in different ways too, but certainly would have never said they're as successful, right? You always want to see your kids. Achieve the success. And so, yeah, they certainly are very proud. So you did
Glynn:say something though, that a lot of CEOs also share and that is they fell into the role, but then you just mentioned something that's intriguing to me. There isn't a defined career path per se to climb the corporate credit union ladder, if you will, in succession. But should there be? Could there be?
Michelle:I think there should be, yeah. Certainly people when, they think about they want to be investment bankers or in finance in general but you don't necessarily think even small community banks or credit unions, you don't think of a of a long term career there. Yeah I know it's really important for my shop and I'm having conversations with other small credit unions. I know for them too, developing internally is very important. So somebody coming in and doing part time summer work from high school or college, trying to supplement, even somebody coming in just being a regular, full time teller, or any kind of what would be considered front facing, lower level position, making sure that they have all the skills necessary to potentially, even if they're not staying with us, To move up in the union world somewhere. Because the more we have involvement with younger people and understanding what credit unions are, what they can develop in their communities by creating financial inclusion and safety for their neighbors, it's huge. And if they can get invested in that and get excited about that, with, older CEOs retiring, It feels safe. It feels safer to have people internally that understand what a credit union is and supposed to be developed from inside the credit union And being put in charge at a later date as opposed to hiring from outside from what might be a financial industry somebody that's coming in with different ideas about Banking or investment banking and stuff like that and kind of changing the tone of what a credit union is
Glynn:You know what? I also like about this topic we're discussing is the opportunities are then broadened coast to coast in backyard communities everywhere. So, you happen to live in western Massachusetts. It's a beautiful area that I'm sure a lot of people don't want to leave and necessarily move into a big metropolitan area. Would love to have a career living in Greenfield, Massachusetts that is a position, that has a position of status. No less important of a job than even some of the folks that were honored during the lunch, serving in Boston, serving in New York City or Washington, D. C. So I think the career path gets opened up for backyard communities like yours. Yeah, I
Michelle:think that's an excellent point. It's one of those things we're always fighting against as a small credit union too, right, is the big city competition, the big financial institution competition. And there are so many opportunities. for smaller communities to get into this industry. And the more small institutions there are, more new credit unions, community banks, that develop in rural areas, or what we would consider banking deserts, the more opportunity these people have to kind of get into the industry. So it's exciting, yeah. So let's talk
Glynn:about, culturally, what you're trying to foster with your own employee base. As it relates to community giving, are you encouraging your employees to be a part of all nonprofits in your
Michelle:own backyard? Yeah, absolutely. So one of my initiatives as transitioning from the back office to CEO was we weren't out in the community very much at all. It was very much we're head down, doing our jobs, just trying to get through the day, that kind of a thing. And I saw how. Not impactful. We were for lack of better words, right? We kind of have lost our image in the community, not not in a negative way, but just nobody really knew who we were. So one of the things I was like, we really need to get back in the community. Let's create an employee incentive plan that says, hey, we'll give you a bonus at the end of the year. Based on the number of hours or points that you earn through either your own involvement that you're already doing, Involvement in things that the credit union is going to be participating in and you want to volunteer for, Or, if this is going to encourage you to go out and actually pick up something that maybe you hadn't thought about prior, Because, you didn't have a real incentive base to do that, And allowing hours to, if you have something, a board meeting, or a volunteer project that might be happening during the business day. Like, let us know. We'll, we'll give you that time. We'll make sure you get paid for your time that you're gone because you're a representative of us and encouraging
Glynn:that. Oh my gosh, I love this. What about other financial institutions within the community? Do you find that you sidle up next to one another for the benefit of the community and nonprofits? Are you doing good together?
Michelle:A hundred percent. So one of the things that I think is the greatest about Franklin first and the community banks in the area, which would be Greenfield savings, Greenfield co op. Freedom Credit Union gets in the mix there, too. We all do collaborate quite a bit, with supporting the same organizations. I know I can, if, like, I'm on a board, I can call somebody at one of those institutions and be like, Hey, we need a sponsorship for this thing. Can you, can you guys help us out? We'll do it every time, and it's even community programs. If we're, if one of us is involved in something and we need a volunteer or insight or help somewhere, we're, we definitely, are cooperative in that way, and it's, I think that's kind of unique in a situation because I don't think that happens in a lot of communities. I think
Glynn:most people would report that credit unions are really good at cooperating with one another, but you're right, you don't often hear in the same breath, credit unions and community banks, standing up for the greater good of the community. No disrespect thrown to banks, it just isn't happening as often. I'm interviewing a little bit later today, Glenn Welch from Freedom they just mentioned. So if he doesn't mention Franklin first,
Michelle:I'm going to bring it up because you
Glynn:gave him props. I'll make sure to keep him honest. What are you seeing at the moment as we're nearing the end of 2023 and into 2024? Predictably, your members will be challenged by. What are you starting to plan for in that respect?
Michelle:Yeah, I think my big, my biggest concern, as kind of inflation continues, rates, they, they make us want to believe that they're leveling out. They might go up a little bit more. But I think my biggest concern really is when rates start to trickle down. And the reason for that is because I think you're going to find a lot of people that have bought mortgages in this time, have bought automobiles in this time, are going to suddenly find themselves upside down. Because the valuations of those products has been so inflated by inflation that when that stuff kind of starts to come down, and people try to refinance, they're not going to be able to. And I think people are buying into these things, specifically auto loans. At a higher rate because either they have more or less because they have to rate their car broke down, they might need to get a new one and they're like, well, we know rates are going to go down. We can, we can handle this for, the next year, maybe two years. But when they go to refi and they realize the value isn't there anymore, it's going to be very difficult for them to do that. Yeah. And then just in general, you're seeing there's still so much movement in the labor market. Yeah. And we are still seeing a lot of layoffs happen in our area and people kind of, they certainly are still spending instead of saving. We're seeing that as a big, as a big factor too. And my fear is that it's, It's going to be a situation where people have kind of overspent themselves and not have the income going forward to kind of get themselves right with that.
Glynn:That's true. I think consumers at large have needed to dip into savings in order to keep up with inflation. So while spending is still at an all time high, the reality is it's because prices are driving that high spend. Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. Now what you just said about homes and cars. I know you're right and I hope you're wrong.
Michelle:Oh, yeah, me too. Oh, me too. Yeah. My hope is that, the value stays and all that stuff. And, with lower inventory and kind of stuff that's happening in the auto industry, stuff like that. There's a very good chance that I will be wrong and I want to be wrong because there will, maybe there will not be the inventory. So that value stays in there. Well, call it
Glynn:artificial inflation or nervousness. Back in 2020, we saw interest rates at a historic low and yet the value of homes remained high. Correct. Yes. So we're gonna, we're gonna hope for that. Yeah, right. Yeah. All right. So same thought process, same question. We're ending 2023. We're moving into 2024. What are you seeing locally with nonprofits that are finding themselves in more desperate need than ever before? And as importantly, what are you doing to step up and support them? Yeah,
Michelle:I think, um, I'm sure this is across the country. I think we're all seeing kind of more and more need with food insecurity. Homelessness certainly ramping up just services for children to be able to kind of just meet day to day, functional products and services and, ability to have the things they need to go to school and that kind of a thing. I think the amount of non profits we have in our area is, We're very saturated in non profits. No kidding. Very saturated.
Glynn:No shortage of organizations to
Michelle:give to. That is correct. Absolutely. But it also makes it very hard for them in a, in a competition that shouldn't be a competition, right? Right. So, I think that's one of the biggest things that I'm seeing is that everybody is trying to get funding from all the same people. Right. And the well is only so deep there. For me, being able to, as a small credit credit union, we obviously don't have a budget that could maybe compare to something they could get from a GSB or even a freedom. But we are really concentrated on being able to participate and help them in different ways. Sure, our financial, contribution is there, but, I have an employee that spends a lot of time Helping with marketing for nonprofits, she'll spend some time Almost every day doing posters or making tickets for an event and that kind of a thing for a nonprofit so that, they don't have to worry about that on their administrative end. They don't have the time to do that because they're doing other things, so we'll take care of that. Wow. Yeah, so we do a lot of that. That's a big leap. Helping where we can,
Glynn:for sure. At a point later in time, we ought to be talking about NetGiver and the assistance we might be able to provide. Yeah. And you're reminding me of a conversation that I had a week ago. And I hadn't, I hadn't asked the question in a way that it elicited the answer that I'm about to share with you. She also told me that she lives in an area where the competition among non profits, she knew the number right off the top of her head. She said it was number nine in the country in terms of saturation. And the fact that she knew that led me to believe, and I know it to be true, she understands what she's up against. Yeah. Yeah,
Michelle:I don't know the exact number, but I did sit in a presentation for a non profit, and it's upwards of 300 non profits in our very small area. That's a lot. That's a lot to have to, for them to have to deal with, and they all have their own spot, and their own, their own thing that they're trying to take care of. And I, the good thing is a lot of them do collaborate. Like, they don't want to invent the wheel. But yeah, it's, it is, it's a very hard thing to deal with when you know that you have that much other competition. And it's competition for not just funding, but competition for board members and volunteers and, I, I could probably name three organizations right now that have at least five of the same You know, majority board members, because that's, yeah, yeah, it's, it's very slim pickings.
Glynn:I want to steer you away from this line of questioning for just a minute. Sure. And then we'll end talking about non profits again. Social responsibility means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. fOr me specifically, I think about the last several years, maybe a, maybe social responsibility awareness was heightened right around the time COVID broke. thEre were some unfortunate incidents that transpired in the world in the last several years, also bringing awareness to things like diversity, equity and inclusion and otherwise. I'd like to just get your perspective on social responsibility that you ensure you have within the credit union and then how that transcends out into the community as well.
Michelle:Yeah, I think, making certain caveats to being able to make all of our financial products inclusive is really the thing that I think is the most socially responsible thing that we do. We have products that serve children, teenagers, people that, have no credit, bad credit. Doing things like that, and making sure that people are going to be financially healthy, I think that's kind of the only step that we have in our size, in our area, that we can participate and feel like we are being socially responsible. for our neighbors and our community.
Glynn:So give me an example then of a product for a teenager that you have that you're proud
Michelle:of. Yeah, so we introduced our teen checking account probably a year and a half ago. It's for kids from 13 to 17. There's no overdraft attached to it, so they can't get NSF fees they have access to a debit card, the mobile app, online banking. It's basically like your regular checking account. You do have to have a legal guardian on the account with you just for sake of, responsibility, but it really, I think, helps with learning financial education really early on. I mean, we all know that. That there is no real financial education in schools. There is, pressure is about to do that, and that's fantastic. But up until now, really the only option for kids and teens to have a checking product, to really be able to learn what financial healthy habits are and spending are, are online banks. You know the ones that offer the products that are simply mobile apps that you know that really don't do much and we have a Opportunity that when the kids come in to open accounts we can start forming relationships So they feel comfortable asking us questions, I think that's huge
Glynn:So my guess is when you show a physical check to a
Michelle:13 year old. No idea. No idea I mean, there's some 20 year olds and we have a you know, employee that has 20 year olds that Has no idea how to write a check. I mean, that's just, that's, that's
Glynn:kind of where it is. To which you reply, you know you get them from your grandmother on your birthday. You've seen one of these, don't make like you haven't. Correct, yeah. Grandma sends the 15 check. Absolutely, yeah. Okay, that's cool. And my guess is there's an emphasis on digital much more than would have been, let's say, 25 years ago.
Michelle:Yeah, I mean, that's also what's attractive to them, right? They don't, And they don't want to write a check. They, they want to have instant access. They want the mobile app so they can see everything happen when it happens. And, starting to form those habits of even looking at all my banking multiple times a day. As obsessives and we might all be with it. It's a good healthy habit to know what you have and what you can spend and not spend more than that. Yeah.
Glynn:All right. So let's end in a real good spot. We're going to dive down a couple of inches and hopefully there's an organization that's personal for you in so far as maybe near and dear to your family. I'd love for you to plug something that's meaningful for you. Yeah.
Michelle:So I have two really. We have at the credit union and it really from the credit union is how we really got into this organization is the Children's Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin region. So, that organization has multi prongs of what it does. But it really has a central location within the Franklin County area that if a child is sexually abused, they have an opportunity to go to this, this center. And it provides a space for them to be interviewed by somebody that is qualified to be interviewed, interviewing them in a very safe way, in a very safe space. One time while all of the, the legalese and the police departments and stuff observe that. So the child is not being overwhelmed. And then there's continuing services, therapy and doctors and, getting them in the right programs and making sure that they understand the court process. And it's just an excellent organization to make sure the kids. And so that's one of the things that's happening. And so I think that the child's rights are not only being addressed at the time of their trauma. But the continuing factors of how the organization follows this child to make sure that they have the best chance of, turning this this event around to, being able to successfully go through life down the road. The second one is Musica Franklin. So I sit on the board on that and that is a program that offers it's an after school program that is like string, violin instrument classes for what really ends up being kind of elementary school kids. So they have a program in Greenfield and they have a program in Turner's Falls. So the kids after school, they go to this program and they learn how to play the violin or the guitar. They also do some choir practices. So, the kids get to learn music at a young age, have a support community among peers and they kind of get to interact from other schools too. So it's bringing multiple schools together and the kids are able to kind of make friends outside of their normal kind of sphere. Of classroom. And they, they, one of their big things is also focused on racial racial justice. It's, it's a really great organization. All
Glynn:Well, now I get to send you back into session. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Thank you
Michelle:so much. Yes. It was a great conversation. Thank you.
Glynn:Thank you.