Wall Street generally applauds the idea ofshedding employees, and credit unions often worry when theiremployee-to-member ratio climbs.

But that isn't an issue at Hanscom Federal Credit Union, whichjust joined the Billionaires Club. President/CEO David Spraguepoints out assets per member are also high at the credit union,headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

Because the credit union serves a lot of people whose paycheckscome from the federal government, there has been concern about theimpact of sequestration budget cuts. So even as Congress quarreledover a solution, HFCU announced that members who are federalemployees and their paychecks are affected will have access to a 0%APR interest line of credit for 30 days.

Dubbed the Life Line Loan, the funds will be attached to themember's checking accounts, providing additional money to coverchecks, ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases. Hanscom FCU willalso waive penalties for premature withdrawals on term sharecertificates held by affected members.

“Actually, members won't be directly impacted until later inApril,” Sprague noted. “The federal government has to giveemployees 30 days notice. That went a few days into March. Most ofthem get paid twice a month, so given normal payroll cycles thatworks out to about April 20. I suspect April 15 is about whenthey'll have to start not working one day a week.”

The credit union has tried to be proactive, according toSprague, because there's a lot of anxiety. The credit union hasfaced this scenario before and has offered similar programs severaltimes. Sprague believes it's important to let members know theircredit union can help them. The program will only be available fora short duration, but it gives members time to sit down with HFCUand work out a longer-term solution.

“We've gotten some very nice feedback from members,” Spraguesaid.

In February 2012 the credit union launched an insurance agencyselling car, homeowners and life insurance, business insurance,renters insurance, and even specialty products such as wedding andpet insurance.

The credit union had previously offered auto and homeownersinsurance through CUNA Mutual. Those were successful enough thatHFCU decided to expand into an area where the credit union could bemore active and retain a larger portion of the commissionincome.

The credit union has also won recognition for its onlinemembership application. That apply-from-wherever-you-are approachis important to HFCU.

“Our membership is very mobile,” Sprague explained. “We don'treally have a lot of branches, so we constantly look at options tooffer convenience in other ways, whether it's online access, sharedbranching or surcharge-free ATM networks. Our members aretransferred around the country and even around the world, so wewant to make it easy for them to interact with us.

“Even though we've grown to this $1 billion range, which isgratifying, we really work very hard to continue to operate like asmall credit union and provide a very high level of personalservice.”

He carries that idea into his own office.

“If a member does write me a letter or call me, usually the veryfact I'm interested in talking to them resolves the problem.They're often surprised I'll pick up the phone and talk to them. Wereally do care,” Sprague said.

For example, a member who joins online receives a series ofphone calls welcoming them and making sure they are getting thefull benefit of their membership. They're alerted to what they canexpect over the coming months.

Yes, he continued, the ratio of employees to members is high.But measuring assets per employee, HFCU compares very favorablywith its peers. Members do more business with the credit union thanmost members at other credit unions, and that drivesprofitability.

“The more they benefit from the credit union the more webenefit. That keeps our costs down, which allows us to providebetter pricing,” Sprague said.

Another plus for HFCU has been that the Great Recession didn'tclobber the credit union's military and government employees theway it hammered other sectors of the economy. Although the creditunion got its start serving military personnel, it has expanded tonearly all federal employees in Massachusetts.

Even on the mortgage front there was some good news. Propertyvalues in the Northeast hadn't soared as high as they did in someother regions and didn't plummet as deeply as they did elsewhere.Delinquencies rose substantially, but they started out at extremelylow levels.

Sprague does echo the concerns of other credit union CEOs aboutheavy regulatory burdens.

“The growth in regulations is obviously a big challenge,” heindicated. “There's also the low interest rate environment and theneed for loans. That's not unique to us.”

As for the career path that brought him to HFCU, Spraguedescribes himself as a reformed banker. While attending BabsonCollege in Wellesley, Mass., he needed a part-time job. Through thecollege's part-time placement office he was hired as a collectorfor a division of a regional bank.

After he graduated with a major in accounting, he was offered ajob as an internal auditor. He advanced through other assignments,but over the years growing pressure to provide a return forstockholders began changing the culture.

Sprague started looking around, and ended up at Rockland FederalCredit Union as it worked its way through conservatorship. Then, inDecember 1996, he was hired as CEO for HFCU.

As a CEO, “Probably the best decision I made is I stopped hiringpeople myself,” he said. “The senior management staff hires any newmember of the team. That team is extremely cohesive, they supportone another and they enjoy working together.”

Off the job he enjoys walking, reading and skiing. He quitskiing for about 25 years because, he admits, he wasn't very goodat it. Then his wife and two children – one a college graduate andthe other a junior in college – persuaded him to try it again, andhe discovered today's equipment made it much easier.