ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – There are a lot of things recently retiredCEO of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union Ed Speed does not like:collaboration, social media and e-commerce for starters.

But he didn't keep his credit union from getting involved inthose things.

“I hate social media. I hate e-commerce,” Speed said Wednesdaymorning during his address at the Credit Union Reality Check. “I know you've got to do it but Ihate it.”

He said he was the type of person who wanted to be face-to-facewith his members, and if he were to begin his career over again, hewould want to run a $100 million credit union.

That didn't keep him from growing Lake Jackson, Texas-basedTDECU from $400 million to nearly $2 billion in assets over his10-year tenure.

Speed and his team accomplished this with their relentless focuson making loans. TDECU's greatest growth acceleration was after2008 during the financial crisis. He simply said, “We showed up.”TDECU was making loans while other lenders were turning good risksaway.

“I'm obsessed about loans,” Speed said, adding that it allowedhim to run a successful credit union and retire well. “A lot of youwill want to come up here and tell me why your credit union isdifferent. I welcome you not to tell me why your credit union'sdifferent,” he quipped.

He said each credit union must carve out its own “EST.” Pickyour superlative: fastest, nicest, cheapest, etc., Speed advised,and relentlessly pursue that. “Will the one thing.”

Speed put attendees on notice that theymight not like him after his speech, then stated, “If you're aboard member and if you're in a board meeting and you're talkingabout loans, unless you are a net borrower, unless you borrow morethan you have on deposit at the credit union, you really just needto be quiet in board meetings.”

Responsible, high-level governance is important. In eight yearsof board minutes, Speed emphasized, you will not find one referenceto pricing. As CEO, he delegated it and only rarely got involved ata strategic level.

Emphasizing the credit in credit union, he said TDECU kept itsloan rates in the lowest third of the market and its deposit ratesin the lowest quarter.

The board also considered anything less than 100% loaned out afailure, Speed said.

TDECU was able to achieve this via a road map of pretty goodrates and really good service, he explained.

First, TDECU consistently studied what members wanted ratherthan offering what management thought members wanted.

Second, management and support staff served the employees whoserved the members and regularly surveyed tellers and memberservices representatives on that as well. Janitorial scored thehighest, he pointed out when sharing each department's scores.Support staff was trained to do whatever was needed to make iteasier for the frontline staff to serve their members, such ashuman resources checking on insurance claims for them.

Regarding EST, Speed clarified, “We can walk and chew gum. We'rejust not going to be the best at it.” He continued, “It doesn'tmean you're going to jettison the rest if your members. It justmeans you're going to be the best at something.”

The reason for that is, he added, “If members think you'repretty good at something they're going to leave you when somethingbetter comes along.”

Surveying members for how you compare to other financialinstitutions is worthless because they've already told you by doingbusiness with you, Speed asserted. What you want to know is howthey like the member experience.

“I want to make their routine financial transaction the bestduring the day,” he said, so compare the experience against theirhairdressers or their veterinarian, not Bank of America.

But one of the things Speed was known for prior to hisretirement was raising issues of regulation and examination. Whathe found worked for TDECU was not to address issues with the fieldstaff but to respond in writing to that person's boss when therewas an issue.

Speed admitted that TDECU had run under different Documents ofResolution for the last six years. His response was, “They can makeyou miserable but they can't put you out of business.”