In both her professional and personal life, Alissa Sykeshas always focused her internal lens on improving efficiency. Asvice president of lending at Sunmark Federal Credit Union inLatham, N.Y., Sykes' responsibilities include overseeing allaspects of lending, including mortgages, home equity loans,consumer and business loans, loan servicing and collections.

“I love learning and trying new things,” Sykes said. “A titledoesn't make a leader. I look for people who are willing to pushout of their comfort zone and go against the grain in acollaborative way.”

For Sykes, nothing is more empowering than building knowledgeand understanding beyond the confines of a specific area ofexpertise. She said it's important to take the time to invest inyourself, and recalls a time when her request to attend aleadership conference in California was denied because her creditunion couldn't afford to send her. Skyes admits that at first, shetook it personally.

“I was so disappointed and angry, until our Dale Carnegierepresentative who was coaching me asked me why was it Sunmark'sresponsibility to invest in this,” she said. “And a light bulb wentoff. It really wasn't personal. I went back, proposed I'd pay forit myself, but asked if I could have the time off. It wasimmediately approved, and was the best investment I ever made. Ithas paid off tenfold.”

Since joining the $465 million credit union in 2005, her awardwinning mortgage department has grown significantly under herleadership. More importantly, Sunmark has built a reputation forcreating programs that meet locals' lending needs. Sykes creditsthe success to great teamwork among employees who are dedicated tothinking outside the box and taking calculated risks to delivereffective solutions.

One major focus at Sunmark involves a shift from simply sellingproducts to educating members about their benefits.

“It's something we worked on for a long time – it's not selling,it's helping our members save money,” she said.

Educating employees about lending has become a standard practicefor Sunmark, as the credit union recognizes that often, thehesitancy to sell often stems from staff members who are notconfident in their knowledge of product offerings and benefits.Sykes said her credit union seeks to deepen relationships withmembers, and with that in mind, the past year has been aboutengaging members through conversation, and making it clear thatSunmark can be that one-stop-shop for their financial needs.

“With lending, our philosophy all along has been, 'We may saynot now, but never no,'” Sykes said. “We don't turn away ourowners. We listen, invest and educate.”

She has expanded Sunmark's product offerings in order to provideall members with options, including no-closing-cost mortgages and avariety of insurance options. This move has contributed to thecredit union's volume growth in recent years. Sykes has also addedFederal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, State of New YorkMortgage Agency, USDA and construction loans to the credit union'sproduct line-up, while keeping delinquency levels at recordlows.

When she learned that small businesses find it easier to financeon credit, Sykes had the team work on  solutions to meetthat member business need.

According to the NCUA's quarterly Financial Performance Reportratio analysis as of March 2015, the credit union has experiencedloan growth of 8.24 compared to the peer average of 2.17, andboasts 26.65 market share growth compared to the 14.03 peeraverage. In addition, Sunmark's net worth growth was 7.36 comparedto the peer average of 5.20.

For Sykes, success can be attributed to Sunmark finding itsniche, then creating products and leveraging relationships andservices accordingly. For example, everyone at the credit union whois associated with lending – from underwriters to closing attorneysto a title company – is housed in the same building.

“We play up that members don't have to make any other calls orstops, and that lending decisions are made locally,” she said.

Local commercial and residential real estate agents regularlytour the facility, which has deepened community ties and resultedin Sunmark's biggest closing year, with $240 million just in firstmortgages.

“Like everything in life, it's about putting in the work andfiguring out how we can grow with our current resources,” she said.“Don't be afraid of failure or even success. I'm a firm believerthat even if something perhaps didn't work in the past, takingthose lessons, looking for ways to improve and maybe providingdifferent options can make it work. If it can't be done in-house,you can always collaborate or find a third party who can helpdeliver.”

She pointed to real estate lending as a market too many creditunions shy away from.

“Credit unions are always known as auto lenders, but we can getinto real estate lending,” she said. “It's not as risky as manyassume. There are companies that can help or third parties who cando it all for you and sell in the secondary market. It's been aprofitable line for us and has really financially supported ourcredit union in many ways.”

In addition to expanding Sunmark's suite of lending services,Sykes also assists others, such as through her work with theRensselaer County Housing Resources to provide access to affordablehomeownership, and by offering Sunmark's back-office home equityprocessing services to credit unions that can't afford to do it ontheir own. She has also spearheaded a project to provide additionalaccess points for those seeking funding for homes, and worked tointroduce a First Time Home Club through the Federal Home Loan Bankof NY in 2012.

With the goal of growing the credit union industry's lendingfootprint, she also founded an Albany, N.Y.-based chapter of theCredit Union Real Estate Network, an organization that offerscollaboration and professional development opportunities for realestate professionals. She has also led efforts to support the realestate community by partnering with several realtors and providingfree opportunities for education on the current mortgageenvironment. Since the local CUREN chapter was founded,participation has doubled.

“With all the regulations coming out, we're better and strongerspeaking with one voice as an industry than as an individual creditunion,” she said. “We don't want consumers to go to the bank downthe street, so let's find ways to collaborate and offer support forone another to ensure their needs are being met by a fellow creditunion.”