NEWPORT NEWS, Va., - To say that Jean Yokum has grown up - atleast professionally - along side Langley FCU is an understatement.After all, we're talking about a woman whose career with the creditunion dates back to the Korean War era. Now as president/CEO of the$1.03 billion credit union - the fifth largest in the state - Yokumhas a unique insight to Langley's growth and its future strategy.When Yokum joined LFCU as a teller in 1953, and even when shebecame CEO in 1969 and assets were $76 million, she had no idea thecredit union would join the Billionaires Club earlier this year.During the past five years assets have averaged 9.36% growth ayear. The largest jump so far came in 2003 with a 15.5% increase.Yokum's career with the credit union dates back to when her husbandenlisted in the Air Force, and they came to Langley. She previouslykept books at a general merchandise store, and found she lovedbookkeeping and numbers. Working at the credit union seemed like anatural. "I was happy learning something new every day. I don'tlike things to stay the same very long. I like to see new thingshappen all the time," Yokum says. After working as a teller, Yokummoved to accounting. Her first supervisory job was director ofaccounting. Then she was named assistant manager. The credit unionwas still small enough so she retained many of her accountingduties. When her boss retired in 1979, she decided to try for thejob. "The last possible day, I applied," Yokum recalls. "They mademe get references. I thought, `I can't believe this. I've been hereabout 25 years. They know all about me.' But you know, I'm reallyglad they did. I knew they didn't just hand me this job. I hadearned it." While happy about the credit union's progress duringthe more than 50 years she's been there, Yokum joins many othermembers of the Billionaires Club in shying away from expanding toorapidly. "We've always tended to make sure we could handle all thegrowth we brought in," she notes. "We don't want to deteriorate ourservice in any way. Sometimes businesses grow too fast and servicedeteriorates. We won't allow that to happen at Langley. "This comesstraight from the board. You'd have to be around to know how wetake care of our members. If I get a complaint on any of the staff,everything stops and we take care of that first." Evidently thatdoesn't happen very often. Instead, Yokum says she hears constantpraise for the way members are treated. She was delighted whensomeone told her, "I've been a member for 28 years and I haven'thad a problem yet.' " Assuming she is not out of town, Yokumpersonally meets every new hire. She isn't evaluating theirtechnical skills. She wants to assess their attitude and whetherthey like people. "We don't hire people and make them nice. We hirenice people to begin with. Not treating the member right irritatesme more than anything else," she declares. In addition to handlingmembers with skill and courtesy, financial literacy is anotherpriority. That effort involves not only schools but personnel atLangley Air Force Base, where payday loans are an issue. Withpayday lenders springing up just outside bases throughout thenation, education has become increasingly important. In fact, inaddition to advising members about the dangers of payday loans,LFCU has just introduced an alternative, QuickCash. "I think it'sreally going to make a difference," Yokum says. "We want to teachyoung people not to get in trouble in the beginning, because onceyou get a payday loan, if you don't pay it off you'll end up payingthe rest of your life. You'll probably eventually end up inbankruptcy and your credit will be ruined." QuickCash reflects howclosely LFCU works with the base. The program was developed basedon feedback from the credit union's Langley Air Force Base AdvisoryBoard. The board cited payday loans as a key source of financialproblems for personnel. LFCU figures a $500 loan at a typical 15%from a payday lender will cost $75. That works out to annualinterest of 390% and assumes the loan is repaid in two weeks. Bycontrast, borrow $500 through QuickCash, repay in two weeks, and itwill only cost $3.48. The credit union will promote the programinternally, build it into educational presentations, run ads in thebase newspaper, and use mass transit bus advertising. As CEO ofLangley Federal Credit Union, Yokum believes in participating asmuch as possible in community groups and activities. All LFCU vicepresidents are expected to take on a role in at least onenon-profit cause. Then there's Langley Xpress, a van that housestwo no-surcharge ATMs. Since the van was put into operation twoyears ago demand has grown. Organizers of events ranging fromAirPower over Hampton Roads to the Newport News Greek Festival nowcall and ask if the van can come. There's nobody on board to signup potential members. It's simply a public service. With thetransient nature of military personnel, does LFCU keep membersafter they move to other duty stations? "Service will keep themevery time," Yokum says. "If they know you really care about them,they'll stay with you. You don't get that personalized treatmentmany places. We do lose some who move - you can't help that. Somepeople do want to deal with a person. "But thanks to home banking,we're retaining a lot more military members than we used to. Nowwith the war situation people are leaving and coming back. Whilethey're gone they can handle their financial business through theircomputer. It's hard to get your direct deposit and bill paychanged," and by staying with the credit union members avoid thathassle. At the same time, branches remain very important, Yokumcontinues. "Our members love branches, especially our oldermembers. I don't mean they're not on the Internet. They are. Butthey also love to come to a branch. They'll come two or three timesa week. "We have no intention of closing any branches. I told theboard years ago, when we were getting more automated, that whenmembers weren't coming in the branches any more we could downsize.I said it might take 10 years. It's been well over 10 years andthey're still coming into the branches." A widow, Yokum lives nearher son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. They're only aboutnine miles from her office and the same distance from her home. Onweekends you'll find her heading to their house to pick up hergrandchildren, who spend every Saturday night with her and go withher Sunday morning to church and Sunday school. "We have a goodtime," she declares. "They keep me busy and the credit union keepsme busy. When somebody asks `How do you feel?' I say, `I can't stopto find out.'" -

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