"They are forward thinking, empowering and visionaries," Irvin said of the board. "They are men and women who represent the membership."

As more non-telephone industry SEGs continued to join, it was the board's decision to change the name from Telco Federal Credit Union, its second moniker, to FORUM on May 1, 2000. The new name aimed to represent how business would be conducted in the new millennium for members–"Your Money. Your Voice. Your FORUM," reads the motto.

"The name change was a natural progression because for many years we were multi-SEG and we were already very involved in the community," Irvin said, adding by 2005, 80% of members were non-telephone people.

To continue with its mission of being members' primary financial institution, [56.2% say this is the case] FORUM has added a litany of services and products over the past decade. In the 1990s, it was debit cards, online banking and bill payment and in recent years, business services, wealth management, estate planning, tax preparation and insurance have come aboard.

Business services have certainly taken off at FORUM. Irvin said more than 1,500 members have their own businesses so the demand was easy to spot. The credit union, which has partnerships with several CUSOs, currently has $90 million in business loans and $42 million in business deposits and is one of the top Small Business Administration credit union lenders in the country. To have an even greater presence in the business community, FORUM opened its 700-seat, 7,000-square foot conference center in 2005. The state-of-the art facility can seat up to 800 people, is used monthly by area chambers of commerce, rotaries, organizations and has even been booked for weddings and holiday parties. The credit union shares a percentage of revenue from a catering company it uses. FORUM's charges depend on the group's size and how the facility will be used. Prices range from $300 to $400 to up to $1,300 if the entire center will be used. In its first year, the center brought in $150,000 and this year, another $170,000 is expected.

Another venture making its mark is FORUM Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary launched in 2000 that currently serves more than 40 credit unions and banks through technology and lending automation solutions and lending consulting services.

FORUM has also partnered with MEMBERS Trust Company and in the investments area, the credit union has nearly $100 million in assets under management, Irvin said. As a new entry to build more relationships, FORUM offers consulting services to physicians providing assistance with helping run their businesses. Irvin said this has been an "excellent lead" for meeting their investment, wealth management and insurance needs.

Competitive Threats

With all the strides FORUM has made over the years, Irvin said one of the biggest and ongoing challenges is "staying relevant." A close second would be the intense competition coming from all angles.

"It's making ourselves relevant in an age of increased competition like we've seen before," Irvin said. "Some of the newcomer banks will buy deposits and [consumers] will move over and then [the banks] change the rules."

The heaviest competition is coming from Citibank and out-of-state, new banks setting up shop in Indianapolis, Irvin pointed out. Add "shrinking spreads" to the mix and staying on pace makes competing even more difficult. It's not enough to just compete on just price but on the total product mix, he added. That's where employee training becomes critical. Rather than bombard staff with a flood of mind-numbing training sessions, Irvin said they strive to make the experience a positive one. For its efforts, FORUM was recently named to Training Magazine's "Top 125 Training Teams" list for 2006.

"Consumers are more savvy. There are many more choices," Irvin said. "To be recognized speaks volumes to the work that the employees are doing."

Like many other credit unions, FORUM has had to purge inactive accounts. Irvin said between 10,000 and 15,000 inactive accounts have been closed over the past few years. He puts it all in perspective: if the credit union had not closed the accounts, FORUM would be growing at 8% to 10% not its present net 2% to 3%.

Still, "we do everything we can to get them to become more active," Irvin said.

FORUM just completed a merger with $30 million Central Indiana Schools Community FCU that brought more than 6,000 members and Irvin expects more acquisitions and "strong marketing" will further help the credit union "stay relevant."

In whatever direction FORUM plans to steer, Irvin he doesn't want it to ever get to the point that work becomes the only focus. A staunch believer in family and achieving balance between it and work, Irvin is proud of the culture that has been created at the credit union. He boasts about the staffers that take the initiative to identify causes in the community FORUM can assist with–"and this is not top down stuff, this is staff driven," he reiterates. In fact, employees have volunteered thousands of hours to help people in a number of different ways. Irvin, who commends his wife Lois of 32 years for "putting up with me," is a family man with three sons, three grandchildren and one on the way so it's easy to see where the connection is.

"As important as FORUM is, we also emphasize growing in our faith, spending time with family and being involved in the community," Irvin said.

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