Ottawa, Ill. -- For Jack Teausant, CEO of Financial Plus Credit Union, credit unions are a family business.

Financial Plus Credit Union, which changed its name in 1988 from Glass Workers Credit Union, was started by Teausant's grandfather and 35 other members of the glass, ceramic and silica workers of North America Local 19 in May of 1951. Both his grandfather and his mother ran Financial Plus and his sister Sandy started as a teller at the credit union in 1978 and is now vice president of marketing for the credit union. Teausant's mother was the first full-time employee and manager at the credit union in 1954.

When he was seven years old, Teausant and his family moved into an apartment behind his grandfather's home and credit unions became an everyday part of his life.

"Working in credit unions wasn't something I had really planned when I was young, Back then credit unions were a great thing for the working person, and they were discussed at every meal. We listened, never thinking we'd be a part of it," Teausant said.

Teausant did not start out in the credit union business; he worked for three and a half years as a comptroller for a small ice cream freezer manufacturing company. In 1975, Financial Plus was approached with an option to merge with a local credit union that served sand workers. Teausant was asked to help with the merger and at the time the petroleum crisis was taking a toll on the business at the manufacturing company. In 1976, Teausant left the manufacturing company for a manager trainee position at the credit union.

Through that position Teausant said he learned about credit union operations from the ground up.

"I learned about being a teller, loans and data processing, back then you did everything."

On Jan. 1, 1979, Teausant become president of the credit union and was given the task of determining its direction. Interest was being shown by local trade unions and groups that wanted to become part of the credit union. Eventually, so much interest was being shown that the Department of Financial Institutions suggested that the credit union become a community charter.

"Even then banks didn't want to deal with the working person, so we had a lot of requests for membership from different organizations."

Teausant guided the credit union through the change of becoming community chartered and through changing the name of the credit union, which had resistance from some of the board members. In 1988, the board agreed to change the name to Financial Plus Credit Union and call the Ottawa location the Glass Workers branch.

Lessons Learned

Through the experiences of his grandfather and his mother Teausant said that he has learned basic lessons that he uses as the foundation to running his credit union. Even after Teausant took over the credit union, he said his grandfather would come into on a regular basis just to talk and share his wisdom.

The first lesson Teausant follows is to be honest and tell the truth.

"We've always followed that in our training. People understand if you don't know the answer and need to find it, but if you try and con them, then guess what--you lost your credibility."

The second lesson is to do the right thing even if it costs you some money.

"This has cost us a few dollars over the years, but it has also made us millions in terms of trust and loyalty from members."

Face time with a member is something that Teasuant also has learned is important in the credit union industry.

"We try to teach that when a member comes in, no matter what, greet them with a smile, do business effectively and treat them how you would want to be treated. A lot of times in this impersonal world you don't see that."

From an organizational and ownership standpoint, Teausant said that credit unions are still the same today as they were in the past. Even though Teausant said credit unions are light years ahead in service from where they were when he first started, there are still certain challenges the industry faces.

"State and federal legislators and the burdensome rules and regulations we have to comply with sometimes are just overkill. An overall challenge is to keep everyone within the credit union system involved. The industry is built on the concept of volunteerism and it's difficult to get young people at the credit union involved. I worry when I go to meetings and conventions and see a lot of grey hair or no hair and not a lot of long flowing hair, if you know what I mean."

Dealing with the needs of Gen Y is also a challenge, Teausant said, as sometimes their needs do not align with credit union values. For example, Teausant said that Gen Y wants home banking but that takes away from the face-to-face interaction that he feels credit unions are based on.

Competition is always a challenge Teausant said, and while it may not be the biggest competition, the fact that credit unions compete with each other is troublesome. "Credit unions are now actively competing with each other and that can hurt us politically if we no longer speak with one voice."

Small credit unions face a lot of challenges Teausant said as he believes that for a credit union with a quarter of a million or a half a million dollars in assets it is very difficult financially to acquire the systems needed today to serve members.

In the future for Financial Plus Credit Union Teausant said that he is looking to open a new branch facility at the credit union's Mendota location.

"There's a lot of growth potential that is necessary and will benefit the credit union tremendously with the right kind of facility at that location."

Adding a new access 24/7 telephone system in English and Spanish is also something Teausant is working on.

"We're constantly looking to improve the things we do to make things better for the members."

--lsiegriest@cutimes.com

Instant Insights /

Credit Unions Are a Family Affair for Financial Plus CU CEO Jack Teausant

Related Stories

Recommended For You