In both her professional and personal life, Alissa Sykes has always focused her internal lens on improving efficiency. As vice president of lending at Sunmark Federal Credit Union in Latham, N.Y., Sykes' responsibilities include overseeing all aspects 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 title doesn't make a leader. I look for people who are willing to push out of their comfort zone and go against the grain in a collaborative way.”

For Sykes, nothing is more empowering than building knowledge and understanding beyond the confines of a specific area of expertise. She said it's important to take the time to invest in yourself, and recalls a time when her request to attend a leadership conference in California was denied because her credit union couldn't afford to send her. Skyes admits that at first, she took it personally.

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

Since joining the $465 million credit union in 2005, her award winning mortgage department has grown significantly under her leadership. More importantly, Sunmark has built a reputation for creating programs that meet locals' lending needs. Sykes credits the success to great teamwork among employees who are dedicated to thinking outside the box and taking calculated risks to deliver effective solutions.

One major focus at Sunmark involves a shift from simply selling products 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 practice for Sunmark, as the credit union recognizes that often, the hesitancy to sell often stems from staff members who are not confident in their knowledge of product offerings and benefits. Sykes said her credit union seeks to deepen relationships with members, and with that in mind, the past year has been about engaging members through conversation, and making it clear that Sunmark can be that one-stop-shop for their financial needs.

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

She has expanded Sunmark's product offerings in order to provide all members with options, including no-closing-cost mortgages and a variety of insurance options. This move has contributed to the credit union's volume growth in recent years. Sykes has also added Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, State of New York Mortgage Agency, USDA and construction loans to the credit union's product line-up, while keeping delinquency levels at record lows.

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

According to the NCUA's quarterly Financial Performance Report ratio analysis as of March 2015, the credit union has experienced loan growth of 8.24 compared to the peer average of 2.17, and boasts 26.65 market share growth compared to the 14.03 peer average. In addition, Sunmark's net worth growth was 7.36 compared to the peer average of 5.20.

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

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

Local commercial and residential real estate agents regularly tour the facility, which has deepened community ties and resulted in Sunmark's biggest closing year, with $240 million just in first mortgages.

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

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

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

In addition to expanding Sunmark's suite of lending services, Sykes also assists others, such as through her work with the Rensselaer County Housing Resources to provide access to affordable homeownership, and by offering Sunmark's back-office home equity processing services to credit unions that can't afford to do it on their own. She has also spearheaded a project to provide additional access points for those seeking funding for homes, and worked to introduce a First Time Home Club through the Federal Home Loan Bank of NY in 2012.

With the goal of growing the credit union industry's lending footprint, she also founded an Albany, N.Y.-based chapter of the Credit Union Real Estate Network, an organization that offers collaboration and professional development opportunities for real estate professionals. She has also led efforts to support the real estate community by partnering with several realtors and providing free opportunities for education on the current mortgage environment. Since the local CUREN chapter was founded, participation has doubled.

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

Instant Insights /

Sykes Carves a Credit Union Lending Niche

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