Member Spotlight: Vicki Smith

CUNA Councils
November 6, 2006

I have been employed with Rogue Federal Credit Union for nearly 30 years. My current position is chief member relations officer and I am responsible for all aspects of operations and service delivery. Rogue is a $360-million community credit union based in Medford, Oregon, with 40,000 members, seven branches, and two student branches.

I was one of the inaugural members of the OpSS Council executive committee and

served as chair from 2002-2004. I am a 1991 graduate of Western CUNA Management School and hold the CCUE designation. In addition to my involvement with the councils, I have enjoyed serving on the Credit Union Association of Oregon Foundation Scholarship Committee (or its equivalent) for many years.

My husband, Dan, and I just celebrated our 41st anniversary. We have two grown daughters with whom we enjoy wonderful relationships.

Biggest challenge for 2006

Retirement. Both my own and that of our CEO Tim Alford. We are retiring within a month of each other, so the impact to our credit union is huge. We have taken positive steps to minimize that impact, however, by hiring both of our replacements ahead of time. The incoming CEO, Gene Pelham, is going to be a great leader for Rogue Federal; my replacement, Matt Stephenson, is a very capable person who will lead his own credit union one day. Their leadership skills will ease the credit union through this transition.

Best advice

Operations encompasses so much in our credit union. That's one of the reasons we had such a hard time settling on the name for our council. There is so much to know and understand. My advice is to keep learning. Keep stretching yourself and keep growing.

The OPSS Council can help you do this, but in proportion you will get from the council exactly what you put in. Get involved. You will not be disappointed.

Greatest benefit of Council membership

Networking and outstanding conferences. When we formed the executive committee we understood how desperately people in the area of operations needed a forum in which they could interact with their peers. Before the council was formed, it was a necessity to attend several conferences every year just to learn what you needed to know to stay informed. The council has effectively brought most these areas under one umbrella. Now when you attend the CUNA OPSS Council Conference each fall, you have the opportunity to hear from experts in every area of operations and get up to speed on the latest developments. Attendees get to hear about the best practices utilized by other credit unions. And they get to build relationships with other operations leaders who are happy to share information and experiences. The relationships I have developed through my involvement in the OpSS Council have greatly enhanced my ability to research what others are doing, so that I can avoid the pitfalls that others may have experienced, and try new ideas that have worked for other shops. The Council keeps me connected.

Best part of my job

Working with outstanding people. At Rogue Federal we are blessed with some of the most outstanding people in our industry. They care about each other, they care about the members, and they care about this credit union. I absolutely love working with our staff.

Hardest part of my job

Communication. We are growing so fast, it is increasingly difficult to keep each employee informed on what is happening, changes that are coming, and even some of the marketing pieces. Things move so fast, we are challenged sometimes to make sure our staff knows about new marketing pieces before those pieces get to the members.

Hobbies and interests

Golf, reading, cooking, collecting pottery.

People would be surprised to learn that . . .

While vacationing in the rain forest of Peru, I caught a piranha on the Amazon River, which we later ate.

Recent book

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Life goal not yet accomplished

Traveling to China and cruise on the Yangtze River before they fill the dam.

Something that always makes me laugh

My daughters. Both of them have a great sense of humor and I thoroughly enjoy them.

If I had an extra hour in the day . . .

I’d spend it enjoying my parents. My father will be 91 this year and my mother will be 83. Time with them is precious.