EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — For Peter Lupi, being named NAFCU's Volunteer of the Year caps off a life-long involvement in the credit union community.
"The credit union has been a part of my life for God knows how many years, so I'm surprised and honored" to receive the recognition from NAFCU, Lupi told Credit Union Journal.
Lupi has served on the board at $78 million First New England FCU for the last 38 years, spending the last 20 as chairman of the board. He credits an excellent relationship with CEO Michael Palladino and the rest of senior management with much of his success.
"I've been lucky, not only with the CEO and senior management, but my board's been so cooperative and supportive that it makes the job easy," he said. "They listen to my ideas, I listen to their ideas, and the advantage of a small credit union is that we're kind of a family. I know most of the people that work there, and you go in there and use the services, and that's the way I really find out how things are going on."
The More Things Change...
Rather than a background in finance, Lupi — a retired fifth grade teacher — spent his career in education, though he noted that he has experience as a tax preparer for H&R Block and as a volunteer tax counselor for AARP.
But he said that even as the financial services world has changed in his four decades on the board, some things have not changed much at all.
"Yes, our services are much more complicated than they were, but the basic idea of the credit union is still there," he said. "I don't mean so much as members helping members, but the idea that we can be there to offer our members products and services that we know they really need, and we listen to them and try to be there for them when at all possible."
While the CU philosophy and mindset haven't much changed in the last few decades, one thing that has changed, said Lupi, is daily life — which, in turn, impacts the board.
"Lives and families are much busier than they were 20 or 30 years ago," he said. "So finding new board members who want to actually spend the time — and have the time to spend — becomes more and more difficult. I don't know if eventually the word volunteer is going to have to go by the wayside and we're going to end up having to pay for that privilege."
An additional challenge boards face is replenishing their ranks, particularly with younger members. Lupi explained that First New England usually brings potential board members on first as associate board members to give them a feel for how the board functions and to let both parties test the waters.
"We've had at least a couple of people who we thought would be good board members, brought them on as associate board members and they then found that it took too much of their time," he recalled. "They would've been wonderful fits, but they just didn't have the time. I think the associate board member route works quite well because then when there's an opening on the board the learning curve is much shorter."
Moving To E-Services
One accomplishment NAFCU cited was Lupi's push to implement eBoardroom, which he said was put in place about eight years ago.
"I just found it was an easy way to get the information to the board members," he said, noting that all bylaws and rules and regs are there, along with meeting minutes and more. "I just find it's much easier in today's world with iPads and iPhones and computers and stuff."
Lupi said that he didn't get pushback from the board, but it has been a struggle to get everyone to really use the system.
"They still want the printout in their hands, the packet right there to look at," he said. "Now it's getting so that all the board members use it, but some still use both. They'll download the agenda packet and print it out or print out the parts they really want to have in front of them. We have at least two or three board members who bring iPads... and there are two that bring computers. We're gradually moving over."
As the board has moved to e-services, Lupi has also helped oversee First New England's transition to e-services and self-service channels. He notes that while the initial expense to implement those channels can be a hurdle for some credit unions, "it also cuts down on what the staff has to do. We have three branches, and branches are expensive to run, so if you have fewer members coming in to services the branch, then in the long run your expenses are also cut down."
He said that the credit union has seen decreased branch traffic since implementing e-service channels but has seen cost savings by not having to re-hire when staff leaves due to attrition. He said the CU is also considering the possibility of kiosk branches in the future.
Lupi stressed that none of this would be possible without the positive relationship between the board and senior management.
"What I'm most proud of is the way our board and CEO work together," he said. "We've been lucky with our choice of board members, but we don't get into these petty little arguments I sometimes hear about from other boards at other credit unions. We've been lucky."
