Lloyd L. Hamm Jr.
Title: CEO, Grafton Suburban Credit Union
Age: 53
Experience: 32 years
Upton native Lloyd L. Hamm Jr. did his undergraduate degree in biology, but virtually did a 180, winding up first at Mechanics Bank in Worcester and then making his way to Eastern Bank in 1986. In the summer of 2011, Hamm left Eastern Bank and returned to his alma mater, Anna Maria College, to work as chief operating officer and dean of the business school. But Hamm missed community banking, and when he was approached with the opportunity to helm Grafton Suburban Credit Union, he jumped at the chance. “I get to love where I live and love where I work. Many people don’t get to do either in their lives,” Hamm once remarked to a colleague at Eastern Bank, but that sentiment is still true today, when Hamm begins his tenure at Grafton Suburban.
Q: Tell me about some of your priorities coming in as CEO.
A: We need to grow with existing customers here, and we need to grow outside of this area.
We have opportunities in the technology space, with mobile and check deposit and tablet applications. I expect at some point that we’ll offer a premiere product for higher balances, which includes some discounts on credit and higher interest features for large deposits, so we can deepen the relationship with the customer. We also want to make sure we’re getting to households that may not have considered credit unions in the past.
Q: You have pretty extensive experience at Eastern Bank. How do you expect that will be similar to and different from working for the credit union?
A: I think it will be more similar than different. We do offer very similar products. An organization like this does not do large commercial loans, but we still have all the same services that most consumers would avail themselves of.
I come out of a community bank background, a mutual bank. It’s very similar. The profits went back into capital and creation of the foundation and charitable donations. It’s the same here.
As to how it will be different, our customers are customers, but they’re also members. And I think there are ways to use that membership to make them feel more associated and affiliated with their financial institution.
Q: How might you do that?
A: Well, for starters, I have a strong interest in financial literacy. I think this economic downturn was particularly grueling on people. They got levered up in the last part of the last decade, and the recession really hurt a lot of people’s financial futures.
I would like the credit union to play an important role in helping our members understand how to access credit markets, or helping them save for college. I would like to have first-time homebuyer seminars and teach our members about prequalification negotiation. It ultimately makes our members smarter consumers.
I’ll be hiring a number of senior people who will join me here. I want to enhance the electronic products and deposit products, and I see some enhancements in the loan product area. I think there’s some pent-up demand in the mortgage space, and as mortgages begin to heat up, I’d like us to be a community leader. As car sales continue to increase, I think there’s an opportunity for us to do that pretty effectively.
Many people walk in and cash their check and don’t think about all these other services. An important part of what I need to do in the next year is really work on our marketing strategy. How do we convey who we are and what we can do to attract members?
Q: Tell me about some of your community involvement and how that plays into your professional work.
A: I’m involved in Junior Achievement of Eastern New England. That falls into my desires to play a role in young people’s financial literacy. I’m also involved with the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which does the best tax and economic research in the state, and I’m on the board of advisers for Zoo New England. I love the work that they do.
I was invited to join the Worcester Economic Club a few years ago. They bring in great speakers, but more of what I enjoy is the camaraderie of the business leadership in Worcester. It’s a great opportunity to get together with those business leaders and listen to somebody who brings in a different perspective a few times a year.
A while back, Eric Rosengren spoke about real estate in New England, and it was fascinating to get the perspective of the Fed looking at the region in terms of its ability to economically grow and the price of housing. You take that type of information back into the credit union, and you think about the products not only that you’re putting into your portfolio, but that you’re offering to your customers. And is it the right time to be pushing certain types of housing or not?
When you’re a CEO of a community organization like this, people look to you to know what’s going on. It’s going to be incumbent on me to be well-versed and tell them what I’m seeing, what we’re experiencing and how we’re continuing to grow as an organization, so they feel comfortable being a part of it.
Lloyd Hamm’s Top Financial iPad Apps:
- Mint
- RetirePlan
- EZ Financial Calculators
- Pageonce
- CNBC Real Time
