Just 24 hours after Lloyd Hamm Jr. interviewed for the position of president and CEO at Grafton Suburban Credit Union last spring, he found himself meeting with the entire board of directors.
“I think we all knew right away that he was our guy,” said Andrew Nelson, chairman of the board at Grafton Suburban Credit Union. “He’s a very enthusiastic, positive person. It’s hard not to get caught up on that, feed off of that and want to be part of that.”
At the time, the credit union was in desperate need of some positive energy. It had recently lost its CEO, chief operating officer and chief financial officer in a matter of weeks. Although there was no ill will involved in the departures, just a lot of bad timing, the resignations took a toll on the credit union’s morale.
There was only one problem with Hamm, as far as the board was concerned: “He seemed out of our league,” recalled Nelson.
Hamm had spent more than 25 years at Eastern Bank, the largest independent, mutually owned bank in New England, where he’d served as chief administrative officer. Recently, he’d left Eastern Bank to work as chief operating officer and founding dean of the School of Business at his alma mater, Anna Maria College in Paxton.
Would a small credit union really interest a bigwig like Hamm?
“I knew the job was a great opportunity for me,” Hamm said. “I’m a very hands-on person. I like being able to work with people every day, coaching them and teaching them.”
But from the start, Hamm has been learning just as much as he’s been teaching.
“When I first took the job, I came in early every day and spent one or two hours in the lobby talking to members about what they liked and didn’t like about the credit union. Within four to six week, I’d come up with a list of changes we’d do immediately,” Hamm said. “They were little things. When I started, we only had one ATM and it was a drive-up. One day, I came to work and saw an old woman who had to get out of her car and bend over just to reach that ATM. So, I had one added in the lobby entrance.”
He also helped implement a budgeting system, created a call center, hired a new CFO and added a new position, a senior loan officer, to help expand the credit union’s mortgage and consumer offerings.
Perhaps most importantly, Hamm has given the credit union the morale boost it desperately needed when he came on board.
“He’s a ball of energy,” Nelson said. “I’ve had employees who have been here for 15 to 20 years thank me for bringing in Lloyd.”
As far as Hamm is concerned, the admiration is mutual.
“Never does a staff meeting go by that I don’t thank the [Grafton Suburban Credit Union] team,” Hamm said. “This honor is really an award for the whole credit union and what we’ve accomplished together.”
