Not Resting on Billionaire Laurels, VyStar Planning Long-Term Strategy for Future Branch Expansion

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It wasn’t as though members thought VyStar Credit Union was doing a bad job. In fact, on a 1 to 5 scale they rated the credit union at over 4.5. But management, including President/CEO Terry West, did see room for improvement in a couple areas, including the call center and the drive-throughs. “We want member satisfaction regardless of where the member goes,” West emphasizes. “We’ve been working to speed up service in the drive-throughs, focusing operationally on how to do transactions more quickly, have members prepared, and make sure there is adequate staffing all the time. “We do very much the same thing in the call center. We use software predictors for scheduling. There’s training, training and training so the employee really knows the product and realizes member service is the most important thing any of us do every single day.” VyStar was launched in 1952 as Jax Navy Federal Credit Union to serve civil service, military and their families at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. In 2002 the credit union received approval for a state charter opening membership to people in a five-county area. Since then membership has expanded to a total of 15 counties in northeast Florida. It changed its named to VyStar in April 2002. West came to VyStar in 1988 as vice president of member services in charge of branch operations, call center operations, consumer and mortgage lending. In August 1991, when former CEO Bob Bream left to work at United Airlines Employees CU as president/CEO, West was named acting president/CEO while Jax Navy conducted a national search. He was eventually named president/CEO of the CU in December. A native of North Carolina and the youngest of five children, both of West’s parents were high school dropouts. West not only went on to graduate high school, he became the first of his family to attend college. After graduating from North Carolina State University in Raleigh with a degree in math, he taught junior high for five years. “Then I realized I wanted to be in the business world. I enjoyed teaching, but it wasn’t what I always wanted to do,” he recalls. In 1981, while on summer break from teaching, he went to work as a loan officer for State Employees Credit Union in Raleigh. The principal at the school where he taught urged him not to abandon teaching. After all, he might not like his new job. But two weeks later West wrote the principal indicating he would not return. [email protected]