7.31.22

Ep. 182: Lansing Here We Come!

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Consumers' podcast graphic with photo of regional manager Josh Pompey

Lansing, get ready — Consumers Credit Union is heading your way! Tune into Money, I’m Home as Lynne chats with Consumers’ regional manager for the Lansing market, Josh Pompey, to discuss the two new offices under construction and plans for future expansion into the area/

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0:00:06.5 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m Home. Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. Thank you so much for joining us today. We’re really excited because we are, at Consumers, we’re always helping you bank how you want, when you want, and now it’s where you want. Not only digitally can you get online with us and bank and do what you need to do to make your life successful, we’re also now moving into the Lansing market. Josh Pompey is our regional manager for the Lansing area. Hey, thanks for joining us, Josh.

0:00:37.0 Josh Pompey (JP): Absolutely, Lynne. Thanks for having me.

0:00:39.0 LJJ: Well, listen, I’m excited because, A, I’m a Spartan, so for me, this is like going home. But tell us a little bit about you, your background. I know you’ve been with us for quite some time, so this is just a new region for you, really.

0:00:53.2 JP: It’s correct. I’ve been, I guess it’s six years now, going on six years I’ve been with the credit union. I’ve managed our Battle Creek office up until this point. I grew up in Bellevue, so it was very exciting for me to get back into the Lansing area and had the opportunity to work and grow these relationships and help a whole new set of members bank how they want.

0:01:15.2 LJJ: Hey, tell us a little bit about your background. And how did you come to finding out about Consumers? And when you wake up in the morning, what brings you joy?

0:01:24.8 JP: Sure. I found out about Consumers through a good friend of mine that managed here for years. My professional background, I worked in retail jewelry for about 15 years. He left me to come work here at Consumers, and every time I saw him talk about what an amazing place it was to work. And finally, when we started moving into the Battle Creek area, it seemed like a good opportunity to explore that, and it’s one of the best professional decisions I’ve ever made.

0:01:52.8 LJJ: Well, I really love the fact that we consider each one of our offices, and we call our branches offices, we consider each one of them to be their own little entrepreneurial hub. Have you found that to be really exciting for you, especially as you’re growing your own footprint?

0:02:11.5 JP: I have. And that really is one of the things that brings me a lot of joy when I wake up and I think about my workday, is there’s so much ownership over your space. Michigan is such an amazing state and every area is so unique in its needs and its culture. And I love that we have the ability, even within just the Lansing market, to really tailor our approach in the different organizations we work with, the different ways we are able to offer our service to the members. And I think that that entrepreneurial approach is really something that is unique to us.

0:02:46.4 LJJ: I think one of the things that I’ve watched you, Josh, especially on the business front, you are so involved in the communities that you serve. Lancing is going to be no different. We were just at the SBAM, which is Small Business Association of Michigan, annual event. What an exciting day that was. But really, it leads you to think about, are you still receiving anyone who says, “Gosh, credit unions, they do business? They do mortgage?” Do you still hear that?

0:03:15.8 JP: It does happen a lot. So, I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with our municipal members, and that is an area where, really, people are surprised that we bank government entities and we do it really well. It’s the same with businesses. Consumers has such an amazing business services department, so much technology that can really help business owners get time back in their day, bank securely and efficiently, and people are surprised that we have such robust offerings as a credit union.

0:03:45.0 LJJ: When you think back to the event in Lansing that we just participated in last month, when you’re meeting all of these new individuals, especially the small businesses, what is it that they’re looking for?

0:03:56.8 JP: Partnership. That is a word that comes across more frequently. And I love… That’s always been my approach in Consumers as a whole is to work with our businesses and actually be partners. We’re both in the community trying to help it grow, do well for our areas. That personal touch, a banker that will listen, understand what their needs are, and really deliver a personalized set of solutions is really important to businesses that have worked so hard and it’s their life passion. And to have somebody that’s as excited to share in it as they are, is something that’s really important.

0:04:31.2 LJJ: So, tell us a little bit about the Lansing market. In the long run, we already have four pieces of property, two which their ground broke and they’re getting ready to rock.

0:04:42.9 JP: Yes. Our first office that will be opening should be right around October, and it is on West Saginaw Highway and Marketplace Boulevard, which is an area in Delta Township that is absolutely exploding. We had a lot of fun at our ground-breaking photo, and it was great to speak with the clerk of Delta Township and just hear about all the great housing options that are coming in there. And that’ll be our first office, I’m really excited to be there. If you travel down South Cedar, right next to Lowe’s, you can’t miss our beautiful regional headquarters that’s going in there. It’s going to be a great space and should be up and running here come November- December.

0:05:19.6 LJJ: That is a beautiful building. I’m so excited. And didn’t it use to be the Flapjack Shack or something like that?

0:05:26.5 JP: It did, it did. And for anybody who that was their childhood breakfast spot, they were already closed when we came in. But we are super excited…

0:05:35.0 LJJ: [chuckle] We did not close the Flapjack Shack!

0:05:37.0 JP: No. [chuckle]

0:05:37.7 LJJ: That would be, oh, that’d be just not right.

0:05:39.8 JP: That was not us. But we are very fortunate to have such a beautiful piece of property and excited to really build a beautiful space there. There will be some outdoor space where we can have a fence, there’s going to be a great room where we can offer some educational options and a lot of space to bring our back-office departments into Lansing as well. So, it’s going to be a great space to have. And then we are coming into the East Lansing area right by Whole Foods, that’ll be the third office sometime next year. And I think fourth is going to be a little bit north. We’ll see where that one actually lands once we get there, but hopefully, that’ll be 2023 as well. So super excited. And for me, being in Bellevue, we went to West Lansing a lot. What I’ve been amazed is every quadrant of Lansing has its own unique feel and amazing food and amazing people and culture, and it is so great to be in four of these different areas that are so unique even though they’re only 10-15 miles apart.

0:06:40.8 LJJ: You know, Josh, you mentioned the back-office, and I think it’s really important to underscore, when we say back-office, that means your own local team who is doing all of the processing on your loans by making sure that you can get to your money and also have a very seamless experience with us. And how have you found that that is so critical, is that we are local, we make those decisions local, and we stay local?

0:07:07.8 JP: It really is. And it’s hugely important. And the talent pool that it gives us access to to be able to hire Lansing people to work these departments. What I’m really excited about is, we’ll be able to expand our TellerPlus=+ team into Lansing is there will be five spaces for our digital service representatives to work out of the South Cedar office as well.

0:07:28.7 LJJ: So ,this is just a great time for you if you’re interested to join a growing company, this career path is just wonderful, Josh is proof of that.

0:07:39.7 JP: Absolutely. We have so many great options and just great partnerships within the credit union and externally as well. It is a fantastic place to work. And I would love to talk to you if you are interested in learning more.

0:07:51.9 LJJ: Hey, thank you, Josh. Thanks so much. I hope you’re having a great summer.

0:07:55.4 JP: Absolutely. You as well, Lynne. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.

0:07:58.7 LJJ: Hey, if you are interested in applying for a job, just go to ConsumersCU.org/careers. Don’t be afraid if you’re feeling like, ‘Oh my goodness, I don’t fit,” in a category or a job description because we do hire based on personality and just loving to work and serve others. So please do us a favor and head that way. And if you have a topic for us here at Money, I’m home, please send it our way. Thank you, Jake Esselink for your wonderful production skills, and I hope everybody’s having a wonderful, safe summer. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union.

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