Business View Magazine | November 2020

108 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2020 percent of our workforce home to work and that worked out nicely for us. We did close two branches that were onsite at Merck facilities because Merck closed their operations, but we did not furlough anybody; we re-allocated those employees to our other locations. We now have reopened our lobbies. The membership is still a little reluctant to come in, or maybe they started using electronic means and the drive-thru and are more accustomed to doing business that way, now. But lobby traffic is down a little bit. It may come back. Otherwise, we’re back as a lean, mean, fighting machine.” Going forward, both Whitehead and DeFilippis see an ever-increasing use of technology for providing member services. For example, the other measurements, have been off the charts. We rarely have issues; our members are always giving us good scores and good comments – even through the COVID period.” “The surveys were all positive,” Whitehead adds. “We’ve also done secret shopper research and we were ranked No. 1 in the country for 14 quarters in a row for the great service that we provided. We have a wonderful culture where the employees want to come to work and our employees show that they live the mission.” Whitehead reports that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the credit union did close its lobbies in order to safeguard the health of its members and employees. “There was no foot traffic coming in, except by appointment if somebody had to close a loan or open an account,” he notes. “We emphasized electronic transactions – online and mobile banking, bill pay, remote deposit capture, and ATMs were available for cash. We did send about 10-12 Senior Vice President, Dana DeFilippis & CEO, David Whitehead