Adapted Role In A Changing Industry: Q&A With Paul D. Gilbody, President & CEO Of Leominster Credit Union
Rick Saia
Gilbody
Earlier this year, Paul D. Gilbody, a 25-year veteran of the banking industry, was named president and CEO of Leominster Credit Union, after having served 15 years at Bay State Savings Bank, most recently as executive vice president, chief operating officer and senior lender. LCU is the fourth-largest credit union in Central Massachusetts, with assets of nearly $620 million and more than 50,000 members.
Your credit union is growing, as are others in Central Massachusetts. What's fueling this growth?
One area fueling the growth is the backlash against the pattern of bank fees lately (that are) driving customers to more customer-centric credit unions. That, and I would say the fundamentals of LCU providing competitive products with excellent service.
Dodd-Frank is obviously impacting both large and small banks. But there are rules within the law that apply to credit unions. Is Dodd-Frank impacting LCU in any way?
It's impacting all financial services organizations of all structure and ownership. That was part of the problem — that it didn't separate those areas of (the industry) that contributed to the problem. It really addressed the entire industry as a whole.
What are the additions to your “to-do” list that you must tackle in order to comply with it?
Improving the compliance function in the organization. It requires more resources than it has in the past, which is a challenge. And it's also the rate at which these new rules are rolled out and modified. So to stay on top of the change as it's happening really requires a lot of focus and effort.
So, more so compliance than IT? Or IT along with compliance?
It comes hand in hand. The IT area is significantly affected with customer-information privacy rules and we need to ensure that all the proper protections are in place to protect our members' personal information.
As someone who has worked in the banking industry for 25 years, you've obviously seen a lot of change. What would you say is the biggest?
Two come to mind: The first is compliance and regulatory oversight. Not only has that changed dramatically over the past 25 years, it's changing dramatically from year to year now … And (in) the industry as a whole — mergers, acquisitions, consolidations — they just seem to be ever present in the business. And it can provide both opportunity and new competitors that you have to be mindful of.
You serve on the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board. What does that experience teach you about the need to upgrade the skills of today's and tomorrow's workers?
Workforce preparedness is … an area that all communities need to be concerned with. And I think it starts at early levels of education, preparing young adults to understand what skills they need to develop to become gainfully employed and to be successful once they are.
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Paul Gilbody, president and CEO, Leominster Credit Union
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