Member Spotlight: Kim Luton

CUNA Councils
March 6, 2008 | COMMENTS

Kim Luton is the lending manager for Del-One Credit Union in Dover, Delaware.

A native of Illinois, Kim grew up in Bradley, Illinois. After graduating from high school in 1976, she joined the U.S. Air Force and retired 20 years later as a master sergeant.

She also won the coveted Stripes for Exceptional Performers/Senior NCO level in 1994. During her years in service she received a degree in paralegal studies, and later earned a BA in business from Trinity University. She and her husband are avid crafters and own a business called SheepShed Creations. They plan to stay busy after retirement by opening a home decor and gift shop.

Biggest challenge

Marrying our current lending/front-line personnel structure to improve our loan close ratio. Our loans are closed by branch member service staff who also have deposit responsibilities and as a result, loans often do not receive the attention they should.

Best advice

Treat people as you would like to be treated. Whoever smiles first wins!

Greatest benefit of Council membership

Seeing that others at other credit unions have the same challenges as our credit union as well as being able to share information with some really bright minds in the industry.

Best part of my job

Helping our neediest members become productive, valuable consumers once again.

Hardest part of my job

Having to tell a member that I cannot give them a loan. Also juggling management, personnel and strategic planning responsibilities as well as overseeing the day to day operation of the lending function.

Success story

Because we are a medium-sized credit union and personnel resources are always scarce, I have made it a point for us to have fun at work OFTEN. We play a game called Chingo, which is a combination of Bingo and checkers, and we create a list of questions either based on current events or as a training tool for specific programs. The winner gets a gift card or a uniform shirt since our credit union just went to uniforms this year.

Biggest misconception about what I do

That we are just sitting here waiting for their "one" loan to come in. We have seven branches statewide that we service.

Hobbies and interests

Interior decorating, creating something out of junk or discarded items, helping my husband create new functional furniture items to build.

Recent book

101 Ways to Have Fun at Work

Life goal not yet accomplished

To retire to Tennessee and open a home decor and gift shop so I can appease my shopaholic nature.

If I had an extra hour in the day . . .

I would spend time just relaxing in my hot tub.

Favorite quote

“Conceive, believe, receive.”

What's in your CD player at the moment?

Contemporary Christian music, Mercy Me, Michael W. Smith. Believe it or not, I still have a bunch of Christmas CDs in my CD changer!

If I could spend a day with anyone . . .

It would be the Apostle Paul. I would have a lot of questions to ask him about his conversion experience and just what the heck he meant in some of the passages he wrote.

How would you convey the credit union difference to a potential new member?

Our credit union motto is "The One Way to A Better Life.” Everyone in our organization lives and breaths this motto. Every action a staff member takes should be toward helping our members toward this goal. That's the difference between a credit union and a bank. Banks have become so impersonal and big. You are just a number to them. When you are a credit union member, you are part of a community and all the products and services that we are offer are because you chose to be part of the community. Who else will stick by you when you are down? Your bank sure won't. They have their stockholders to answer to. We pride ourselves on sticking by our members because we recognize that the life challenges they are facing could be ours one day.