NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Scott Woods' first memory of SouthCarolina Federal Credit Union is a sea of blue workpants. Thecredit union was then Navy Yard Employees Credit Union. Woods'father worked at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, and when paydayrolled around, he joined the ranks of other employees streamingacross the street from the main gate to cash their checks. “Iremember we would wait in the shipyard parking lot with my momoutside the main gate. My dad would come to the car and say, `Well,I'm going to go over to the credit union to cash my check. Anybodywant to go?' ” Woods recalls. “ I would go with dad and we'd walkacross to the credit union. It was wall to wall people. I was justa kid, no higher than my dad's waist. I would stand there in a seaof blue trousers, people lined up to cash their check or make aloan payment.” Today Woods, who joined the credit union when he wassix-years-old, is president/CEO. SCFCU has grown beyond whatprobably any member expected when Woods was young. Along with thegrowth has come not only $1 billion in assets, but new challenges.For example, as SCFCU has rolled out new branches, the credit unionhas been juggling several factors. One is balancing technology withmember desires in specific locations. New facilities in Southamptonand North Charleston feature remote teller systems that usepneumatics and two-way, closed-circuit television to connectmembers with tellers. The branches also feature PassVault, aself-service vault access system, and television monitors in thelobby providing ongoing marketing messages and local news that helppass the time in line. Many branches will be retrofitted with thesefeatures, and they will likely be incorporated in other newoffices. But SCFCU will be assessing them over time to gauge memberreaction. “Each branch is individual. You have to look at the sizeof the branch and where it's located. In some locations members maywant face-to-face high-touch versus high-tech,” Woods says. At thesame time, the credit union will be working to roll out brandidentity. The idea is the appearance of branches will be consistentenough that a member driving through an area looking for a branchwill easily spot it. Each branch will be as inviting as any other.Woods readily recites data illustrating the broad spectrum ofpeople represented in the membership. Twenty percent earn less than$30,000 a year. Twelve percent earn more than $100,000. That leaves68% who earn $30,000 to $100,000. About 34% are middle-marketpeople who are key to the SCFCU loan volume. Forty-one percent useauto loans, 16% mortgage or home equity loans, 42% carry one of thecredit union's credit cards, and 64% have an SCFCU checkingaccount. “We try to focus on having a range of products that willappeal to almost all our segments – credit-driven members,middle-market, fee-driven and upscale. We know who these people areand we try to target them in terms of what we can offer them,”Woods says. “At our size, we cannot paint them with a broad brush.You can't be all things to all people. You simply can't do that –you'll go broke trying. We try to have products that appeal to eachof those major segments.” The SCFCU strategy focuses on retainingcurrent membership, following the often-repeated dictum it's muchless expensive to keep an existing consumer than attract a new one.As Woods puts it, you don't want to lose sight of those who broughtyou to the dance. Engaging Volunteers To further involve members,SCFCU has introduced a volunteer advisor position. In fact, thereare now two volunteer advisors. The idea is to identify memberswith skill sets that will augment existing board committees. Forexample, someone with strong human resources background would sitin on the HR salary committee. The volunteer advisor slot isactually a step on a ladder that could lead to a slot on thesupervisory committee, then perhaps the board. Candidates are foundthrough personal recommendations as well as notices in the creditunion newsletter. “It's a way for volunteers to see if this issomething they would like to do, and for us to assess their skillsets and contributions,” Woods says. “We don't look for volunteerswho want that once-a-month meal and a rubber stamp. It can bedemanding on your time. We want volunteers who are going to beinvolved. Finding those types of people in today's busy world is achallenge.” Then there's Do It Right The First Time, known asDirtfoot. It's part of what Woods describes as an effort to provideworld-class service. A quality improvement team drawn from variouslevels of the credit union focuses monthly on answering thequestions: What can we do better? What can we do differently? Asfar as Woods is concerned, new employees are a key source of ideas.They generally come in without preconceived notions of how thingsshould be done. If they have background at other financialinstitutions, they may have seen a better way to carry out a task.“I can't put a number in front of you, but I can say without adoubt our quality initiative has contributed significantly to thecredit union's strong growth in the past four or five years,” Woodsstates. Being a force on the political scene is also high on theagenda. In fact, last year the board formally adopted a stance thatSCFCU will be politically active. “Credit unions have to bevigilant about maintaining our tax-exempt status,” Woods says. “Weare a creature of legislation. We cannot have an inherent right toour tax-exempt status. We have to constantly keep our good works infront of lawmakers and powers-that-be. It's when we becomecomplacent we are most vulnerable.” Woods has followed a careerpath that seems appropriate for a man introduced to credit unionsat his father's side. He joined SCFCU when he was six years old,and has spent most of his career in credit unions. After graduatingfrom college with an accounting major – he earned degrees from theCollege of Charleston and from Auburn University – he worked forKPMG Peat Marwick as a financial institution auditor. Several yearslater he went to work for one of his clients, SC Telco FederalCredit Union in Greenville. Then he was hired by Savannah RiverPlant Federal Credit Union in North Augusta as senior vp/finance.Four years later he and his wife decided they wanted to return toCharleston. In 1999 he accepted a job as vice president/finance atSCFCU, later becoming CFO. When then CEO Robert Dargan left onmedical disability, Woods was named acting CEO. Dargan retired, andafter a national search, the board named Woods president/CEO in2004. In his spare time he enjoys tinkering in his workshop, whichhe considers a welcome break from the mental activity that consumeshis workweek. He's often closely observed by his daughters, whorange in age from one to seven. By the time they're grown, heobserves, they're going to know their way around hand and powertools. His hands-on work includes maintaining a 1974 PontiacLaMans. Overall, Woods comes across as a man devoted to the creditunion movement in general and to SCFCU. “My love goes well beyondit just being a job. This was my credit union and my family'scredit union. My grandfather was a member of this credit union.This credit union has been a large part of my life,” he declares.-

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