people + places / voice
Lake Michigan Credit Union took over the naming rights of the West Michigan Whitecaps' ballpark in 2021.
VOICE
Growing a financial brand LMCU is building on its West Michigan roots. BY JESSE O’BRIEN
Sandy Jelinski has been the Lake Michigan Credit Union chief executive officer for more than two decades, helping the credit union grow into a major West Michigan financial institution. Jelinski and LMCU have hit multiple milestones recently, including the 500,000th member, expanding to Florida and her induction into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame. That all goes with GR Magazine readers voting LMCU best credit union and best bank in this very issue. GR Mag caught up with Jelinski to get the scoop on what is new at LMCU. Congratulations on your recent induction into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame! What does it mean to you to be honored by your peers for your work in West Michigan? That honor truly meant everything to me. It was nothing that I had expected and really came out of nowhere. We’ve always partnered with Junior Achievement through the credit union for many years because they do so much for our youth. When I received word that I had won this wonderful accolade, (I) really studied up on other people in our community that had been past winners. When I saw Doug DeVos, Rich DeVos, Hank Meijer, some of these people I never thought I would be on a page with, I was truly humbled. What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned along the way at the helm of LMCU? I learned a lot because I had worked there for quite a few years before the board gave me this opportunity. You learn what works and what doesn’t and what I believe is the best way to do business. For me, it is integrity and honesty and the golden rule, and that’s what we try to do here at Lake Michigan. Our members are always first, that’s basically our culture here. How has LMCU been able to successfully grow here in West Michigan? I think what really sustained and built the growth significantly was after the debacle of the housing crisis in 2008. At the end of 2008 our asset size was $1.4 billion and today we’re $11 billion. That’s significant in a credit union world because credit unions can’t raise capital, they only grow if earnings sustain growth. We had a number of members in 2009-10 reach out to ask why we didn’t do mortgages. That was when we hired people who worked in the mortgage industry and I think it’s one of those things where if you hire good people, you can get good products to our members and that has really generated a significant amount of our growth. 14
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"Personally, it [seeing LMCU Ballpark on the scoreboard] meant the world to me and when we heard the Whitecaps had chosen Lake Michigan it was truly a dream come true." Sandy Jelinski
SANDY JELINSKI, LMCU BALLPARK, BRANCH COURTESY LAKE MICHIGAN CREDIT UNION
11/23/21 1:10 PM
