LENDER SPOTLIGHT: Q&A with Mark O’Dell

When Mark O’Dell joined Service Credit Union as Vice President of Lending two years ago, he brought with him 30 years of lending experience. In his position, O’Dell oversees Business Services, a department that has grown significantly since it was formed in 2010 and is on track to double that growth in the years ahead. He says one of the reasons for its success is a work culture where a positive member experience is “walked, talked and breathed” by the employees. We spoke to Mark about the evolution of his department and what he sees ahead.

Talk about the beginnings of the Business Services department and where it is today.

The department didn’t exist prior to 2010. In the 12 years since then, it has grown from just one employee to 16 employees. But what is most impressive is that it’s grown to over $630 million in loan balances, over $200 million in cash management services, and more than 1,000 different businesses as members. That’s a nice success story. David Weed, who is Assistant Vice President of Business Services, was the first to be hired for the department. He has done a great job of building a team of business development officers as well as internal operations staff who provide exceptional service.

How do you go about building your identity?

By asking questions — what are we known for? What is someone going to consider our strength as a credit union? Historically, from inception to where we are today, what we’re most known for is commercial real estate business, where we’ve done a great job of partnering with businesses and taking care of their needs. The word gets out there. But we plan to expand and diversify that product mix beyond commercial real estate, to get into more small-dollar lending like SBA loans, lines of credit and vehicle loans.

Building identity also means you have to have people who have networking capabilities, so they can go out and create relationships. Then, over time, as you get deeper into your marketplace, you get known.

You expect substantial growth in the next few years ...

Yes, we’re trying to build something that is growth-oriented but also scalable to grow outside of New Hampshire. With our federal charter, we can expand outside of New England. What we are doing in New Hampshire, we should be able to do in other states.

Service Credit Union already has a member in every state in the country. We also have a military membership base who use the branches we have on Air Force

bases in Germany. When their tour is over, they relocate to different areas of the country, so we have the seeds of members that are in different states. We may look to have boots on the ground in some of those markets. It’s certainly on the drawing board for the future. We’re hoping to grow from a $5 million credit union to a $10 billion credit union, or beyond.

Do you see new market forces ahead that might impact the commercial real estate market?

Affordability is becoming an issue, especially with the mortgage rates going up. The resulting housing crunch — there aren’t enough units for people to buy or rent — is creating an appetite for multifamily properties. That means there’s more construction of multifamily units going on. For us, it means there are institutions or individuals looking to do that that we’re looking to partner with. But, strip malls, for example? Probably not as comfortable with that as we would be with a multifamily property.

The other trend, and this won’t shock you, is going green. One of the things we’re excited about is solar — maybe a business would add that to its construction or remodel. We think that’s a good avenue for some business owners. Also, supply chain issues are bringing some companies back to this country. So, there’s a lot going on.

What should a startup know before they come to the Service CU Business Services department?

It starts with sitting down and looking at their business plan, their background, their financial picture, what type of business they’re in.

From their perspective, asking questions: Who is this lending partner? What kind of tools do they have? What’s their service commitment going to be? Why someone chooses to do business or not do business with an institution really comes down to relationship and trust. We have a reputation for that. We’re able to show prospective clients not only some examples of who we worked with but why.

What is the biggest consideration in whether to grant a loan?

You have to control the risk for what you put on your balance sheet. Is there a concentration of risk? Too many apples in one cart? If you’re in the hospitality business, say, and no one is going to hotels and restaurants because of COVID, there’s going to be a slowdown in that sector. We also look at stress management. If the revenue of a business dropped by 30%, can they still operate? Do they have the debt coverage? There are a lot of factors to consider in order to avoid losses. Our losses have been basically nonexistent. It sounds like a given, but you have to provide exceptional service to these business owners.

You’ve been at Service Credit Union for two years. In your experience there, what do you appreciate the most?

I’ve worked at credit unions since 2012. I wish I had started working at one 20 years ago. I really enjoy the culture, especially the member experience that’s being created. I think that ultimately comes across to the Business Services clients. n