Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartRadio Providence CEOs. You should know. Today we have Kathy Orvitz,
the president and CEO of Navigating Credit Union. Kathy, thank
you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited
about being with you today and talking a little bit
about my story and meeting you.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Certainly, Adam, thank you for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Can you tell us a little bit about your own
career journey and leadership style to begin?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Sure, I'd love to.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
It's interesting in that I follow I got into banking
as a result of my dad, who's retired now, but
he was a career banker, helped me get my first
job out of high school, and that's really what inspired
me and how this journey began. He has was my
mentor continues to be my mentor today.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
And I have spent my.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Career in you know, different aspects of financial services, marketing, retail,
primarily sales, and certainly leadership in the last you know,
twenty years or so. So that's the family story, you know,
and it's treated me pretty well.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
And that really is great when it all comes around
to the family. You can even make it feel a
little bit more personal when you're in the actual role
is because it's like, hey, I've done this, my dad
did it, and it really is just a part of
continuing that tradition.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, and I think that generational you know, tradition is
important and part of it. If if I think back,
it's been thirty five years, my dad was in a
community banking environment where you will allow you know, you're
connected to the community, and I think I was drawn
to that. And so while I've worked at a lot
of a lot of the larger institutions, I find myself
(01:38):
throughout the years gravitating to the home based, community oriented
banks and credit unions. And it's because of the beginning
and where I started for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
For those who may not be familiar on that, can
you tell us a little bit about navigating credit union
in the mission that you have to your customers and clients.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Sure, honestly that the coolest part of our story is
be one hundred and ten years old this month, and
the mission has never wavered. Right.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
We were formed with the.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Oldest and largest credit union in Rhode Island and the
mission was to serve mill workers back in nineteen fifteen
who didn't have access to banking services. And I think
that's such an amazing story and part of it rings
to today and that the mission has never been stronger.
Where about the community improving financial well being and that's
(02:28):
across families, businesses, and community and those are the three
pillars and it's as strong as ever today.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Navigan's history is pretty unique. Obviously, you just kind of
alluded to that about the mill workers being the real
start of why you guys were formed. Can you share
how it all started other than that, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, I can tell you that it was a group
of folks that lived in Central Halls, one of our
cities in Rhode Island, one of the thirty nine cities,
and it was a French Canadian immigrant population. At the time,
they didn't have access to grant loans to help give
people a start in life around savings, and so they
(03:08):
formed this credit union in the basement of a church.
And it's such a cool story and that was the
flagship office for a long long time, and just about
twenty years ago we moved our corporate headquarters to Smithfield,
Rhode Island. And now from one branch, that flagship branch
that started in the basement of the church, now we
(03:29):
have twenty six branches across the State of Rhode Island.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
So I love that history.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I love that story because it allows us to replicate
that that happened in nineteen fifteen fifteen in every community
that we open up a new market or a new branch,
and we invest in all three pillars, the small business
community which is the backbone of the economy, and very
much committed to the community, and the nonprofits that certainly
(03:55):
need to thrive, so we all thrive because this is
where essentially we live in work.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
That is amazing, you know, just to hear about the growth,
you know, just not even from the branch number, but
to go from you know, a basement like that into
what you guys are now today as a company. April
is of course Financial Literacy Month. Can you tell me
a little bit about why financial literacy is so important
in how Navigant is supporting that.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, I think part of it is that we've always
been that trusted advisor, that counselor. We've taken that approach,
that's our business model, but we've needed it more than
ever in today's environment because what we realize, and certainly
that's in the macro environment, is that financial literacy is lacking.
There was no curriculum in the schools. You know, if
(04:38):
you had your parents or your caregiver that sort of
had that discipline and embodied those values, then you were
the lucky one, right that you had sort of that structure.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, we don't just assume that anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We've taken a lead role in the state in terms
of financial literacy. In fact, we've invested a whole team
around community the engagement where specifically we developed curriculum. We've
partnered with other third parties that have done this, and
we're going throughout the schools in Rhode Island where we're
educating the students. We've developed products around helping them save
(05:16):
real time budgeting tools. This actually goes across to the
parents as well. We run seminars throughout the year. We
really bring it to life, and we've got recent programs
that we've just launched as well where we are actually
teeing up money small savings accounts so.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
That they can kick the tires.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Because you can get in front of the kids in
the classroom, but really, you know, I think they've got
to be hands on and get the exposure for it
to be real. So we do a lot of simulation
in the classrooms with the kids, and in fact, we're
going to be bringing the Central Falls eighth graders to
a lot of our branches and here at corporate headquarters
for them to kind of get a sense of the career,
(05:57):
you know, how banking actually works from the back get
So this excites us and we're going to continue to
do it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's great. I mean, my mom was an accountant, so
I always had that kind of financial literacy, but very
few of my friends, you know, even my wife now,
like she didn't have the background that I had, just
because my mom worked as an accountant for that long
so I was more familiar with that. So I think
it's a great program that you're doing knowing that not
everybody's mom is an accountant.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
That's exactly right. That's perfect example.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Since you mentioned the embark account, can you explain what
that is and who it's for.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah, so this is an account that you know that
is it's a traditional account in the sense that you've
got all that access and bells and whistles that you need.
But we tailored it for you know, eleven years old
and up to eighteen years old so that you can
graduate with it. And like I said, we've built into
the product, which is sort of a digital product, right.
(06:52):
The kids use their phone, and we've built in live
budgeting tools. We built in the financial literacy that you
and I just talked about, so there's lessons along the
way and as they reach milestones, it sort of engages
them and incentivizes them. And it's called the Embark account,
and we launch this thing bringing it to the schools
(07:12):
and the parents and the educators. And I think that's
why it's been a big hit, is that you're typically
waiting the grandmother will say I'm going to start an account,
you know, for little Johnny, and that's fine, but it
sits in a passbook, right that doesn't resonate in twenty
twenty five. So I think, you know, creating a product
that has the digital front as well as the educational
(07:35):
tools built in is probably why this has been successful.
But we continue to do focus groups just to make
sure we stay relevant, you know, to the youth and.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
That forward you know thinking mentality is something that I
think as we go forward, like you said, in twenty
twenty five, a past book account is not really moving
the needle. That's not really quantifiable for so many people.
So that forward thinking mentality is why it really is
so great to bank with a local credit union that understands.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That right exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Navigan Credit Union is known for being heavily involved in
the community. Tell me a little bit about how your team.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Give back all my favorite topics, Adam, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, we talked about the.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
History and we've stayed consistent with that. That's a result
of a good board of directors who also work and
live in Rhode Island so want to see it thrive.
So our story is a good one. One of the
three pillars we talked about is philanthropy, and so giving
you examples of this four different areas scholarships, because again
(08:36):
we go back to the kids and the schools. For
twenty seven years we've had a scholarship program that we
run that's very active. We're very proud of that. The
other part of it is just volunteerism. We've got about
ninety percent of our four hundred and twenty employees that
volunteer in the community. We give it paid day off
to do that and incentivize it. We had about four
(08:59):
thousandvolunteer hours, just to give you a number in context.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
But then the dollars, you know, is we reinvest.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Back in the credit Union to be able to invest
back out in products to our members and to the community.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So we give about a little over a.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Million dollars a year to over four hundred worthy organizations
across the state.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And that's just one pillar.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We also eight years ago established a charitable foundation, the
Navigant Credit Union Charitable Foundation, and we funded.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
That with our earnings and invest.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
In and we've now got a ten million dollar fund
we're very proud of.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And what we do with that is we've to.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Date distributed one point four million dollars out into the community.
And we have different areas of focus, certainly food insecurity,
housing of course, inventory is tight everywhere, especially here, and
mental health is a focus. So we want to try
to make a significant impact, and we partner all across
(10:01):
the state of Rhode Island.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
And that's the best part of the job. And I
don't do it alone.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
It's the entire culture, right it's it's it's another program
and we allow the employees to select something that's near
and dear to their heart. They get to wear jeans
on Friday, so it's kind of a cool way. They
give five bucks and then at the end of the
month we aggregate those dollars and let the employee choose
a different cause. So a lot of different facets of
(10:28):
philanthropy and community giving, and so that hopefully, you know,
tells a little bit of the story about who we are.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Awesome for somebody interested in working at navagain, what can
they expect?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Oh, well, you know, I'm proud of that.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
You know, the accolades are great, and so we've been
recognized nationally by Newsweek with a five star rating.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Why is that important?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
It's unsolicited, it's objective. They look at many different metrics
that sort of cross every department with in the credit Union,
and so that sort of gives you an inside look
at the type of people that we have working here.
The number one thing is about the people, because we
take really good care of our employees, highly competitive benefits, pay,
(11:15):
but moreover, it's just a really family atmosphere and fun culture.
We look out for one another and we've been raided
the best place to work several years in a row
from the pro Joe in PBN. So those are the
things that sort of tell you objectively from the outside we've.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Got something right.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And I think The story for me is when I
joined like about sixteen years ago and everybody went around
the room, the tenure was it blew me away because
you don't see that in today's day and age. Right,
I've been here twenty five years, thirty years, thirty five years,
ten years, so the retention tells the story as well.
(11:56):
And you know, and we're growing, so we're always looking
for high performers and talented individuals that are like minded
in terms of our mission and community.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
For sure, where can people find out more about navigating
credit unions?
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So that's great.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
We have a website navigantcu dot org, or you can
stop by any one of our twenty six branches. We
also have a digital branch that you can call so
and we have a really cool app that you can
also live chat.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Us if you want to talk to us.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
So many different ways to get a hold of us.
And I encourage you because we've got openings right now.
As we've grown, we've added three new departments a new
branch recently, so we're looking for talented people for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Amazing. Well, thank you for all you do for the
Rhode Island community and all that you guys do in general.
For the banking community in Rhode Island as well. Kathy Orvitz,
President and CEO Navigating Credit Union, thank you for being
our CEO. You should know this week.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Adam, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It was my privilege.