Jim Luce, Marine Credit Union (MCU) Senior Business Development Officer, said he “looks to partner with different companies in our community to help find people who need our assistance and guidance.” Born and raised in the Des Moines, IA area, Jim has been working for MCU since June of 2020. He said he wasn’t familiar with credit unions but once he started working for MCU, he said, “I knew the company I wanted to be in.” Jim said that with MCU he found “an opportunity to do something far greater than myself and have it be something more than just earning a paycheck. I want to impact others’ lives in a positive manner.”
Jim said that working for MCU, for him, has been unlike any other sales position. “I’ve always been in sales,” Jim said sharing that even at 15 years of age, he remembers selling tickets for a children’s variety show and selling magazines to help raise funds. “And, I have always had a giving heart. I never tried to tie it to my work. As I matured, I started thinking about my employment and jobs and how to get greater satisfaction out of my job, other than just a paycheck.” Jim said coming to MCU “hit” the mark for him being able to “make a living and, at the same time, help others who need my assistance and expertise.”
In his job, Jim explained that he helps MCU business partners with their customers who need financing. “Helping others financially is not an opportunity others get every day.” He said it is important to him to help others as part of his own growth and recognizing what other people are going through.
“It’s a culmination of things,” he said of where he gets the heart to help others. “I was brought up being encouraged to care. It impacted me greatly … seeing my parents’ ability to recognize opportunities to help others. They always had caring hearts.” He added that coming from a family with seven other children, there were many opportunities between his brothers and sisters to help each other too!
Jim said he is happy to be working for a company that has programs to help members, even when they aren’t able to approve them for a loan. He said, “It’s always a win-win situation. We can put them on a path to success when we can put them on a stronger and better financial path. There is that moment you find out a loan has been denied, but at the same time we are still able to help that member,” he added. “It’s not all rose-colored glasses all the time. It’s always about pulling yourself back and seeing the big picture and putting things into perspective.”
Jim has been married for the past 24 years and has two children, Baily and George. “What’s important to me, is family.” His family, Jim shared, is what inspires him. “My family inspires me to get up every day and have something more important that just money.”
Jim said it’s also “easier to get out of bed … when you are doing something you are passionate about.” He shared that other companies he has worked for had good intentions, but at MCU the mission really motivates him. “When I first started, if we were not giving out a loan,” he asked, “how are we really helping?” He said he learned that when they were told no, members were put on a path to be in a better spot financially than they were. “That’s a win too,” he added.
Although he said he doesn’t have a lot of personal contact with members, he enjoys building relationships with MCU’s business partners who he believes have the best intentions to provide excellent care to their customers. “I can educate them on the value that MCU brings to their customers. We will treat them the way our business partners expect their customers to be treated.”
