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Welcome to our second FCCU Team Spotlight blog! This week I met with Rob, our internal auditor. Check it out:

Hi Rob! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how long you’ve been at FCCU?

Hello, my name is Rob Russell and I’ve been here for over 16 years. Wow!

Can you briefly explain what you do here?

I’m the Internal Auditor and Compliance Officer (in my free time). I do lots of different things every day. For example, I review internal controls to make sure we’re in accordance with policies and credit union bylaws. I review employee accounts and loans for fraud. I review Josh’s (pictured below, right) accounting reconciliations… etc.

So, you make sure we’re not doing sketchy stuff? Yes!

Another one of my bigger jobs is to work with the auditors and examiners. In general, I make their job easier when they visit in terms of finding certain files and documents.

What does an average day at FCCU look like for you?

First thing I do is come in and mess around with people. If you’re not familiar with Rob, he’s basically FCCU’s class clown. He keeps the daily grind interesting!

Today I got to watch Karissa (Plastic Cards and Back Office Specialist) take down all of the stuff we did to her cubicle while she was on vacation. We put a tack on every date box on the calendar. Also, she loves when you leave candy wrappers on her desk… We’re lucky she’s such a great sport and laughs it off.

Then I do file maintenance, which involves reviewing address changes, name changes, loan term changes, and the like. Otherwise, every day is different!

Outside of work, what are some of your favorite things to do?

I play in an “old-man” softball league and volleyball league. I also enjoy riding my bike around and cutting the grass. If I have nothing better to do, I enjoy cutting the grass. Otherwise it’s a big chore.

I also like to mess around on the farm. I have chickens and goats, and I have pigs in the summer! What happens to them in the winter? They get eaten in my belly.

I have two girls, so I enjoy spending time with them as well. My younger one is still around to spend time with dad and, my older one is just getting ready to graduate college and go into “the real world.”

What’s your favorite volunteering opportunity you’ve done with FCCU and why?

I probably like Rhythm on the River best. The whole community shows up, so you get to see a lot of people. We [the volunteers] make it a fun night.

This year I had to serve wine and the other volunteers were jokingly criticizing me for pouring wine the wrong way. I won’t be doing that anymore; I’ll go back to beer.

What is your favorite 80s or 90s jam?

Probably Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”

If you could be any animal in the world, which one would you be and why?

I would probably want to be a dog because everyone around here seems to like them a lot. Otherwise, I’d want to be something high on the food chain like a gorilla… or I could just live in a local zoo and have several guaranteed meals per day.

If you won the lottery, what would you do?

I’m a simple man, so I don’t need much.

I’d probably buy my little farmette and a few more animals. If I’m going big, I might buy a vacation home down South and be a snow bird.

I’d also like to buy a new truck because my current one is over 10 years old. I don’t need the bells and whistles—I’d at least like air conditioning, cruise control, and a key fob, all things my current truck doesn’t have.

On a responsible note, I’d pay for my daughters’ college education and save for my own retirement.

What does the “credit union difference” mean to you?

Credit unions still have that “personal touch” that many other financial institutions have lost as they’ve grown over the years.

I think that as FCCU has grown, we’ve maintained that personal touch throughout. Here at Main, you can walk in and Joe (Main Branch Teller) probably knows your name. You can’t get that everywhere, and I think that’s what helps us stand apart.