Calm, cool, and collected

At $776 million asset VSECU in Montpelier, Vt., Josh Chouinard is something of a legend.

His colleagues describe him as “efficient, knowledgeable, and intuitive.” He’s always on time. And he can be depended upon to stay cool in the most challenging of environments—a busy call center.

As a senior contact center consultant, he answers phone calls that range from straightforward funds transfers to tricky loan-related questions.

“I have to assist frustrated or angry members that other consultants are asked to transfer. I have to assist members with a multitude of card-related issues, either debit or credit,” he says.

He’s famous for his ability to spot fraud attempts. As one nominator shares, “We were recently the target of an organized fraud attempt, and Josh was amazing—not just in his ability to recognize the attempted fraudsters, but to share insights, information, and helpful tips with his colleagues so they were prepared to protect our members.”

In this event, Chouinard noticed that multiple members were calling in to activate their cards for Apple Pay, which is rare at VSECU.

“As we are a small call center, I was able to overhear the other conversations and then picked up on the phone number that was calling in, so we were ultimately able to stop the fraudsters from obtaining member information on multiple occurrences,” he says.

Although he “really enjoys being busy,” Chouinard needs downtime too.

“I like to fish,” he says. “I go just about every day after work and sometimes during work if I have an extended lunch break.” He also loves spending time outdoors with his fiancee, Katlyn.

Although he’s in one of the more stressful sectors of the credit union industry, Chouinard feels fortunate to be part of a force for positive change.

“I really feel like what we do makes a difference to the community,” he says. “It’s a good feeling to know that I have the ability to help members with more than their banking needs.”