Adam Brice has an affinity for lending.

When he joined EFCU Financial in Baton Rouge, La., in 2009 as an indirect underwriter, the department struggled to fund $4 million in auto loans each month.

Today, with Brice at the helm as senior vice president of lending, the credit union funds $25 million to $30 million in auto loans each month.

The trick was making the “strategic move to go into underserved areas in the state and sign up new dealerships where a credit union presence was lacking,” he says. “We focused on these communities using our strategy of superior pricing, superior service, and superior products.”

“Adam and his team have expanded our dealer relationships to 75 by adding 30 new dealerships,” says Tyler Grodi, CEO at the $904 million asset credit union.

With so many employees working from home, another lending challenge was dealing with the impacts of COVID-19. “We had to quickly figure out ways to do things—for example, becoming paperless by implementing e-contracts with our dealerships in a short period of time,” says Brice.

But the rapid changes have made the credit union more efficient. “Meeting those challenges as a team made us better and stronger together than we were before,” he says.

Growing the mortgage and indirect lending portfolios while remaining efficient with staffing is a huge feat.

He’s done this while keeping delinquency rates among the state’s lowest, adds Grodi. “Adam does all this by focusing on innovation and efficiency, and he never asks his staff to do anything he would not do himself.”

Each day, Brice’s goal is to ensure his staff has everything they need to make their jobs as easy and smooth as possible. “They make our successes possible,” he says.

This includes using technologies younger generations prefer.

“This helps us provide the community with great rates, great service, and new, inventive products to meet their financial needs,” Brice says.

Providing a loan can be a life-changing event that transforms hopes and dreams into reality.

“Helping people is a special feeling,” he says. “I’ve learned that if you have a chance to help someone, do it. You never know what’s going on in someone’s life, and even the smallest gesture can make a big difference.”