kent-orem-interview-blog

Interview with ICCU CEO, Kent Oram

Idaho Central Credit Union has recently completed their new five-story, Member Service Center West building in Meridian, Idaho. To learn more about this exciting project and discuss the company’s growth, we interviewed ICCU’s CEO, Kent Oram. Below is the conversation between President of OEC, Scott Galloway, and Kent Oram.

Staying Open For Customers

Scott Galloway 

Thanks so much for carving out a little bit of time with us today. I wanted to start off just talking a little bit about ICCU in general and then talk a little bit about your new Member Service Center West. Tell me a little bit about what ICCU is up to today and maybe upcoming?

Kent Oram 

It has been an interesting year, 2020. During May and April, when branch lobbies were closed, that was a strange time for us. We’ve never done that before. Turns out though, our business has been really good all year long. Mortgage business is strong and auto lending is as strong as it can be with the restrictions on auto manufacturing. Then commercial lending is pretty good. So, a lot of deposit business and a lot of people that put money in their savings accounts. Maybe just kind of waiting a rainy day or something.

So our growth has been super strong during 2021. I thought it would be more of a down year, but it hasn’t been at all. We opened two branches this year and we plan to open four more during 2021. So we’re still betting on the branch model for a while to come in the future. One day maybe we’ll have to decide that we’re going to become a virtual credit union but I don’t see that in the next five to seven years for us. I think that we’ll continue to build branches for a while.

Scott Galloway

I know when other branches and banks were closed, you guys were open. I’ve noticed I can do tele-banking on the phone as well. Is that run out of the data center in Chubbuck?

Kent Oram

Yep. So all those transactions route through our data center in Chubbuck. Sometimes people say it’s better to be lucky than good. We built that data center during 2016-17-18 and kind of moved in, in 19. It has all sorts of electronic firepower. Then, just imagine how wonderful that was to have in March, April, and May when our transaction volume shifted dramatically to electronic. And there we were, with all that horsepower ready to go.

Scott Galloway 

It sure was nice as a customer to be able to have that as an option. And I was happy that the branch remained open. They were kind of the very beginning of the businesses masking up and it was really nice for them to be able to be in business. They [ the branches] just figured out how to do it safely so I know for me as a customer that made a pretty big difference.

Kent Oram 

Yeah, you know, a couple of things. On Tuesday of the 17th of March I said to my team “Over my dead body will we close any of our lobbies.” Then on March 18th at five o’clock it changed to, “Oh, wow, we’ve got to close our lobbies. We don’t know what’s coming.” So, things can change very quickly. With masks we were sort of at the forefront of that. If there are certain areas around cities or counties or health districts that are going to require masks, it’s just easier for us administratively to require masks everywhere in our system. We got some heartburn about that but we just explained to people it’s not for us; it’s not political at all. We’re just trying to stay open so we can help our you take care of your personal financial business.

The Member Service Center West

Scott Galloway 

Tell me a little bit about why you built the Member Service Center West. What important role does that building play within the strategic plan of the organization?

Kent Oram 

We have a big data center and a big corporate presence in Bannock County which is our home. It is our corporate center. We knew we had all sorts of people spread all over the place in different offices in the Treasure Valley and we thought that there’d be some synergies if we could bring those folks together. I had been looking for property to build something like that for quite some time and ran across the property that was owned by the Elks Lodge for a rehabilitation hospital that then did not come to fruition. So, I bought that property, and in cooperation with the BVA and Tommy Ahlquist, and his team, we were able to get our building built there.

It has been something on our horizon for probably five to seven years and I knew one day it would come together. It was probably a couple years quicker than I thought it might but that’s okay. Now we’ve been able to centralize our back office kinds of folks into that building in the Treasure Valley and for us it’s kind of just an outreach for what we do out of our Chubbuck campus. For example, we have 30 or so seats for call center in North Idaho. We have about 130 seats, we could fill here and Chubbuck. Then we have about 100-125 maybe at our new building in Meridian. As we continue to grow, we’ll stop hiring as many folks in Chubbuck and start hiring more folks in Treasure Valley, and kind of balance all that out.

So that’s one of the primary reasons that we built it, partially for a call center outreach. Then we brought together our mortgage teams and our private client teams, our investment teams, business, deposits, and commercial lending. A lot of people who were spread all over the place are now centralized in that building.

Scott Galloway 

Well, it sure is a beautiful building. And what I like about it is it’s visibility from the freeway. It has to be one of the most popular intersections in Idaho. That must be nice to have such a significant building right there.

Kent Oram 

Absolutely, and this is how it worked. Idaho Central is the entity that purchased that property and I’m the guy who found it. I was able to walk out there with a couple of stakes and drive them in the ground and say, “Here’s where I want my building,” and then say to Tommy Ahlquist, and his BVA team, “Okay, you can have everything else.” So, we did choose a very prominent location for our property.

Scott Galloway 

Are you going to have any other tenants in there or is ICCU going to take up the entire building?

Kent Oram 

We have a tenant comp unit being built out right now and a couple more that will be moving in. Our intent is to lease about half of it.

Scott Galloway 

Can you talk to me a little bit about some of the partners that you worked with? It sounds like BVA was key and kind of made everything happen once you turned it over to them. What was the importance of them in the relationship?

Kent Oram 

So, a person I should lead off with is someone on our Idaho Central Crediting Union building team that puts together our new project, Dustee Woolstenhulme. He does a tremendous job, and we really appreciate him. He was instrumental in this building. BVA, especially Tom Ahlquist senior who is their construction coordinator, and everybody behind the scenes to assist him did a great job of controlling and expediting this building for us. Okland Construction was the general contractor and Ryan Johnson was their lead. Then I don’t even know how many subcontractors would have been involved in that building, probably a couple hundred. Then there was OEC and Steelcase that helped us put all the interiors together. It was a nice project and a lot of partners.

Poised For Growth Again

Scott Galloway 

Yeah, great project. And it’s nice to have good partners to work with. Do you have any other buildings coming online that you’re excited about? Or any other news that’s happening at ICCU in the next year or so?

Kent Oram 

We just opened a branch in Moscow, Idaho. And that’s a fun one for us. It’s a new spot. So we’re excited about that one. We’re going to build a branch in Lewiston this summer, and we just broke ground on one at Ten Mile and Franklin there in Meridian. We will also replace a branch of ours here in Pocatello, Idaho. So yeah, we’ve got some things on tap.

Scott Galloway 

Very exciting. So four branches coming. Three brand new ones, then one completely refreshed one?

Kent Oram 

That’s right. The completely refreshed one is actually where we’re going to sell the property we are in right now and build across the street from it.

Scott Galloway 

For the ICCU Member Service Center West building about how long did it take from the moment you purchased the property to when the building was open.

Kent Oram 

I would say from purchase to open is probably 24-26 months. I had thought that it would be about an 18-to-24-month entitlement process to get the property ready to build. But through the work of BVA they were able to expedite all that. And then Okland Construction built the building in right about 12 months. So that’s why I say we’re at least a year quicker than I thought we would be, maybe even more.

Scott Galloway 

So that came together quickly.

Kent Oram 

Very quickly. As we were building our data center, we sent a team of ours to the Steelcase headquarters [in Michigan] and they were able to look at all sorts of innovative and exciting and fun things with different setups. We’ve incorporated a lot of that into not only our data center building [in Chubbuck], but also the Member Center West.

Scott Galloway 

I recall the ICCU data center has a wall system that is soundproof that they do their tele banking in. There are huge banks that are made of state of the art material that when you close the door, it seals and makes for a great environment where you can have a ton of these tele-bankers. Then you can move them if you needed to.

Kent Oram 

Yeah, I always like to go into those walls, they’re good. And, you know, interestingly, you bring those up, we had about 20, maybe 24 of those here on our campus, and we were going to build some in Meridian, and doubled what we were going to do. Then COVID came and our video banking started taking off like crazy because it’s easy to do but you can still see a face. So, we really pushed the video banking hard for the last two and a half years. It was stable, but not growing rapidly. Then all of a sudden, 2020 hit, and now we’re doing phenomenally well in those areas.

Scott Galloway 

Has that enabled new opportunities for ICCU going forward?

Kent Oram 

For sure, we can push out mortgage advice or business advice through them and reach people anywhere. In Idaho, I call them ‘banking deserts’ where people [banks] have left or have never even been there. So we’re able to reach out now to our more rural communities through technology. It’s going to be perfect.

Scott Galloway 

I like the idea of you being able to open up a virtual branch anywhere because they can connect, deposit checks, and take care of all of your banking needs. You can pretty much do everything with maybe the exception of depositing cash.

Kent Oram 

We have a commercial and billboard ad running right now that says, “Your nearest branch is in your pocket.” and we mean that. There’s a lot of people that just do that now. They don’t ever come and visit us.

Scott Galloway 

I know we talked about how business has been going well. Have your customers numbers gone up this year?

Kent Oram 

Yeah, we’re growing at about 11% membership growth. At our size 420,000 members, 11%, is another 40,000 people so that’s good. We’ve done really well this year.

Scott Galloway 

What type of growth do you have in the rural areas?

Kent Oram 

I would say that’s still slower. Most of the growth is happening in the markets where we’re established. I would have to say a lot of the growth is happening in the Treasure Valley with the end migration of folks that are coming to Idaho, and a lot of them are coming to the Boise area. That’s still the majority of our growth.

Scott Galloway 

Well, I’m excited to see the bigger ICCU presence here in Boise. I think there is a lot of growth happening here and it’s exciting to see the project. I love to drive down the freeway and see new building projects. Congratulations on the new building and all your new buildings.

Kent Oram  Thank you. We used to joke in the olden days, “Idaho Central is poised for growth.” Then we grew and we basically ran out of room. Now when we built the Member Service Center West and I walked through it, it’s like, “Ah, we’re poised for growth again.” We’re excited to have that facility and we are really grateful for everything you did for us and putting that together. It is a beautiful workspace and I can’t wait to get to see it in person now with our people in it.

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CTP-Blog

Children’s Therapy Place

Children’s Therapy Place provides a variety of therapy services to children of all ages. We interviewed the owner to learn more about the business and how furniture is important to the space. In CTP’s new Boise office, OEC helped create a welcoming environment for staff and clients. See the full photo album today!

4 tips blog

4 Tips To Make Your Workplace Safe For Employees

At OEC, we are in the business of creating amazing spaces that help companies attract and retain talent. That looks different for each business with whom we work. Throw in the unexpected changes brought in by COVID and those differences become even more pronounced. Now employers have to work harder to create a place where their employees can not only be in-person safely but also flourish. To get four tips for creating safer spaces, we sat down with OEC’s Director of Design, Jenn Galloway, to share how OEC has been able to create such spaces.

Four Tips-Sanitation-Station

1. SANITATION

OEC’s initial response when COVID hit was to send a lot of people home. However, we quickly realized that we work better when we can collaborate as a team, so we needed to get our employees back to the office. One of the first significant changes we made was to set up sanitation stations throughout the office with Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, and thermometers.

We focused on placing these stations in highly trafficked areas first. One such place we wanted them to be readily available was in our conference rooms. We discovered early on that if it is not easy and accessible, then as the user exits a room, they often will not take the time to find cleaning supplies and come back to clean the space. So, making those supplies readily available was important.

We also asked our employees to keep a closer tab on how they were feeling. If they were not feeling well, even if it was not necessarily COVID symptoms, or they think they may have already had it, stay home until you feel better.

Four Tips-Desk Rendering

2. RECONFIGURE SPACES

For those who can, there are options to turn people around and put screens between them. We recently did an exercise for a client who has 50 offices throughout the US. They asked us to create a design for their offices moving forward that is COVID. It was an enjoyable design to do. We had a lot of creative and unique ideas to have space division and dividers, including how to face people in the office.

There is a delicate balance because people still do not love the idea of really high panels and enclosed spaces. As much of a reality that COVID is, it is not a look that offices are embracing. So, the Open Office is still very relevant with a couple of changes. The goal is to place people so that they are not breathing on each other all day. We want to keep that open field but be healthy.

One of the ways we do that is by facing desks in different directions. For some, this is not always an easy fix to turn someone around. In some cases, they may suddenly be facing a walkway. There are only so many parts of a room you can direct people where they may not have someone walking by them. However, if possible it is a great option.

Four Tips-Screens & Panels

3. SCREENS & PANELS

There are all sorts of ways you can do screens. It does not have to be the Plexiglas that you see at the grocery store. We have some fabric screens that are magnetic that you can move around, and they are about 70 inches tall. Glass screens are nice because they still allow light to filter. That way, you can keep that open feel, without it being the dark cubicle farm that you see in call centers. You can also bring in various fabrics and do fun colors to reflect your culture by picking splashes and pops of color. You can even create division with plant walls.

Additionally, you can put retrofit screens on top of your existing panels to bring up the height. Recently, there has been such a push for open offices that now, all of a sudden, people do not feel safe with all the open office. Using screens can help mitigate that anxiety.

ancillary-space

4. LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY

While everyone would love to utilize our real estate differently, face out, and have room to move around, the reality is that spreading out is often not an option. You can try to create space for everyone to have their designated workspace so that there is always a minimum of six feet around them. When that space is not available, you can look into using screens.

The occupancy of conference rooms, for example, is something to consider. If you have a conference room that could fit 10, reduce that number to five, or even three. That is an easy thing to fix,  especially if you can video conference. It is not uncommon to have a meeting where someone is video conferencing so that you can keep the number in your conference room smaller. If you ultimately do not have the space available, you might consider having some of your workforce work from home. Using a rotating schedule where employees are in the office some days and at home on others can be extremely helpful.

At OEC, we are optimistic about the future. While we expect working from home is here to stay, we believe people will truly appreciate bringing a team together and emphasize the importance of doing so in a physically and mentally healthy space.

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wfh-blog

How To Work From Home… Without Going Crazy

Over the last several months, millions of Americans have been forced to adapt to many changes. For many, working from home has been among those changes. With this shift happening overnight, some were faced with the sudden need to stay productive for work and balance the responsibility of educating children. Parents have found themselves tucking into random spaces. Closets, spare rooms, garages, and even the backs of cars, all help employees find a quiet, peaceful environment. Many have also embraced their ingenuity. There are desks made of buffet tables, vanities, and laughably, the plethora of Amazon boxes accumulated during quarantine.

While quick thinking and imagination helped with the transition, few were prepared for the toll that working from home, often in isolation, would take on employees. After almost a year of this drastic shift in our workforce, OEC asked how so many employees work from home without going crazy? Here is what we discovered.

Nicole’s Solution

Before coming to OEC, our new digital marketing manager, Nicole Horton, was working from home for eight months. She worked in a small, spare bedroom with her husband to be close to the internet. Talk about going crazy! However, what Nicole and her husband did was unique. They started a weight loss competition with friends to see who could get the most steps. Weight loss and steps earned points and whoever got the most points won. The contest encouraged them to spend time outside during breaks and after work.

Looking to add variety to their walks, they eventually explored the entire Boise greenbelt.

“Normally we would be traveling whenever possible. So being stuck in the state forced us to become tourists in our own city. Discovering the greenbelt one 3-mile section at a time was exciting. It made us deeply appreciate where we live so much more.”

Spending so much time outside not only helped their mental state but was also kind to their waistline. Additionally, the competition helped them feel connected to their friends despite being hundreds of miles apart.

Michelle’s Solution

Similarly, OEC’s workplace consultant of over four years, Michelle Giudice, also turned to exercise. When Michelle was sent home in March, she and her husband had to balance work and raising their two-year-old daughter. Not wanting to send her back to daycare with so much uncertainty, they quickly adjusted to this new dynamic. With only one height adjustable desk upstairs, the couple had to debate who had the more important work that day. Whoever won would work at the desk while the other got the kitchen table and baby duty.

Needless to say, getting outside for an hour each day was a welcome change. During the two hours her daughter was napping, Michelle would step out of her house and onto the greenbelt. For the next 55 minutes she would run a total of five miles. When she returned, her husband would trade places and run as well. The time outdoors and away from work did wonders to keep her sane. In other moments, Michelle would take her two large dogs outside for some exercise.

“I needed to get air. Being here [in the office] is nice because you can get up and talk to friends and mess around a little bit. But when you’re stuck at home, working on Teams, it’s so different. So, I needed to get outside, and that’s when I picked up running.”

Michelle Guidice

Mark’s Solution

Mark Heazle from Lombard Conrad had a different approach.  When he sent his employees home, Mark and his partners found that the most significant thing they could do was simply to check in with them.

“I feel like we have all lost our minds at some point during this year. Being locked inside with kids while you are trying to teach them and work is not the easiest thing.”

That is why their team made a quick decision to implement programs like Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Teams. These programs allowed them to talk to and collaborate with their employees. In this way, they could shift and react to the changing environment while maintaining a meaningful connection with everyone in their firm.        

working-from-home-mark-heazle
Mark Heazle – Partner at Lombard Conrad

Through this change, Lombard Conrad discovered how easy it was to trust their staff.

“What this has shown us is we don’t need to keep our finger on the pulse of where everyone is in the office. They are self-motivated, and it is incredibly impressive how professional everyone is.”

The same is true at OEC. Our employees understand that life goes on and jobs need to get done. They step up to the challenge every day. All they need is a continued connection to their team to help them stay motivated.

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look inside iccu blog

A Look Inside ICCU

The new ICCU Member Service Center West is a beautiful, 5-story building prominently set within the Eagle Landing Development. With full glass walls, the building enjoys panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. With such a beautiful location, it is only right that the furniture in the space be of the highest quality. 

Coupled with excellent interior design by Lombard Conrad, OEC’s furniture perfectly completes the space. We forsee this space being one that employees will love to work in for years to come.

Poised for growth blog

Poised For Growth Again

When ICCU began serving its community in Boise, Idaho, as a small, state-chartered credit union, it had only 22 members and $300 in assets. Since then, ICCU boasts more than 400,000 members, holds over $6 billion in assets throughout Washington and Idaho, and advertises, “Your nearest branch in your pocket.” It is safe to say that the company has had to deal with growth more than once. With a data center in Chubbuck, a Member Service Center North in Coeur D Alene, and employees scattered throughout the Treasure Valley, it was time for ICCU to grow again. This time, it would plant roots in Meridian.

Property & Partners

CEO Kent Oram had been keeping an eye out for the right property for years. When the property became available, Oram walked the land and marked out where he wanted the building to go. Working very closely with Ball Ventures Ahlquist (BVA) and Tommy Ahlquist, ICCU turned the building into a reality. In 24-26 short months, ICCU went from purchasing the property to opening its doors. Between BVA’s work to expedite the entitlement process and Okland Construction’s exceptional speed, they completed the Member service Center West a year sooner than anticipated.

ICCU Workspaces

A Community Focus

For a bank dedicated to taking care of its clients, the project’s speed will be instrumental in its future growth. The building stands today at five stories tall and is in the Eagle View Landing development. It sits prominently next to the freeway and has an excellent view of the Boise foothills. While ICCU built the entirety of the space, it will share the building with other tenants. That is where the architects of the project, Lombard Conrad, really made this new building special.

Their goal all along was to represent the owner [ICCU] through the architecture. They also knew that ICCU would only be taking over about half of the building. So, they needed to represent ICCU and future tenants. One such space is the plaza area outside the building. It provides a place for tenants to gather outdoors and relax. The Plaza is also the perfect example of what it looks like to build a financial institution that not only values its community but is here for the long term.

“What I really like about working with ICCU is that they value the community that they go into. They are building financial institutions that are there for the long term and it shows.” – Mark Heazle, partner at Lombard Conrad

ICCU Training Room

Growing Together

There are also many exciting spaces within the ICCU offices. Floor to ceiling glass walls and doors span extensively throughout the executive offices. They provide both natural light and incredible views. Soundproof wall systems create privacy for telebanking operators who interact with clients virtually. Meanwhile, training rooms help employees grow their knowledge while various break rooms and ancillary spaces provide opportunities to interact. The building that was once on the horizon for ICCU now brings together teams from around the Treasure Valley. These teams specialize in mortgage and commercial lending, private client accounts, investments, business, and deposits. In the past, the executive team used to joke that they were poised for growth. After years of steady growth throughout Idaho and surrounding states, ICCU had nearly run out of room. However, after walking through the new Member Service Center West, CEO Kent Oram can confidently say, “We’re poised for growth again.”

See the full photo album today!

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message from pres blog

Message From The President

president-scott-galloway

January 2021 Edition

When I sold my talent development company in 2018, my brother started asking me if I was ready to come work with him in the “furniture business.” At first, I smiled and politely declined. After the 7th or 8th time he brought it up, I agreed to have a discussion to consider it. Two years later, I find myself in the president role of a company that (as I have learned) does much more than provide office furniture. We build spaces employees love to work in. When you consider how important recruiting and retaining talent is to nearly every organization that exists, you can get a sense of the key role furniture can play in the process. In 2021, this key role has become even more important because now the office space is competing with the home remote-work experience. As many of us executives have seen, some employees like and even prefer working from home. The problem is, it’s really hard to build and grow a positive and lasting company culture while staring at your employees and coworkers through a webcam. I’m a firm believer that company culture isn’t built over zoom calls. But rather, great culture is built with intentional effort in the time between zoom calls—when employees have time to work and solve problems together, make friends, struggle, succeed, and have shared human experiences together in spaces that are built for the purpose.  

Scott Galloway

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SPACES-announcement-header

Introducing SPACES

OEC’s New Publication Featuring Original Content

We are excited to announce the release of SPACES, a new publication by OEC. SPACES is a collection of original content produced by OEC. The publication includes featured photos, industry news and advice articles, and most importantly, highlights of people and new projects. SPACES will be released every two months with new and original content focusing on commercial projects happening in the Northwest.

We will be releasing additional SPACES content through our social medias (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.) and weekly on our blog. Get an in depth look at SPACES by reading interviews with the business owners, project managers, architects, agents, and more. Watch our videos to catch a behind-the-scenes glimpse into projects both complete and under construction.

Check out the First Edition

Check out the February Edition

In the first edition of SPACES you will see:

  • Featured photos from various projects around the area
  • A project highlight for the new ICCU Member Service Center West
    • A sneak peak inside the new 5 story ICCU building
    • A Q&A with ICCU CEO, Kent Orem
    • An interview with the ICCU architect, Mark Heazle, of Lombard Conrad
  • A company highlight for Cole Architects, designers of the Ronald McDonald House in Boise, and the new PETIQ building in Eagle
    • An interview with the owner of Cole Architects, Matt Huffield
    • A sneak peak of the new PETIQ building in Eagle
  • Advice on how to work from home without going crazy
  • 4 tips to make your workplace safe for employees

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