USF CU Wins State’s Top Award for Performance

Performance excellence is at the heart of the culture among the 160 employees at USF Credit Union, which was honored this week with Florida’s top award for the way it conducts business.

The Florida Governor’s Sterling Award is reserved exclusively for companies that exhibit excellence in all areas of business and workplace performance. Less than 100 organizations in Florida have earned the award since the Florida Sterling Council was created by the state legislature in 1992. USF CU is only the second credit union to ever win the award.

“We are sincerely honored to have earned this prestigious award,” said USF CU CEO and President Richard J. Skaggs. “Literally every employee at the credit union participated in dozens of process improvement projects to sharpen our performance and operate our organization efficiently and effectively to best serve our members.”

The journey to excellence began more than four years ago when the board and senior management decided to work to achieve the Sterling criteria. The performance excellence projects impacted every department in the credit union. Among the improvements:

• A streamlined lending process that allows members to quickly close auto and consumer loans.
• Changes in the Contact Center to reduce wait times for callers and get answers to member questions without having to transfer the call.
• Reduced mortgage processing times to 30 days or less.
• Installation of a state-of-the-art digital banking platform.

“Credit for these accomplishments and the award goes to each and every employee who worked diligently to improve our performance and who continue to provide world-class service to our members,” Skaggs said.

About the Governor’s Sterling Award

Established in 1992, the Florida Sterling Council is a public/private not-for-profit corporation supported by the Executive Office of the Governor. The Council oversees the Governor’s Sterling Award for Performance Excellence and administers the Georgia Oglethorpe Award. The awards are presented annually by the governor to high-performing, role-model organizations.