Jacob Wills recognized as Young Professional of the Year

Mobiloil’s AVP of Branches Jacob Wills earned the Young Professional of the year award during the Young Professionals Conference last week in Austin, Texas.

On receiving the award, Willis said, “I’m honored, especially being with like-minded individuals in the room who really enjoy and have a passion for what we do.”

He added, “The thing for me as a young professional is that I’ve had to realize that not everything is for you. Prior to coming to the credit union movement, I never applied for a job that I didn’t land. And when I got here, there were a couple of things I applied for that I didn’t get. Sometimes I don’t think it’s so much about you, but there’s a bigger picture; other things at play; other things on your path. So, you have to be able to take those things in stride and realize what your niche is. I had a leader who saw that in me before I was able to see that in me. I am grateful.”

An extraordinary leader, manager, innovator, philanthropist, and mentor, Wills started his credit union career as a branch manager, transitioning to the role of floating branch manager, where he traveled to all of his credit union’s branches and assisted with the training and development of new branch managers.

In August 2017, his credit union was devastated by Hurricane Harvey. Countless employees and members faced extreme hardship, and the credit union lost an entire branch to flood waters. Because of his experience with most of the employees, he was asked to come up with a way to have at least one branch in each of the credit union’s counties back up and running the day after the storm, utilizing only a small percentage of normal staff. He also helped ensure the safety of the credit union’s more than 100 retail employees, secured the 10 branch locations from further damage, and created a swift plan to be able to serve members.

These responsibilities led to the creation of a new position: District manager. From there he was promoted to his current role, AVP of branches. As AVP, he is tasked with the development of retail managers and associates, branch expansions, oversight and execution of video servicing for members, and future strategic planning. A major initiative he championed: The implementation of a video banking system, increasing staff productivity, creativity, and collaboration; decreasing member wait times to less than 2 minutes; and improving member satisfaction with surveys averaging 4.8 out of 5.

Wills wants to make an impact. “My goal has always been to make an impact. If I can implement a change that saves our members time; if I can streamline a process that decreases the workload of our employees; if I can nurture and develop my team of managers into the next CEOs, CFOs, and COOs of our organization, then that is how I will measure my success.”

He added, “My goal for the credit union movement throughout my career would be to assist in the cultivation of some of the most effective, impactful leaders in our industry. If there is anything I have learned, it is that alone my reach is minimal; if I can impact others and empower them to do the same, my reach is limitless. It is my belief that by continuing to learn and grow, I will be able to make a greater impact.”

This YP professional is also an active community leader, helping other professionals through his work with Leadership Beaumont and the Southeast Texas Young Professionals Organization.