LAS VEGAS -

Karen Nelson’s career as a collector began while she was earning money for her tuition to attend Old Dominion University. Nelson worked her way through school by handling the day-in, day-out chores of a collector and graduated with a degree in finance.

And now more than two decades later, Nelson remains in the collections business and she loves it.

“I never left the business,” Nelson said with a chuckle. “It was an interesting job originally. I just kept moving forward with it. It’s a very challenging industry, and I like that about it. It’s been a lot of learning about the various segments of the industry.

“It takes a certain person to say that they like collections, recoveries and those type of things, but that’s really what it is,” she continued.

Not only does Nelson enjoy the business, but she’s also very good at her job as senior vice president and call center director for Crescent Bank, a Louisiana-based subprime auto finance company. As a result of her performance in the industry, Nelson was named the Re3 Executive of the Year, an honor sponsored by Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems.

“I was very surprised but very appreciative to learn that I had won the award,” Nelson said. “I’ve worked alongside a lot of great people along the way. I really truly enjoy this industry. I love the challenges that it brings. I love the banking and collection industry.”

Nelson joined Crescent Bank in 2003, but it’s been the last five years that have been most eventful as the institution navigated through an increase in delinquencies stemming from the Great Recession of 2008.

“Collections, repossession and recoveries, those industries have experienced a lot of change over the last five years,” Nelson said. “All three of those segments behave very cyclically to begin with, but the long recession period was a very difficult time. You started to see tighter restraints coming out of the lending community in the past few years. That has resulted in delinquencies taking some reduction from those really high recession levels.

“I know vendor management is a key component with our bank as well as other companies, becoming much more involved on who you’re partnering with and how they do things within the industry,” she continued.

“At the end of the day, especially after the last five years, companies have to be able to counter all of these obstacles with Different strategies so they can continue to meet the needs. There’s been a lot of highs and lows over the last five years,” Nelson went on to say.

Crescent Bank was in position to handle the changes in delinquency because the company had someone as passionate about collections as Nelson overseeing that department.

“Leaders from throughout the industry told us how Karen Nelson epitomizes what it means to be a top professional in the repossession, recovery and remarketing industries,” said Bill Zadeits, publisher of SubPrime Auto Finance News and chairman of Used Car Week. “Karen’s leadership has helped Crescent Bank navigate a challenging collections landscape as competitive and regulatory pressures increased.

“It’s an honor to welcome Karen to the Re3 Conference at Used Car Week and have her join Jeff Haynes of BBVA Compass as a winner of the Re3 Executive of the Year Award recipient,” Zadeits continued. “Congratulations go out to Karen and the rest of Crescent Bank team for this accolade.”

Nelson credited the strategy implemented by Crescent Bank for making it possible for her to succeed in her role.

“I believe it all starts in lending. Crescent Bank has a scorecard lending program that has been very competitive in the subprime market. As we’ve grown, collection risk scoring has become very predominant in our collections area. That’s allowed us to basically segment out and prioritize our collections. We’re trying to maximize our efforts and trying to control expenses as well,” Nelson said.

Leveraging the tools Nelson has available certainly caught the attention of Steve Norwood, who is the co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems. Norwood will be presenting the Re3 Executive of the Year award to Nelson during the Re3 Conference at Used Car Week.

“Karen Nelson represents the best of what we look for in an executive of the year,” Norwood said. “As senior vice president at Crescent Bank, Karen is responsible for several aspects of Crescent’s call centers and recovery operations.

“Managing a national portfolio of loans for both prime And subprime markets can be challenging,” he continued. “Karen juggles being a senior executive, team leader and mother to her children with the enormous task of managing a large collection team, numerous contractors and the various regulatory aspects related to collections and the servicing for a large automotive portfolio.

“Her leadership, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking have enabled Crescent Bank and Trust to become a major servicer and originator of loans,” Norwood went on to say. “We could not be prouder of her achievements and wish her continued success along with our congratulations in being recognized as this year’s Re3 Executive of the Year.”

As Norwood mentioned, Nelson also is a parent who is quite involved in her children’s athletic endeavors. Away from the office, Nelson enjoys traveling, especially adventurous outings. Earlier this year, she spent five days white-water rafting through the Grand Canyon.

But what stirs Nelson most is recoveries — and the impact she can have both for her employer and its customers.

“During the recession period, a lot of people went through some very difficult times. Crescent Bank has various ways to help people who encounter difficulties. It’s really good to be able to allow a person to continue on with their automobile loan and offer them ways to assist them when their dealing with periods of unemployment or various things that can happen to people during the life cycle. That’s always a good thing,” Nelson said.

“One of things that I think has helped me along the way is starting as a collector and knowing how that piece of the business works and then moving upward and experiencing the different jobs along the way,” she continued. “I know right now the auto finance industry is experiencing a lot of growth, especially in subprime. I would say to somebody to be informed about all the facets of the industry and understand how each segment effects each other, whether it’s lending or collections or recoveries, they all play an important role in the industry.”