It’s No Rib: Married Couple Running Rival Thrift & Loans, Both in Orange : BANKING/FINANCE

It’s not exactly Tracy and Hepburn as rival lawyers in “Adam’s Rib,” but Barbara J. Jenkins and Richard Hulsizer of Sunset Beach could hardly compete more directly.

Jenkins was recently hired as president and chief executive officer of Franklin Thrift & Loan in Orange. For the past two years, Hulsizer has held the same position at another thrift in Orange, First Security Thrift & Loan.

“We’re competitors, but not at home,” Jenkins said.

“It’s a friendly rivalry,” Hulsizer said.

Jenkins, 45, was senior vice president at Tustin Thrift for three years before joining Franklin. She succeeded William Matthews, whose one-year term as Franklin’s president ended May 31.

Hulsizer, 59, apparently played a small role in helping his wife land the job. One day he received a telephone call from Nathaniel B. Kurnick, who had bought a majority interest in Franklin’s parent company earlier this year.

Kurnick was polling executives at thrifts around the county to solicit recommendations for a candidate to head his institution. Hulsizer quickly suggested that he hire Jenkins.

Both Jenkins and Hulsizer say their bosses are not concerned about conflicts. “It hasn’t been an issue with past employers,” Jenkins said.

Hulsizer noted that their bosses like the idea because neither spouse is likely to complain about the 12-hour days that the other works--they’re both in the same boat.

Jenkins and Hulsizer, married for nearly two years, say their management styles differ. While Hulsizer looks for larger but fewer deposit and loan accounts, for instance, Jenkins wants to attract more accounts regardless of size.

“We usually agree on what needs to be done but not on how to do it,” Jenkins said.

“Actually, it’s a great combination,” Hulsizer said. “It helps us avoid the pitfalls each of us run into, such as bad experiences either of us may have with loans or dealers.

“And we also share the good things--like when a loan is too big for one institution to handle, the other can participate in it,” he said.

Though Jenkins said there may be a downside to their friendly rivalry, she said she hasn’t found it yet.

Part of the reason, she said, might be one of their key rules: “We don’t pick on each other’s companies.”