LAS VEGAS-The board of directors at 1st Community FCU wanted to surprise chief executive Bill Nikolauk with the news he had been named CEO of the Year for credit unions with under $250 million by NAFCU.
However, because Nikolauk had a busy July planned around his son's sports, the directors at the San Angelo, Texas-based institution had to break down and tell him the secret.
"I was in total shock when I found out I won," Nikolauk told Credit Union Journal at the trade group's Annual Conference here last week. "My board chairman and secretary put me in for it. They told me I needed to go to the NAFCU Conference but I said it was a bad time of year. My son is on several sports teams and I am his coach and haul him around.
"Then they had to tell me why I needed to go." His son understood and actually wanted to tag along on the trip to Glitter Gulch, Nikolauk added with a laugh.
NAFCU noted San Angelo is "a little bit off the beaten path," as no major highway goes through or to the city in an area known as West Texas, between Abilene and San Antonio.
Nikolauk helped convince NCUA to expand its definition of "rural district," which allowed $211 million 1st Community to expand services to an additional 11 rural counties and open a new branch in Midland.
"Other credit unions had tried this before and NCUA turned them down," Nikolauk said. "The argument we were finally able to make was in West Texas the population density is not the same as in New York or Washington."
Under difficult economic conditions, 1st Community was able to generate strong asset growth, loan growth and share growth. This, combined with a low delinquency rate, earned the CU a five-star rating - the highest assigned - from Bauer Financial, and has it positioned for "great things going forward," according to NAFCU.
Another factor that led to Nikolauk winning the award was his CU's involvement in a variety of community initiatives, including the Donate Educational Supplies for Kids (DESK) program. In partnership with a local McDonald's, 1st Community provided $66,000 and more than 100 cases of supplies for needy children in the San Angelo school system last year.
Donated Turf
Nikolauk said another community involvement project helped catch NAFCU's eye: 1st Community donated turf to Angelo State University, a local school that plays football at the Division II level. Although the university was founded in 1928, it has never played a home game on its campus - having to go to local high school stadiums.
Between the playing surface from the CU and other donations to build a stadium, college football will come to Angelo State this September.
"The DESK program is really something," he said. "Between golf tournaments, auctions at our branches and other fund drives, we raise $60,000 to $80,000 each year. And without us, there are a lot of kids that would not have any school supplies."
Asked what is next for him and for 1st Community, Nikolauk said, "We always find something to do. We look for anything that is outside of the norm."
