ORLANDO, Fla. A credit union that turned $300,000 in losses into a $1 million net gain has drawn the attention of two interested parties: NCUA, and attendees at Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show here.
How Pioneer West Virginia FCU in Charleston was able to pull itself out of a tailspin in 2009-2010 by making some dramatic changes was the subject of remarks and insights shared by Dan McGowan, SVP/CFO with the CU. McGowan, along with CEO Dana Rawlings, joined the credit union in 2010 and has helped turn around a credit union where not just the financials were embarrassing, but employees were embarrassed to wear the credit union’s own logo wear in pubic.
As McGowan shared with Grow Show, it did so:
By creating a new metrics system that lets it know each day where it stands in key performance categories.
With a rebuilt new brand.
By shoring up delinquencies.
By adding creative, new lending products, such as a 10-year first mortgage.
And key to all, by flipping the internal culture by 180 degrees from one that did not value employees to one that sees employees as the credit union’s most valuable asset.
Its growth and the turnaround were sufficient enough to be red-flagged by NCUA, which has since been convinced that the success is legitimate. And McGowan noted another group also has noticed: prospective employees. A recent advertisement for a branch manager’s job drew 10 applications from managers in positions at local banks.
