Bank Switch Pay$ Off for Once-Volunteer CU Directors

TACOMA, Wash. – The once-volunteer directors of Rainier Pacific Financial Group, once known as Rainier Pacific CU, last week reported large increases in compensation for 2006, just three years after taking their former credit union public in an initial stock offering. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Edward Brooks, chairman of the board who headed the credit union conversion, earned $107,654 for his services last year, including $54,432 in restricted stock awards, $28,800 worth of stock options and $21,600 in directors fees, as well as $2,822 in “other” compensation. Other former credit union volunteers who partcipated in the switch to public bank also saw major hikes in compensation last year. They were: Stephen Bader ($63,372); Brian Knutsohn ($63,072); Charles Cuzzetto ($61,822); Alan Somers ($59,322); Alfred Trevelen ($59,172); Robert Combs ($58,922) and Karyn Clarke ($58,322). In the three years since the credit union-convert went public the directors have built up significant financial stakes through their stock holdings, with Brooks accumulating 82,800 shares worth $1.7 million; Bader, Somers, Combs, Knutson and Treleven building stakes of 67,000 shares worth $1.4 million; Cuzzetto 42,000 shares worth almost $900,000; and Clarke 27,000 shares worth $550,000.