TUKWILA, Wash. – BECU, the nation’s fourth-largest credit union, announced this afternoon its longtime president Gary Oakland is retiring and will be succeeded by Benson Porter, the former president of First Tech CU.
Oakland has headed BECU, formerly Boeing Employees CU, for the past 25 years and built it into a $10 billion credit union. Oakland joined BECU in 1980 and was named CEO in 1986. He has agreed to remain at BECU and work with Porter through mid-2012 to ensure a smooth transition.
Porter will begin in his new role on April 9, 2012. He returns to Washington after five years serving as president and CEO of First Tech CU in Palo Alto, California. With $5 billion in assets, First Tech, was created by the 2010 combination of First Tech CU and Addison Avenue FCU, the biggest merger ever among credit unions.
Porter brings extensive experience in financial services working for the Washington State Senate Banking Committee and the state’s Division of Banking. He spent another 14 years in increasingly more responsible senior management roles at KeyBank and Washington Mutual, before taking the helm at Addison Avenue FCU, prior to its merger with First Tech FCU.
BECU is an exceptional organization because it puts people first," said Porter. "I look forward to returning home to the Northwest and ensuring we continue BECU's legacy of making a positive difference in the lives of its members, employees, and the communities they serve.”
First Tech said this afternoon that Porter will continue to work with the board and transition day-to-day management by early March to Hank Sigmon, First Tech's chief financial officer, who has been named as interim CEO.
