Richard Helber, longtime president and chief executive of Tropical Financial Credit Union in Miramar, Florida, has retired.
The $1 billion-asset credit union announced that Helber, who joined Tropical in 2010 after his roles as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the $2.9 billion-asset GTE Financial in Tampa, Florida, stepped down effective May 1. Helber was succeeded by Rick Shaw, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Tropical, and will remain in an advisory position through the end of the year.
“He guided us through some tough times and put Tropical on a path of growth and innovation, resulting in us recently topping $1.0 billion in assets … he’s leaving us in great financial condition and on a solid course for the future as he moves into retirement,” Rick Wisniewski, board chairman for Tropical, said in a press release Monday.
Helber also held memberships with the National Automated Clearing House Association, the League of Southeastern Credit Unions and the National Credit Union Foundation.
“Leading Tropical has been a highlight of my career … there’s been no better group of people to work with and no better cause to work for than improving the financial lives of our members,” Helber said in the release.
