NEWARK, Ohio -
"It's been a long period of quiet, steady growth," says Longstreth, who turned 65 two days before his retirement. "It's not a very exciting story."
But when it comes to serving credit union members, steady growth with no surprises can be one of the better recipes for success, something Longstreth discovered in almost 22 years of service to $100-million Fiberglas FCU, founded in 1940 to serve employees of Owens Corning. Longstreth, who turned the leadership reins over to Jay Young earlier this month, leaves with no regrets, he says, and a significant track record of success.
"It's just a matter of going in every day and doing your job," Longstreth said. "It's gratifying to look back and see what the credit union has accomplished."
Longstreth was an employee of what is now Rockwell Automation in the 1970s when he was first introduced to credit unions, helping form the industrial facility's first credit union serving employees of its Heath, Ohio plant. "We ran the credit union out of toolboxes, just like a lot of early institutions," Longstreth said.
In 1978, he left Rockwell and joined the staff of fledgling Heath Rockwell Credit Union. In 1985, he was hired as loan officer at Fiberglas FCU in neighboring Newark, Ohio. He moved on to vice president of lending in 1988, eventually being named CEO in 1994.
When Longstreth, a Crooksville, Ohio native, joined Fiberglas FCU in 1985, the credit union served only Owens Corning employees and their families. In 1987, an unsuccessful takeover attempt of the insulation manufacturer by Wickes Corp. jarred the credit union out its complacency, leading it to consider expanding its field of membership to include select employee groups.
"At the time the board and many staff weren't interested in expanding to include SEGs, but we realized that if we wanted to add more services, we'd have to expand our membership base and adding SEGs was the way to that," Longstreth remembered.
Fiberglas FCU changed its charter and that's when credit union growth really began taking off, the retiring CEO said. Services expanded and so did the membership base. The credit union now serves 150 SEGs representing more than 18,000 members, more than double the credit union's membership of 8,600 when Longstreth took over as CEO. Assets almost tripled to $100 million from $38 million during his tenure.
Fiberglas FCU now operates from four branches, including one in neighboring Heath that gives the credit union access to most if not all 50,000 citizens in the Newark-Heath area, Longstreth said. The credit union wasn't without its growing pains, but none significant enough to stall or even slow its progress.
"I've always had boards willing to consider my ideas, as well as present their own," he said. "That's helped a great deal in our growth process."
Fiberglas CU will continue to look for ways to expand its market and better serve members, with Longstreth operating in an advisory capacity to the supervisory committee, at least in the near future. Longstreth and his wife Paula also plan to spend September touring Alaska, a state he never quite made it to while attending many credit union industry conferences, leaving the credit union to the capable staff he helped build over the last 22 years.
"It's gratifying to look back and see such a talented staff engaged and enjoying their jobs," Longstreth said, adding that capability is key to slow, steady growth.
