CUNA Picks Former Congressman As New Chief Executive

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Credit Union National Association announced Tuesday it has picked Jim Nussle, a former eight-term congressman and director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, as the trade group's new president and CEO.

Nussle, 54, will start his new job in the next few weeks, according to CUNA. He replaces Bill Cheney, who left the top spot in June after four years in the position to run $10.2 billion SchoolsFirst FCU in Santa Ana, Calif.

Bill Hampel, CUNA's SVP of research and policy analysis and chief economist, has been serving as interim president/CEO of the trade group.

Nussle said he is excited to take over the reins at CUNA.

"I have witnessed first-hand the enthusiastic advocacy of the nation's nearly 7,000 credit unions and I look forward to working with them to ensure the credit union message and policy priorities are clearly understood in Washington and nationwide," Nussle said in a statement. "At a time when trustworthiness is at a premium, the individuals who make up the more than 100 million memberships at credit unions trust their credit unions to provide them, their families and their small businesses with the financial services they expect and need."

CUNA Chairman Dennis Pierce described the CEO search as " exhaustive," adding that nearly 100 "highly qualified" candidates were considered.

Nussle served as a Republican representative for Iowa's 1^st and 2^nd congressional districts between 1991 and 2007. He also served as chairman of the House Budget Committee for five years.

In 2007 President George W. Bush appointed Nussle director of the Office of Management, a position he held for two years.

He is a member of the founding board of Growth Energy, a trade association of renewable energy companies and industry partners, and was named president and COO of the group in late 2010. Nussle is also the founder of The Nussle Group, a public affairs and strategic consulting firm.

An Iowa native, Nussle received a degree in political science from Luther College and a law degree from Drake University. Nussle and his wife, Karen, have two adult children.

"Jim's selection as our CEO follows a comprehensive search process that began earlier this year," said Susan Streifel, chair of the CUNA Board's executive search committee and vice chair of the CUNA Board. "We are thrilled to welcome Jim to CUNA and believe his experience at the highest levels of Congress and the federal executive branch, as well as his time in association leadership, positions him well to lead our association and represent our members," she said.

This was not the first time Nussle has been considered for the CUNA top spot. Four years ago when the trade group was looking for a successor to Dan Mica, Nussle was reportedly on the final list of candidates.

Earlier this month, CUNA created a 12-member task force comprised of credit union leaders — including CU CEOs, state league presidents, a volunteer at a credit union and a CEO who represents a credit union not affiliated with CUNA — to study the trade group's structure and governance.