TAMPA-After nearly 16 years at the helm of Suncoast Schools FCU here, CEO Tom Dorety is set to receive the 2012 Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Credit Union Foundation. Not bad for a guy who admits he "literally didn't have a clue" what a credit union was when he first interviewed to work at one.
Dorety's first exposure to the world of credit unions came when he abandoned law school after one year in favor of something different. A job placement service set him up with an interview at State Employees CU (SECU) in Raleigh, N.C., and before the interview he visited the library to investigate what a credit union was. He didn't get the job, but kept in touch with SECU and eventually got a position there.
"It took me two years to figure out what the credit union really was," recalled Dorety. "It took me a year to figure out what I was doing. It was my first job out of college. I was just working, making an income, and I got thoroughly engaged in what we were doing. ... All of a sudden I got swept up in the whole concept of not just doing something to help people, but in an organization that meshed with my social values. I got to do something that I thought was both important and enjoyable."
After a series of positions at SECU, Dorety said it was simple ambition that led him to apply to Suncoast Schools in 1988. He accepted the position as SVP of member services-giving up a higher salary and a company car-and moved his family to Tampa.
After eight years, Dorety was promoted to president/CEO, a position he still holds today and has no intention of leaving. Today Suncoast Schools FCU serves more than 520,000 members with nearly $5 billion in assets.
"We've become a dominant regional financial institution in many of our markets along the west coast of Florida," he said, touting Suncoast's expansion from four branches to 50, as well as its contributions to public education, technological innovations and increased community involvement.
Sees Need For Trades To Merge
Dorety's recognition with the Wegner award is hardly his first exposure at the national level of the credit union community. He served as chairman of the Filene Research Institute (during his term, Filene introduced REAL Solutions and the i3 Innovation Hub) and after a term on CUNA's board became that group's chairman in 2008-2009.
Like former CUNA CEO Dan Mica, Dorety unabashedly believes that the two primary credit union trade organizations need to consolidate into one group. Not only would it save money, but CUs would be better served if CUNA and NAFCU were one entity, he believes.
"We're wasting money by having competing national trade associations," he said. "It's just an absolute waste of money, and it's a shame because credit unions don't have that many resources. They need to spend their money wisely, and need to be focused on trying to get things done-both from a legislative and regulatory standpoint-and we should do better."
Dorety admits his own biases play a role in his thinking, but stressed that with the duplication of resources, the mixed messaging being sent out and competition between trade groups, "we are wasting our resources by doing what we're doing today."
The long-time CU leader also pointed out that while the movement is more diverse today than it has ever been, some of the focus on the common good has been lost along the way.
"That's something I hope we can return to, something I hope we can focus on and realize that the not-for-profit credit union charter is the best thing going," said Dorety. "That it serves members better than any other charter. That we need to work together for the common good, whether it's through trade associations or even locally. Those are important things that we seem to have drifted away from-but I'm an old guy now, so it's normal for me to think that way."
Dorety noted that trust is central to moving that idea forward, and members have to feel that their credit union is always working to do what's in the members' best interest. "There's not any one magic bullet," said Dorety. "It's just living the idea of who we are and doing it every way you possibly can and making sure you constantly communicate that. It starts with employees, goes out to the members and into the community. You can't buy enough ads to say 'We're great, they're not.' And you can't just keep saying 'Trust us.' You've got to prove it."
'Something Good'
In letters nominating Dorety for the Wegner Award, many focused on what they describe as unsung contributions to the credit union community.
"When you look at the lifetime efforts of Tom's, you realize that this is the perfect description of dedication, compassion and success within the credit union world," said NCUF Awards & Recognition Committee Chairman Bob Schumacher. "No matter what Tom does, it seems to turn into something good for someone else."
A similar theme was echoed by Stan Hollen, CEO of CO-OP Financial Services in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
"Most people are probably not aware of the extent of Tom's contributions to the credit union movement because he often lets others accept the accolades," noted Hollen. "Tom has given so much to his profession, his credit union, and the greater credit union community over the years."
Dan Mica, who led CUNA while Dorety was chairman, said Dorety was able to broach difficult topics without making for difficult times.
"Tom stepped up to provide strong leadership during some of the most challenging times in the history of credit unions," remarked Mica. "It was his passion and ability to motivate people to action that stand out as defining characteristics of his incredible leadership. He built consensus when there was no consensus. He brought people to action when they hesitated to get involved. And he addressed issues that nobody else wanted to even talk about."
Find Someone Smart, And Hang On
For CU professionals with aspirations of emulating Dorety's success, he had this advice: "Find the smartest and the best and the folks that have your values and latch on to them. Become friends with them-that helps you immensely in your career," he said, noting that his early relationship with SECU CEO Jim Blaine had helped set him along his own successful trajectory-not to mention numerous others who began their careers at State Employees.
When it comes to the most important element of his tenure within credit unions, Dorety didn't think twice.
"Right now I'm most proud of my credit union and what we've done here over the past five years to get through this economic crisis that we suffered," he said. "We didn't do everything right, and we made mistakes to get into it, so I'm not saying it was all external reasons that we got into it. But we did a lot of really good things to get out of it and we worked really hard together and we have come out the other side of the tunnel. We are doing a far better job now-financially and from a service standpoint-and we are starting to grow again. I hate to be so shortsighted, but that's the overriding thing. All of the other things I've done have been nice and have helped Suncoast over the years...but the best thing I've ever done in my career has been to be CEO here."
Suncoast School's turnaround was profiled in Credit Union Journal in the Feb. 27 issue.
Lifetime Achievement Awards can imply a sense of finality, and Dorety is quick to reject it.
"I feel better than I ever have-I'm not planning on going anywhere," he said, adding "give me a couple of years down the road, and I'll feel like we've accomplished a great deal, and I'll feel more deserving of the award."
