LAYTON, Utah — CUProdigy has announced that longtime President and CEO Charlie Fulks will step down later this year, and the hunt for a new leader has already begun.
Fulks founded the software CUSO in 1991, when it was known as Credit Union Data Processing, and will remain with the company through September. Las Vegas-based CU consulting firm Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates are leading the search for Fulks' replacement.
Fulks said in a statement that after so long at the helm it was time for a change — both for him and the CUSO.
"I do not have anything lined up, but I felt it was time to move on and find something else," he said. "It is a leap of faith for me. I feel the company needs fresh leadership to take it to the next level. It is a good move for the company. The company has changed over the past 24 years, and I feel a fresh outlook will be beneficial to CUProdigy's continued success."
Robert Taylor, CUProdigy's chairman of the board and President and CEO of Idaho State Univeristy CU credited Fulks with more than two decades of service.
"I speak for every member of the board of directors in offering our gratitude for his leadership, vision and energy," Taylor said in a statement. "He has put CUProdigy on a great path, and I am certain he will be tremendous success at whatever he does next."
Fulks didn't know a lot about CUs when he entered the industry, but because he was interested in computer programming, he took a chance on a job with a company known as Information Now, working on software to support the firm's 33 CU clients. When Information Now went bankrupt 18 months after Fulks started working there, Credit Union Data Processing was born.
"Having worked in a credit union, I realized if the users group could form and own the company, it could be in a better position than me trying to form a company," said Fulks. "We knew a CUSO would be a strong business model. It was more difficult to form a CUSO back then compared to now. We had to explain the power of owning the company ourselves."
The company rebranded as CUProdigy in 2014, having grown from Fulks working out of his home to now serving 15 CUs representing $1.85 billion in assets and 203,000 members.
