FARMERS BRANCH, Texas-They're standing a little taller in their boots in Texas, thanks to Dick Ensweiler.
As Harriett May, president of Greater El Paso noted in a letter acknowledging his work, "Dick came to the Texas Credit Union League at the lowest point in its history. Not only did Dick restore trust and belief in the organization, he took it to new levels of respect and admiration within the credit union movement."
The result? Enswiler, president of theTexas CU League and a long-time CU veteran, will receive the National Credit Union Foundation's 2010 Herb Wegner Award for Individual Achievement this week.
"It all started with a summer job; I went to work at State Central Credit Union in Wisconsin as a teller," Ensweiler recalled. "So the manager there said, 'When you get done with college and the military, come on back, and we'll have a place for you.' So I did that."
Upon his return, State Central CU created a special management training position that helped him learn every aspect of the business. A year and a half later Ensweiler became treasurer at Harley-Davidson CU, which had been under suspension by state regulators. Three years of cleaning up that credit union led to a move to the Minnesota CU League, where he quickly became the new CEO. He later took similar positions at the Michigan and Illinois leagues before becoming SVP at CUNA Mutual and then finally settling at the Texas league, where he has served as CEO for the last 15 years. One of his many accomplishments is the creation of the corporate credit unions system, of which he was among the chief architects.
"When I was president of the Illinois league I remember in some of my early months the oil embargo rate hit and interest rates went through the roof," he said, noting that many members were upset at the subpar deposit rates they were receiving. "It may be my proudest moment because we created a very strong liquidity and payments system for Illinois and surrounding states."
However, it is Ensweiler's fierce advocacy for CUs to serve everyone, especially those who are usually underserved, that has been most widely acclaimed. In the decade and a half as head of TCUL, Ensweiler has repeatedly reached out to the Hispanic and other immigrant communities to help educate them on credit unions and steer them away from payday lenders and check cashers. His resolve to help these groups was hardened when, years ago, three Hispanics were murdered after leaving a check-cashing store.
"The bad guys knew what they didn't send back home in money orders would be cash in their back pockets, and they were murdered for their cash," Ensweiler explained.
As part of the Hispanic outreach, the league created Juntos Avanzamos, a program to make credit unions friendlier to immigrants and to introduce them to the mainstream American financial system. But more credit unions must expand their visibility to all consumers, Ensweiler said, telling Credit Union Journal that he will once again call upon CU leaders to create a national brand campaign at his award acceptance speech.
"If everybody knows that the CUs are the right place to do business, why do only 30% of the people [use us]? We have to do a better job of selling and branding. We need to make the public aware," he said.
