WASHINGTON – The National CU Foundation, taking a page from past years when special credit union programs were celebrated, honored the Michigan CU League’s Invest In America member discount program with an annual Herb Wegner Memorial Award before 900 diners Monday night.
In a year that credit unions are losing many of their giants to retirement, the Foundation also honored Bob Schumacher, the retiring CEO of Washington’s MountainCrest CU, as well as Suncoast School FCU’s Tom Dorety and Alaska USA FCU’s Bill Eckhardt with Wegner Awards, the industry’s highest recognition.
The Invest in America program was originally created by Michigan credit unions to help move cars manufactured by American automakers with low-interest loans and discounts. It later expanded into a nationwide buy-American program and to numerous other products, including cell phone service, cable TV, and other products and services.
The recognition for the retiring Schumacher, who was presented a special Anchor Award, comes as numerous retiring CEOs who have long been the backbone of the credit union movement are taking a victory lap around CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference this week, including BECU’s Gary Oakland, Coastal FCU’s Larry Wilson, GECU’s Harriet May, and Dupaco Community CU’s Bob Hoefer, as well as the National Federation of Community Development CU’s Cliff Rosenthal, who is leaving the credit union movement to go to work at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Anchor Award is given only occasionally at the discretion of the Foundation’s board and is awarded an individual who has demonstrated the Foundation’s mission of making financial freedom achievable through credit unions.
Since Eckhardt took the helm at Alaska USA in 1979 the credit union has introduced many innovations. It was the first credit union to offer 30-year mortgages and one of the first to offer share drafts, or checks. It was the first credit union to serve members nationally and internationally through a dedicated member service center, and was one of the first to start a business lending division and offer insurance trust services. It also helped create one of the first credit union ATM networks, Alaska Option, which still operates.
Dorety went to Suncoast Schools in 1996 from North Carolina SECU and while heading Florida’s biggest credit union has served as chairman of CUNA, the Filene Research Institute, National CEO Roundtable, and MEMBERS Trust Co. He currently serves on the boards of CO-OP Financial Services, Hillsborough County Education Foundation and All Children’s Hospital.
