Patrick Mahaney has the perfect cure in case he develops a swelled head from his new post as president of the Delaware Credit Union League: shoveling snow.
"It's kind of hard to get a big head when you have to shovel the driveway in order to get into work," he told The Credit Union Journal on his third day on the job succeeding Bob Walls, who moved to New Jersey to take over that state's league.
"I'm taking over from Bob Walls, and he did a terrific job of getting this league into fighting shape," Mahaney observed. "There's a top-notch staff here. I have no intention of making any big changes."
But Mahaney does bring a rather unique perspective to the state trade association given his background as a credit union volunteer. Mahaney recently retired as senior facilities administrator for the DuPont Co., where he worked for 30 years, but he spent 25 years serving as a volunteer at DEXSTA FCU.
But his credit union pedigree extends beyond his 25 years on the board of DEXSTA FCU. "I think the board was looking for someone with the credit union industry at heart and someone who is dedicated to credit unions all the way through. Well, that's me," he said. "My dad was president of a credit union for 12 years."
That credit union was First State CU. Although there still is a credit union in Delaware that goes by that name, it is not the credit union Mahaney's father ran. "When the sponsor company closed, my father had the dubious honor of closing [the credit union] down," he related. "So, I have also seen the pain and sorrow of that experience, too."
Which, he said, only makes him all the more committed to helping Delaware credit unions grow strong.
On his second day of work, Mahaney traveled to New Jersey to get some additional training in advocacy work to supplement his previous political involvement on behalf of credit unions, which included volunteer training through CUNA's Volunteer Achievement Program.
Additionally, Mahaney has been an active member of his community, having served as president of the Delware City Junior Chamber of Commerce and as marketing director for the Artists Theatre Association.
