FT. COLLINS, Colo - Sonny Lubick, well-known in this market as the former football coach at Colorado State University, has been hired by Public Service Credit Union as VP- Community Outreach and Public Relations. Lubick has been hired in part to help Denver-based Public Service CU overcome perception challenges in its new market after it absorbed failed Norlarco CU following its conservatorship.
“The credit union’s image has been extremely tarnished in the community and there’s been a lot of bad press,” PSCU President David Maus told Credit Union Journal. “We have to reestablish the confidence of the community in the credit union, and (Sonny Lubick) is a person who is very much respected in Fort Collins.”
Lubick is popular in the Fort Collins market after turning CSU into a winner, even beating long-time rival Colorado. The field at CSU’s Hughes Stadium is named after Lubick, who was 126-84 in his career. Maus said Lubick will work two to three days on behalf of the credit union and will work out of the former president’s office at Norlarco’s former headquarters building.
Maus noted that Lubick had other opportunities in coaching and that the credit union approached him about the position after having heard him speak a decade earlier at a Colorado league event. “It was apparent to him the kind of organization we are and what our people represent, and it ties into his own philosophy,” said Maus. “He had a reputation for recruiting local talent and he had done his due-diligence on us.”
Maus said that since its winning its bid for the assets of Norlarco that it’s been “a little uncomfortable” in the community for PSCU to be seen as a Denver institution. “We are a local Colorado institution and his insights and reputation will be extremely helpful to us,” said Maus. Lubick will remain active in the community speaking to groups and conducting his football camps. Maus said PSCU has spent a little time with Lubick educating him on issues related to Norlarco and how Public Service Credit Union came to enter the market.
“He was always a little bit of an underdog in the state, and that’s something he enjoys,” added Maus. Lubick noted he received his first car loan from a CU and later, while coaching at the University of Miami, received help from a CU after his home was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew.
