Retirement for Peter Seitz is not bittersweet. OK, so the first few weeks since he stepped down from his job as CEO of Bethpage FCU (BFCU) haven't been so great. But, he expects as soon as he recovers from back surgery, the rest of his life will be.
At a mere 53 years old, Seitz admits that he has had enough of the industry that got its hooks in him 28 years ago. Take no offense, please. The man just wants to enjoy "that whole other life beyond credit unions" while his joints don't creak. "I want to play some golf and read books that don't end with the FCU acronym," he said. "I'd like to do a slight bit of traveling and take the stress out of my life."
If anyone has earned it, he has. Lured into the industry by Bethpage FCU when he was 25 years old, Seitz turned the small, single-sponsor credit union with $27 million in assets and 22 employers into a multiple-group powerhouse with $950 million and 225 employees.
Looking back, he says he has few regrets about the path he took, the people he trusted and the decisions he made. "You know, when I went to work in the credit union industry, I had an offer to go into the stock market," he said. "In the long run, it would have made me richer and less happy. I don't think I would have had the satisfaction I have had helping people."
Seitz, who started out in the industry as an administrative assistant to the CEO, found himself in a managerial position two and a half years later. And, when the CEO retired in 1976, he easily slid into the post.
"I was the person who had the right education, you might say," he said. "I had banking experience and was working toward a degree in accounting. Anybody could have done what I did because there was so much to do. All you had to do was work hard at it."
Helping The Hangman
It helped, of course, that he had a vision, the passion to make it happen and a board who readily opened their arms to him, despite his young age. "At the very least, they gave me enough rope to hang myself. They were willing to take the young kid and let him run with it."
From the moment he stepped into the credit union, Seitz said he knew it could be so much more than a one-loan, one-savings and one- Christmas Club shop. "Members were only allowed one loan per member for a car," he said. "If they needed money for dental or medical bills, we had to refinance the car loan and make one consolidated loan."
And, in those days, he said, members only had access to their money between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. weekdays. "We would open the door at 10 a.m. to a rush of people," he said. "We worked literally for three and a half hours."
Under Seitz' leadership, it wasn't long before the small credit union became a full-service financial institution and watched as "money came out of the woodwork."
"We changed our data processing system, added share drafts and certificates of deposit, introduced ATMs in 1979 and credit cards in 1980. We were only limited by the number of hands that we had."
After three years, BFCU had nearly tripled in asset size and "kept growing from there," Seitz said. With the growth came the need for a new building-72,000 square feet compared to the 8,600 the CU started with.
Surprisingly, Seitz said, the transition was smooth except for that brief period when the board got nervous and wanted to take back some of the responsibility it had given him. One of those "you gave me the ball, now let me run with it" speeches stopped anymore notion of that, he said. "I had my own vision, and I had my own idea of where it was leading," he said, adding that he was very fortunate to be surrounded by a team of people with mutual trust.
Another big move came when Seitz opened the door to select imployee groups (SEGs) to make up for the decline and eventual sale in the early 1990s of its sole corporate sponsor, Grumman Aerospace. "In six years, they went from having 34,000 employees to 3,400," he said. "Seeing that, we started adding groups."
Seitz said he thinks one of his greatest assets was that he was always available to his members. "When we installed our own telephone system, they went around and interviewed everybody to determine how they wanted their phones to work," he said. "When they brought me in last, they asked me and I said, 'Two lines and when the phone rings, I'll answer it.' "
Seitz said if he wasn't able to talk, he would make a point to return the call the same day and/or follow up with a letter, if necessary. "It's a very simple thing, but it goes a long way."
Another Seitz philosophy is that all members should be treated equally. "My thinking is more old line," he said. "We were not very big on different dividend rates for different balances."
When Bethpage FCU started offering preferred status rates for those with more money on deposit, Seitz said he made certain services for the credit union's typical members-"blue collar workers with tract homes and four kids"- were not sacrificed. "I just wonder what will differentiate us if our thinking is like banking-pricing this and pricing that," he said.
Throughout his career, Seitz said he dabbled in industry issues, "I wasn't Mr. Outside, I was Mr. Inside." And while he has great respect for the leaders who can handle both, he said he preferred to earn his salary by making his own credit union the best that it could be.
"Very early on in my time, I got really involved with the league and with NAFCU," he said. "I wrote articles here and there and was asked to speak at various places. It was all very great for the ego. But seven years into it, I felt that I was doing what everybody else wanted me to do and not what I wanted. So I cut out the activities and concentrated on my own credit union."
A bit begrudgingly, Seitz admitted, his role changed in the early 1990s. Coincidentally, it was during that time that Seitz announced to his board that he had no intention of working until he was 65 years old. "I was running one of the top 20 credit unions in the nation at 28 years old," he said. "I told my board I would rather work real hard for a short period and hand the ball over when it was time. What in the world sense does it make to have $5 million in a bank account when your joints hurt you and your legs hurt you too much to enjoy it?"
Before he could call it quits, there was one huge issue to contend with- technology. "We needed to get a plan and have somebody on board to take over when I stepped down."
So, much like his predecessors did with him, Seitz pulled in a young technology wizard, Kirk Kordeleski. "We thought if we could capitalize on his strength in technology, he could learn from me in terms of management," Seitz said.
Admittedly, it wasn't easy playing second fiddle at times. "It was a tough period for me," he said. "I was much more hands on for the first 20 years I was there, writing procedures and editing. Now, here I was taking a back seat in a sense. I didn't feel comfortable, but I did it because it was good for him and in the long run, good for the organization."
Preparing A Successor
Kordeleski, hired as executive vice president in 1992, said he took over all of the operating department except for accounting and HR. "Peter did everything he could to help me prepare for this job," said Kordeleski, 43. "He was a prolific reader, involved in NAFCU for many years and kept up to date with what was going on with other credit unions and the industry. He was a wonderful leader of this company. I hope I gained some insight."
While Seitz said he plans to stay involved with BFCU, he has no intention of being a consultant to anybody.
"There's a whole lot more to life than playing with credit unions," he said. "Everybody that I run into is a consultant-usually a bunch of old-line people fighting to hold on to yesterday. If I want to keep up with the industry, I might as well go back to the game and demand a six-figure salary."
As he heads off into the sunset with his wife, Lynn-she also left her position as CEO of AIL Employees FCU, a $10 million institution on Long Island- Seitz offers this bit of advice.
* "Sometimes, you can let things take care of themselves. For example, place a fire under employees who aren't performing. They will either find a different way of working or a different place to work."
*"Early on, I was buried in paperwork when people needed me. But I found out later on that you can make a hell of a difference in people's lives when you take time with them."
