MADISON, Wis. - Bob Hoel, the recipient of the 2008 Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement, remembers a baptism of fire when he first became Executive Director of the Filene Research Institute.
Hoel was a tenured professor at Colorado State University before he joined Filene. His first presentation was before a large, annual league conference. He presented the results of a Filene study about credit union field of membership, one of the points of which was that overlapping FOMs were a reality credit unions needed to accept, and that credit union leaders should spend their energies on other topics.
“Some people got upset, and some left,” Hoel recounts. “I was saying, ‘I wish I had tenure again.’”
This year marks 31 years of involvement in the credit union movement for Hoel, nearly 15 of those years at the helm of the Filene Research Institute. From the time he joined the Institute as director in March 1991 until he stepped aside at the end of 2006, membership more than tripled to 1,400 members from 400.
“Filene’s strategy, as guided by Bob’s leadership, has left a heritage of honesty, integrity, constructive review and an analysis of credit unions and their environment which will make them stronger and more resilient to the challenges of the future,” said Richard M. Heins, former CUNA Mutual CEO and Filene president emeritus. “He’s viewed his service as a vehicle to make a special contribution that generates a better credit union imprint on society, insuring that credit unions will continue to enjoy their success indefinitely and not pass into oblivion.”
Beginnings With Credit Unions
Well before taking the helm of the Institute, Hoel found himself chairman of the Credit Committee from 1977-1980 at Norlarco Credit Union in Fort Collins, Colo.
“I’d been a credit union member, but I didn’t know very much,” he says, until a colleague recruited him for the committee. “That was a fascinating experience,” he says. “We needed to speed up our credit making process and give more power to our staff, so we asked to be abolished and transfer that authority to the staff.”
He was invited to be a board member at the credit union and served there from 1985-1991, and was chairman of the board from 1987-1991. “I got a little bit of vacation, then invited back,” Hoel says.
“Under Bob’s leadership, Norlarco developed a local reputation for excellent service,” says John Olienyk, chairman of the board at the credit union. “When he left for Filene, the credit union was well managed and growing rapidly. It was becoming a significant force in the community as both a formidable competitor to banks and as a good corporate citizen.”
Olienyk, a finance professor at Colorado State University, says it was at Hoel’s urging that he became involved at Norlarco. “It was mostly his enthusiasm for and dedication that drew me in,” he says. “Bob was a tireless advocate for policy and operational changes that would result in better service to members. He pushed hard for growth and for more creative, effective and professional management. The result was that Norlarco began to offer a wider range of products and experienced deeper member penetration, as well as growth in membership and assets. Bob’s willingness to think outside the box and to get other board members and management to do the same were his hallmark.”
Long after Hoel’s departure from the credit union’s board, Norlarco became better known as one of the biggest failures in credit union history. After being operated by NCUA, the healthy pieces of the CU have now been assumed by Denver-based Public Service Credit Union. Hoel was recently asked to serve as the Norlarco representative on the PSCU board.
When Hoel was approached to take over the Filene Institute, he was a tenured, full professor of business at Colorado State University and chairman of the Marketing Department, “with lifetime employment,” he says. Hoel was successful in that career, but says, “I became restless.” He looked at several opportunities, including a position in a high-tech field, in which he’d had experience, and university administration. But the opportunity to run the institute captured him.
An Intriguing Opportunity
“I was intrigued by this potential opportunity with credit unions,” he says. He met with outgoing director Dave Chatfield, who was leaving for the California league, R.C. Robertson, and Heins. “They were my initial contacts,” says Hoel, “then I interviewed for the position.”
Once he accepted the position, was it a little scary at first? “Oh, yeah,” answered Hoel. “When my wife, Barbara, and I think back on it, I don’t think too many people want to leave a stable career where life is good. Colorado is beautiful. At the time, Filene had two people on staff. (But) I thought it would be a very interesting opportunity, and I was grateful to have the chance offered to me.”
“Bob’s coming to Madison has been one of the best decisions in the credit union movement,” says Pete Crear, CEO of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).
“He came with an enthusiasm that was infectious and continues today with the same level of intensity. You don’t just have conversation with Bob–you take a journey with him.”
Mark Meyer, who succeeded Hoel as executive director at Filene, says Hoel identified the importance of credit unions boosting their efforts to serve low-wealth households long before many other credit union industry executives. Hoel retained John Caskey, a leading expert known for his research on the financial needs of low-wealth individuals. The institute, under Hoel, issued several academic reports by Caskey. “Many ridiculed the findings,” says Meyer. “(But) Hoel charged ahead.”
The institute held dozens of work sessions across the U.S. to encourage members to explore alternative financial products for low-income members.
“Six years later, hundreds of credit unions and dozens of leagues are aggressively expanding their outreach efforts through REAL Solutions,” says Meyer, a program adopted and expanded by the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF). “Were it not for Bob’s tenacity and willingness to stand independently, many consumers today wouldn’t enjoy the benefits of credit unions.”
Trying Something New
While an accomplished leader and research director, Hoel wasn’t afraid to try new initiatives.
He led the institute in an effort to bridge the gap between academic research and applied solutions with programs such REAL Solutions, COOL Solutions, and the Center for Credit Union Innovation.
“This ongoing leadership and innovative flair manifested Bob’s determination to see research accomplish something useful for people,” says Paul Mercer, president of the Ohio Credit Union System.
Hoel is also happy with the volume and quality of the research the Institute does. “I’m thrilled with the quality of the researchers we’ve been able to attract,” he says. “When we started, many fine researchers didn’t know anything about credit unions. We’re a footnote in the textbooks of most banking and financial institutions. We’ve now attracted an outstanding group of researchers. It took a lot of time and hard work by a lot of people to make that happen. They’re top people from top institutions.”
Today, a group of eight Filene Research Fellows, of which Hoel is one, includes researchers from Harvard Business School, the University of Calfornia-Berkeley, and Cornell University, give Filene entry to a vast array of important research essential to the continued success of credit unions.
Research–And Rewards
Hoel says because of Filene’s track record over the years, it’s much easier to attract good researchers for projects today. “If we have a researcher that’s good for a topic, we show them publications and researchers, and they often say, ‘I’d like to be part of this research effort,’” says Hoel. “We didn’t have that advantage at the beginning. They know the institute produces and publishes straight information. Censorship has never been a problem.”
In fact, Hoel says, many researchers end up really liking the credit union industry. “They see that credit unions do good things,” he says. “They’re not-for-profit, member-owned, and they’re doing good things for consumers. We’ve even had some say they’ve joined a credit union.”
In addition to his work as a board member at Public Service CU, Hoel is still quite active. “I have more scheduling flexibility now,” he says. In 2007 he spoke at 26 credit union gatherings and published two Institute reports, one on alternative capital and one on thriving small and midsize credit unions.”
The latter report received so much response that Hoel is expanding the project to look at large credit unions. He’s also enthusiastic about a study about providing the right financial information to graduating college students. His excitement for doing solid research on behalf of credit unions doesn’t appear to be waning. “I have the opportunity to focus on research projects,” he says.
An excellent speaker, Hoel will also continue speaking at league meetings and other gatherings.
“I’m grateful to the whole movement that they’ve allowed us to speak out on the issues,” says Hoel. “Our board, research council, and membership said, ‘Call it as straight as you can.’ They did not try to censor or muzzle us.”
