After 19 years at the helm, Paul Parish, president/CEO of the$3.2 billion Wings Financial Credit Union, announced Monday hewill retire at the end of the year.

“During his tenure the assets of the credit union have increasedmore than tenfold while its balance sheet has remained strong andstable,” said Michael Cooper, board chairman of the Apple Valley,Minn.-based credit union. “Just as importantly, Paul has built abest-in-class management team and has nurtured a culture ofexceptional service and high return of value to members.”

Wings Financial said Monday's announcement is an importantmilestone in a succession planning process that has been under waysince mid-year 2010. The credit union's board of directors said ithas been working with Parish to ensure comprehensive executivesuccession planning across the entire management team and hasretained an executive search firm to identify both internal andexternal candidates for the CEO position.

“It has been the high point of my career to assemble a greatteam and to work with my Wings colleagues,” Parish said. “Theemployees of Wings Financial demonstrate their passion for servingmembers and their dedication to continuous improvement in everyaspect of our business. It's a privilege to be a part of thisteam. I look forward to welcoming my successor and towatching the credit union reach new heights in the years tocome.”

In March 2007, the Apple Valley, Minn.-based Wings attemptedwhat some described as the CU industry's first hostile takeover attempt ofContinental FCU. After more than a month of campaigning to make ithappen, NCUA put an end to the merger attempt saying Wingsoverstepped Federal Credit Union Act regulations when it offered$200 payments to Continental's members if the mergerwent through.

Wings has since partnered with several airlines andorganizations to serve their employees.

The credit union serves nearly 200,000 members worldwide andoperates 24 branches. It was founded in 1938 to serve employees ofNorthwest Airlines.