Two executives who shared CU Times' Trailblazer Award for Lending in 2011 moved on to work for another area credit union – but not before one of them did an 18-month stint at a national bank.

At the time, John Corona and Timothy Hero, both employees of the then-$389 million Generations Federal Credit Union, won the award for cooperating to make a business loan that involved a real estate purchase for long-term members and entrepreneurs. Corona served as senior loan officer for the San Antonio credit union and Hero served as Generations' real estate lending officer.

Even though Generations had never offered loans with the Small Business Administration before, Corona and Hero paired their talents and research and found a way to help the members get the small business loan they needed through an SBA program. Then, after they completed and closed the loan, when the NCUA came in and conducted an examination, the agency had found no problems with it–an additional success for the lending managers.