ELGIN, Ill. – Dick Wellner said he's been planning his retirement for more than six years and he's finally reached a place to step down as president/CEO of Corporate America Family Credit Union.

Wellner said he will retire on Jan. 31, 2007 after 31 years at the helm including serving on the board, which began in 1973.

Under his tenure, the credit union grew from nearly 13,000 members, $16 million in assets and four branches to 100,000 members, $616 million in assets and 30 branches in 12 states.

“I'll miss dealing with the members. There are also more than 200 people here that I work with who I will miss,” Wellner said. “They're special and I will miss that interaction.”

Wellner said he always saw “a job as a means to an end” and he now looks forward to extending the credit union philosophy of “people helping people” to other areas. He and his wife are considering getting involved with Habitat for Humanity, the national group that builds homes for low-income people. The couple is also looking at assisting a local group in offering free tax consulting to those who can't afford it.

“My wife's a CPA, she can train me,” Wellner joked.

Wellner may also teach English to those who can't speak the language. With all the new outlets, it doesn't sound like a retirement per se, but Wellner said the flexibility now allows him to pick and choose what he wants to do including traveling, visiting his four sons, and engaging in one of his favorite hobbies, fishing.

Corporate America was founded in 1939 by 15 employees of Automatic Electric Co. who each deposited $5 into the Automatic Credit Union. When Automatic Electric Co. was later purchased by GET Corp., the credit union changed its name to GET Employees Federal Credit Union. The early 1980s brought on major strides toward deregulation of financial institutions. Given new autonomy and responsibility by federal law, GET Employees FCU's board of directors decided to safeguard the long-term security of the credit union by diversifying the membership. In 1986, the credit union changed its name to Corporate America Federal Credit Union and in 1997 it changed its charter from federal to state, becoming Corporate America Family Credit Union.

Wellner originally joined GET Employees FCU's board in 1973 serving on the supervisory, education and publicity committees. Two years later, he was named general manager. At the time, the credit union's assets were $16 million and served nearly 13,000 members. Over the next seven years, Wellner title changed to president, assets had grown to $55 million and the credit union served nearly 30,000 members through nine branch locations.

During the 1980s, Corporate America began serving multiple sponsor groups in an effort to safeguard the long-term security of the credit union. Out of that initiative grew one of its core strategies: “diversification where no branch constitutes the majority of shares, loans, or members, and no one sponsor company constitutes a majority.” Today it serves more than 500 SEGs.

“As sponsors changed, we changed to best reflect our membership,” Wellner said. “New membership and sponsors groups were our lifeblood.”

The credit union hasn't had a revolving door when it comes to presidents. Wellner is only the third one in Corporate America's 67-year history. The board ran the day-to-day operations until 1960 when Bob Diefendorf was named general manager and served until 1974 when Keith Sheehy was next to succeed.

During his tenure, Wellner has been an avid supporter of the movement, serving on many state and national committees. He has served as a council member of the Filene Research Institute, as a board member for Mid-States Corporate Federal Credit Union, director and member of the executive committee of the Illinois Credit Union League, director of the ICUL Service Corp, and as an advisory board member of the American Management Association.

One key initiative under Wellner watch at Corporate America was developing programs to serve the underserved including a payday loan alternative, “second chance” checking accounts, subprime lending and affordable check cashing services. Wellner said the credit union started reaching out to underserved communities “aggressively” about 10 years ago.

“As we got into more sponsor groups and the community charter, we realized that there were more that we should be serving,” he said. “We're simply a grain of sand being thrown into the ocean but we should be offering a program as an alternative to what's out there now.”

Wellner said payday lending in metropolitan areas, for instance, is “enormous” and the consumer typically ends up paying 500-800% on these types of loans. Corporate America's payday loan alternative, Quick Cash Line of Credit, was started three years ago and more than 8,000 members are using it, he added.

Corporate America serves some of the nation's largest and most widely-recognized companies, but also courts the smaller mom and pop businesses, Wellner said. The difference lies in how to market the credit union at each end of the business spectrum.

“We're particularly interested in national companies. We can say we are uniquely positioned to serve their needs,” he offered. “[But] small mom and pop businesses find us equally attractive because [in some instances], employees may not be able to get credit anywhere else.”

Wellner will celebrate his 62nd birthday July 27. His experience in credit union land has reinforced a number of tenets engrained in him from the beginning. Getting involved, being among them.

“Be true to the [credit union] mission. It's what credit unions are all about,” he said. “[Credit unions] should take advantage of any opportunities that will move them forward.” -msamaad@cutimes.com

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After Three Decades of Evolution at Corporate America Family CU, Wellner to Retire in 2007

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