On Jan. 30, 2000, a man who knew little about credit unionsexcept what he read about the movement from the inserts that camein his Navy Federal Credit Union statements took over aspresident/CEO of NAFCU. Since then, Fred Becker has found himselfknee deep in a range of challenges facing the credit unionmovement, including the effects of the deepest economic crisissince the Great Depression. He's also faced management challengesat the association. Credit Union Times recently talked toBecker at NAFCU's Arlington, Va., headquarters about histenure.

Credit Union Times: What have been thehigh points of tenure?

Fred Becker: Building on the achievements that[the previous NAFCU President/CEO] Ken Robinson had during histenure. Nobody will replace Ken in terms of what he meant for themovement and his personality, his ability to make the person he wastalking to feel as if they were the only person in the room. Butwe've done many things to build on what he did. We've kept theassociation's competitive edge in compliance, where we areconsidered to be the leader. We've added educational programs, forexample, we now do 18 Webcasts a year, and we open our events toall credit unions. We've taken our lobbying to a new level, and ourlobbyists are regularly mentioned among the most influential onCapitol Hill. We've also grown our political action committee. WhenI started, we gave about $40,000 in each cycle, now we exceed$200,000. And we've done these things while watching costs. We havethe same number of employees as when I started. And our budget hasonly increased from $8.6 million to $10.8 million, 22%, comparedwith inflation, which was 28%.

CU Times: What have been the biggestchanges in the movement during your tenure?

Becker: There is more and more competitiveness,in part because of the consolidation, and some erosion of thecooperative nature. Also, I find now that some issues that onlyaffect a few credit unions-rather than the industry as awhole-percolate up to the top to be solved more often than theyused to.

CU Times: How have the legislative andregulatory landscapes changed?

Becker: When I came, credit unions were alreadythe most heavily regulated financial institutions but theregulatory burden has increased even more. And as Congress and theWhite House work on proposals to increase regulations even more,we've had to work hard to call attention to the fact that we didn'tcause the crisis and any additional compliance costs come out ofour members' pockets and not from shareholders.

CU Times: What has surprised you mostabout the job, since you were knew both to credit unions and tobeing a CEO?

Becker: The enormous breadth and depth of thejob. You have to be a bit of an actor and get on stage atconferences, but you are also a teacher, a businessman and alobbyist. And sometimes you have to switch from one role to anotherquickly. Also, you are on call all the time and members expect aquick response. I was driving to the hospital one night recently tosee my first granddaughter, and while on the way, I was talkingwith a CEO about the CARD Act. Because I am expected to havesubstantive answers to questions, I am doing lots of reading andconstantly making assignments to my staff to get me moreinformation.

CU Times: What changes have there beenin how you spend your time?

Becker: I am spending a lot more time on thebusiness side, given the challenges that trade associations havehad to deal with recently, because of the economy. Fortunately,we've navigated the situation better than most. Also, I used towrite the legislative and regulatory updates for our membersmyself, but I now have other people do them.

CU Times: How long do you expect tostay in the job?

Becker: Ken was here until he was 70 and ahalf. I won't be here that long. I'm 60. In the Navy, you get a newjob every two or three years, and I have been at this one 10 years.I am not sure when I will leave, but when I do, I will get out ofthe way and not stay around in the movement in some consultingcapacity. Perhaps I will teach at a law school, since a part of mycurrent job is teaching, and you wouldn't have to persuade me hardto do that. And my wife will be glad to have me out of thehouse.

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