As it turns out, the dual CEOs formally picked this month to runthe $434 million SoutheastFinancial Credit Union in Franklin, Tenn., are actually athreesome with one of the trio taking retirement last month, it wasdisclosed Tuesday.

“We simply have always had great respect for one another and allthree of us have worked together to lead our credit union quitesuccessfully for more than a decade,” is how one of thenew president/CEOs, John Jacoway, describes the out-of-normmanagement style.

Jacoway and Jeff Dahlstrom, both executive vice presidents for years, wereofficially anointed by the Southeast board as dual CEOs followingthe Jan. 15 retirement of the former and designated CEO, JohnSimmonds.

“We truly have a great management team and we simply saw thetimely retirement” of one of their own, said Jacoway.

For reporting purposes, Dahlstrom's name appears on officialregulatory and industry documents but the trio has always known howduties were parsed and how the internal management system operated,explained Jacoway.

Jacoway pointed to at least two other CUs with a history of dualCEOs, Point West CU of Portland, Ore., and Quest of Topeka,Kan.

Moreover, there are multiple examples of co-CEOs in otherindustries and Jacoway listed six of the firms as Oracle,Microsoft, Sony Pictures Classics, HBO, VMware and McAfee.

“The dual presidency does seem to be growing in popularity,”observed Jacoway, who contends he and Dahlstrom both have alreadydemonstrated strong leadership ability and retain staffsupport.

“In this situation,” said the CU, “selecting one candidate overanother would have been counterproductive. While they share asingular vision, each brings something unique to the table.”

Since joining Southeast Financial as president/CEO in October1999, the retiring head, Simmonds—with his two EVPs—has watched thecentral Tennessee CU double its asset size and grow from 37,000members in 2005 to 75,000. In retiring as CEO, Simmonds is nowpresident/CEO of a CUSO, Southeast Resource Group.