It was 1977, the same year David Colby joined CUNA Mutual Group.A gallon of gas cost 65 cents, the average price of a new homehovered near $50,000 and the first Apple computer went on sale.

Colby, 59, who will retire from CUNA Mutual July 11 as chiefeconomist after 37 years of service, painted a very differentpicture of the credit union movement back then. In July 1977, therewere roughly 22,480 credit unions with average assets of $2.2million, compared to today's 6,700 credit unions with averageassets of $167 million, he said.

“During my tenure we have lost close to 15,800 credit unions,but assets have risen by 2,200%. Put another way, today, NavyFederal's assets are $10 billion more than the entire credit unionmovement when I began at CUNA Mutual,” Colby said. “Totalmembership is up 64.5 million since my first day at work andindustry capital is up $115 billion or 4,783%.”

Colby will be succeeded by Steve Rick, a senior economist forCUNA, according to CUNA Mutual.

With a bird eye's view of how the industry has simultaneouslyconsolidated and expanded over nearly four decades, Colby has seenhis fair share of trends, challenges and transformations. But itwas during the 1980s and the 1990s, he said, when the credit unionmodel was elevated by a few critical turning points.

“As a two-handed economist, I'd say on one hand it was thecredit union transition into real estate secured lending in the1980s, but on the other hand, it was the Credit Union MembershipAccess Act (H.R. 1151) and the work that Larry Blanchard did toensure credit unions could help more Americans in the future.”

Venerable leader Blanchard led the Credit Union Campaign forConsumer Choice in 1996 in getting H.R. 1151 passed into law.

Anyone who has interacted with Colby can consistently hear thepassion in his voice for credit unions, and his disdain forstagnation and mediocrity. He has long been vocal about unprofitable members who keep only meager funds in savingsaccounts, putting a drain on credit unions that have to maintainthe sometimes insolvent and dormant balances.

“My goal was always to have a positive impact on credit unionsand their members, despite how negative my forecast outlooks werefor the past several years,” Colby said. “Motivating people to takeaction to ensure their future sustainability was consistently atthe heart of all my communications.”

A native of Madison, Wis., who attended the University ofWisconsin-La Crosse, Colby's credit union passion was ignited inthe summer of 1976 when he interned at CUNA Mutual.

But even before then, he figured he would build a lifelongcareer involved with credit unions.

His grandfather opened an account for him at what was then CUNACredit Union hours after Colby was born in 1955, he recalled. Thatcooperative has undergone several changes since then, from itsearly moniker, to Great Wisconsin Credit Union, and after a merger,to the $2 billion Summit Credit Union in Madison, Wis. Summit stillhas the CUNA Credit Union field of membership rules open charter,he pointed out.

“I liked the work I was doing and loved the passion employeeshad for doing the right thing and the credit union philosophy. Itwas a natural fit,” Colby said of CUNA Mutual. “Besides, mygrandfather was a credit union pioneer in the early days, formingcredit unions throughout the country. It was in my blood.”

Colby was hired by CUNA Mutual in 1977 as a corporate researchspecialist and has held various corporate, operational andstrategic planning positions, the company said. He is also afounding member of the Credit Union Economics Group, which provides a broadperspective of macroeconomic and credit union trends. One ofColby's most notable achievements is the Credit Union Trends Report, a monthly pulse check on theeconomic state of the credit union movement.

When asked what he considered to be one of the industry'scalamities, Colby said credit unions have drawn strength fromadversity.

“While the system's initial over-reaction to the shock of thefinancial crisis is a low point, our ability to work our way out ofthe crisis and at the same time help members, is a testament tophilosophy and leadership,” he said.

It might be easy for some financial institutions, namely banks,to panic, scale back and hover in the corner during the recessionsthe country has experienced over the past few decades, Colby said.However, one advantage that credit unions had was their ability toleverage local knowledge to manage risk.

“They know what is happening to employment and collateralconditions within their fields of membership and are thus betterable to manage risk, especially when other lenders leave themarket,” he noted. “Credit unions' dedication to members' financialwell-being sets them apart from other financial institutions.”

Even though he is well known for providing analysis on industrytrends, he cautioned credit unions not to follow the pack.

“I'd prefer credit unions didn't spend time watching trends;rather, (they should create) their own futures in the bestinterests of their current and future fields of membership,” Colbysaid.

For one, member demographics will continue to be an importantfactor in how credit unions operate, he offered. They will alsoneed to closely watch the rapid evolution of payments systems andthe role of traditional banking in the future of consumer finance,Colby added.

“As an industry, we need to do more than talk aboutdemographics, we need to act, if we want to stay relevant,” heurged. “Credit unions really don't have a lot to offer retiredmembers or address the needs of the surge in baby boomerstransitioning into retirement.”

Colby said these demographic groups trusted credit unions withtheir savings and borrowing needs and wondered why they can't dothe same for retirement and retirement planning.

“Much more needs to be done. On the opposite end of the agespectrum, we need to attract a new generation of borrowers,” hesaid. “There is a big gap between members knowing what they can doand what they should do.”

Besides providing economic analysis, Colby said he believed hisinsights were helpful to CUNA Mutual as the company laid out itsown strategic planning. Knowing the people really made a differenceand made his forecasts more valuable to the company, he added.

“This sharing allowed me to get out with credit unions andbetter understand the challenges and opportunities the leaders werefacing,” Colby explained. “Interacting with the credit unionleaders responsible for delivering services to members on MainStreet helped direct my research and made my forecasts moreaccurate.”

With a slower pace in retirement, Colby said he's lookingforward to spending more time with his four grandchildren andcatching up on things he hasn't been able to get to for the past 10years. Not having a hectic schedule means he can also carve outsome time for some credit union projects and “of course, golf.” Hiszeal for credit unions may have passed down to one of his threedaughters: One of them currently works at a credit union.

Colby reminded credit unions to stay true to their core butmaintain flexibility on adapting to the constant swirl of changesin the financial services space.

“Remember, today's major challenges will look like minor speedbumps when viewed in the rearview mirror, so long as you keep yourwits about you and stay focused on the member.”