In an unusual move, the Heartland Credit Union Associationboard of directors hired an outsider to lead its 192 affiliatedKansas and Missouri credit unions into a new and uncertainfuture.

Although Brad Douglas, 54, does not hold any professional credit unionexperience, he served for 10 years on the board of directors forthe 198,536-member CommunityAmerica Credit Union in Lexana,Kan.

Serving as chair from 2011 to 2015, Douglas transformed theboard's role to one that was strategic and proactive, and wouldhelp the credit union's talented management team achieve its goals.Under the leadership of the board and the executive team, CACU grew its assets from $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion and itsnet income jumped from $10.9 million to $18.4 million from 2011 to2015.

While serving on the board, Douglas became hooked on the creditunion movement and developed a passion for it, which led him tobecome the first president/CEO of the Heartland association that officially opened in January.

“When I joined the board, I really didn't know what a creditunion actually was, and I told them that they obviously weren'trecruiting me because I'm so knowledgeable about financial servicesin the credit union industry,” Douglas recalled. “And theylaughed.”

Rather, the board recruited Douglas because of his deepconnections in the local, regional and national business community,as well as his governmental affairs background.

“I absolutely fell in love with credit unions and startedthrowing myself into the industry to learn more about it and becomepart of it,” he said. “I think that the co-op business model forfinancial services is a tremendous model. I think that it haslong-term viability. I love the fact that credit unions are abouthelping people. That's what gets me up in the morning. I want to gohave a positive impact on people's lives. And now I get to go towork in an industry where that's the culture.”

In addition to his extensive business development experience inthe profit and non-profit realms, Douglas also spent years workingfor state and federal governments. He served as the budgetcommittee counsel for the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon of Illinois,and was director for the state of Missouri office in Washington. Healso worked in congressional and administrative positions for theU.S. Small Business Administration.

His most recent position was as vice president of businessdevelopment and retirement plan consultant for the Alliance BenefitGroup of Kansas City, which he joined in 2007. He was responsiblefor overseeing national sales, marketing and businessdevelopment.

Douglas, whose first day on the job was April 1, took sometime out of his blazingly busy schedule to talk about how theskills, talents and experience he honed from the worlds ofbusiness, law, government and politics will help him lead and growthe Heartland association, its credit unions and the movement. Theinterview will be published in the May 4, 2016 print issue ofCredit Union Times.