As Retirement Date Nears, Klein Readying to Call His CU Career a Wrap

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. – Hank Klein insists he's trying very hard to wind down his credit union career in anticipation of his imminent retirement, but he's finding that hard to do because "they're still keeping me busy." Klein will officially become a credit union industry retiree June 30 when he steps down as president/CEO of Arkansas FCU. He'll be 65 after celebrating his birthday June 14, the age he says he intended to retire at. Klein's retirement will close the door on what's turned out to be a 38-year career which was launched quite accidentally when the Cleveland, Ohio native began working in 1967 as a loan interviewer at what was then called Patrick Air Force CU and is now Space Coast CU, Melbourne, Fla. That job not only launched Klein's credit union career but also what would turn out to be his and his wife of 27 years Muriel's love affair with the sandy beaches of Florida. The two of them currently have a house in North Little Rock, Ark. where they live during the summer months and another home in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. where they live November-January near his four children and their families. Klein actually gained his early experience making loans working at Household Finance Company in Charleston, S.C. Fresh out of the Naval Reserves which he admits he signed up for when he got out of college "to get out of the draft," Klein worked for HFC in their manager trainee program which meant, he says, "I was supposed to spend six months making loans and six months collecting them." Klein says HFC "was a good teacher on how to loan and collect money," but he had a hard time reconciling himself to the idea of taking advantage of people, "and they did that regularly by rolling loans over and constantly refinancing loans. It was very similar to what payday lenders do today." Klein recalls that at the time, one of his associates at HFC – Michael Daly who recently retired as president of B C T FCU, Binghamton, N.Y. – quit his position with the company to work for Charleston AFB FCU. In his new position, Klein said Daly would help members who'd taken out HFC loans be approved for loans from the CU to pay off their debts. "I'd call him up and chewed him out for taking away the HFC business, and he invited me to come to the credit union to check out the operation and meet the staff," Klein says, recalling when he visited Charleston AFB FCU it was located in cramped quarters in the back of the movie theatre on the base. Klein wound up working at the credit union for three years, eventually as collection manager, and left to work at Eglin CU, Fort Walton Beach leaving there nine years later as assistant general manager, to work for Tyndall FCU in Panama City, Fla. as president/CEO. In 1987, the CPA firm Tyndall FCU used told Klein about a president's position opening up at another one of its clients – Arkansas FCU – and recommended Klein for the position. The rest is history – 18 years worth. Klein confesses that the first thing that impressed him about Arkansas FCU when he started working there was it was well run. The CU, for example, only had a five-member board, and Klein especially liked that. "I'd always worked with larger boards and they're harder to work with. Arkansas FCU impressed me as wanting to provide good services for their members," he says. That initial hunch about AFCU proved true. Klein recalls when he started working at the CU it was called Little Rock AFB FCU, had approximately 20,000 members, $87 million in assets, $6 million in reserves and no branches. AFCU currently is the largest credit union in Arkansas with 59,000 members, $410 million in assets, $56 million in reserves and eight branches. One of the things he says that's impressed him most about Arkansas FCU is "we don't stand still, we're constantly moving ahead. The board has always been very receptive to my ideas. They haven't bought into everything I've suggested to them over the years, but for the most part we've had balanced growth and built a wonderful relationship." All in all, says Klein, "I've thoroughly enjoyed my tenure here. I have no regrets, I've been very happy working here and with the credit union movement." Thirty-eight years is sufficient time to accumulating memories, and Klein certainly has his share. He's most proud of helping individual members and the credit union's members as a whole. "I'm leaving them a credit union that's in excellent shape. I've been on a number of boards and enjoyed helping other credit union CEOs and sharing my knowledge and expertise," says Klein. The outgoing Arkansas FCU president says when he retires the end of June, he doesn't plan to remain active with credit unions. He currently serves on the CUES Board and will attend his last meeting in November. Klein also has one more year to serve on the CU24 Board until June 2006, and he intends to fulfill his obligations to that. Instead Klein intends to spend time on what he calls his "real interest for the rest of his life," that is spending more time with his wife and their children – between the two of them they have seven children and nine grandchildren in various states. Klein says he and Muriel intend to be more involved in their childrens' lives and spend more time traveling and basically "doing things we haven't had the time to do in the past." He also plans to remain involved with volunteer work. A staunch critic of payday lending – he testified in March on behalf of NAFCU at a roundtable called by House Small Business Rural Enterprises, Agriculture, and Technology Subcommittee Chairman San Graves (R-Mo.) – Klein already volunteers for Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending. He also wants to volunteer at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center which is where his retirement celebration will be held June 11. "I've had a great time working at Arkansas FCU and with credit unions. I hope I leave the credit union in better condition than I found it in and helped people accomplish their goals," says Klein. -