Crear Named President/CEO of WOCCU

MADISON, Wis. – Credit union veteran Pete Crear is coming out of retirement to rejoin the credit union industry. After an extensive search for a new president/CEO, the World Council of Credit Unions has named Crear its new president/CEO, effective June 20. Crear, who retired the end of 2004, succeeds Arthur Arnold who left WOCCU in January. Dr. Brian Branch has served as interim president since then. “When I retired I had plans to play a lot of golf and catch up on my `honey do!' list. I haven't gotten very far,” he admits. Part of the reason, he says, is because he's had something to do involving credit unions almost every week since he stepped down. For example, in just the week of May 16th alone, he spoke on a panel at the CO-OP Network's conference in Chicago, and also spoke at the International Technologies Credit Union Association meeting in Orlando, Fla Crear says his wife is “150% in my corner” about him taking on the corner office at WOCCU, “otherwise I wouldn't have accepted the position.” He adds that, “She knows my love for the World Council and is familiar with the organization because when I first came to Madison to work for CUNA in 1990 one of my primary responsibilities was servicing as liaison to the World Council.” Crear's credit union career spans some 40 years. He joined CUNA in 1990 as senior vice president of association services and then worked for the association as its chief operating officer responsible for overseeing the daily operations of CUNA & Affiliates' offices in Madison, Wis. He was also responsible for credit union development including the Development Educators Program and the National Credit Union Foundation. Most recently he was CUNA's executive vice president external affairs. Before joining CUNA, Crear was president/CEO of the Indiana Credit Union League and president of the Connecticut Credit Union Association. He's also worked as vice president of Information and Technical Services for the Michigan Credit Union League and as executive director of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL). In addition to holding these various positions in the credit union industry, Crear's accomplishments include founding the African-American Credit Union Coalition and championing a credit union/financial education partnership that has reached over 1,000 American high schools. WOCCU Chairman L.R. (Bobby) McVeigh said in hiring Crear, “We believe we have the candidate who will build on the success of the past and ensure a strong future for the organization.” Crear says he intends to “hit the ground running” when he starts his new job which will be just a few weeks away from WOCCU's Annual Conference in Rome. Crear says he's looking forward to meeting with as many international CU leaders as possible at that meeting “to get a sense of what they expect from WOCCU.” He also plans during his first few months on board to look at WOCCU “from the inside out to see what challenges and opportunities we're facing.” -

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