Pioneer Chief Honored as Credit Union CEO of the Year - FINANCIAL-24
Dan McGowan was passed over for the position of CEO at the credit union where he worked in Tallahassee, Florida, so he decided to take a job offer in West Virginia.
That apparently has paid off for McGowan, who recently was honored as CEO of the Year by the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.
“When I came here 6 and a half years ago, we were the third-largest in our market and sixth-largest in the state. We have moved up to the largest in our market area and fourth largest in the state,” said McGowan, CEO of Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union.
Pioneer is based in Charleston. It has branches in Belle, Oak Hill, Hurricane, South Charleston and Huntington. McGowan was born and raised in what he calls Lower Alabama. When he did not get the CEO job at the credit union in Tallahassee, he heard from Dana Rawlings, CEO of Pioneer.
Rawlings had been hired in 2010 to make some changes at Pioneer following a year in which losses topped $100,000. Rawlings hired McGowan as chief financial officer, and he hired Trevor Hyre as chief operating officer. That gave the credit union three new people in leadership positions to devise and implement a turnaround plan, McGowan said.
The first thing they did was go after the low-hanging fruit. Excess cash was moved to build the loan portfolio, McGowan said. The following year, 2011, saw Pioneer record its highest ever capital growth through earnings, McGowan said.
Pioneer went from a net loss of $143,790 in 2010 to net earnings of a little over $1 million in 2011, which was a record for Pioneer. Earnings went on a decline after that, but they rebounded in 2015 and 2017, topping $1 million each year.
Asset growth and membership growth leveled off the past couple of years, but the number continue to rise, McGowan said.
Rawlings retired in October 2014, and McGowan was promoted to CEO. “We’ve tried to keep up the momentum. It has not necessarily been easy here in West Virginia,” McGowan said. “I don’t think we’re going to hit another record this year. We’re seeing a lot of delinquencies and charge-offs, but we’re going to navigate this as well as anybody else.”
People should expect to see Pioneer plateau for a while before taking off on another growth spurt, McGowan said. He said he could not elaborate on how that would be accomplished or even give any hints of it, but results could be seen as early as next year, he said.
In November 2000, the West Virginia School Employees Credit Union, as it was then called, assumed the business operations of the Mountaineer Federal Credit Union in South Charleston and changed its name to Pioneer West Virginia. In December 2002, it obtained a community charter that allowed it to expand its membership base. It now has members in 10 counties.
Today Pioneer West Virginia is the fourth largest credit union West Virginia and the largest south of U.S. Route 50. As of Dec. 31, it had about $196.9 million in assets and 17,242 members, putting it behind First Choice American Community F.C.U. in Weirton, Bayer Heritage F.C.U. in Proctor and Fairmont F.C.U. in Fairmont in both assets and members.
Pioneer is in a crowded market in Charleston, which is home to another four members of the 10 largest credit unions as ranked by assets: Star USA, West Virginia, Peoples and Members Choice West Virginia.
McGowan credited the success of the credit union to its philosophy of trying to build relationships with and provide service to its customers. “We are here to do things for people,” he said. “The banks and so many others are there to do thing to people.” As one example, Pioneer offers a credit card for people who carry a balance, McGowan said. Its interest rate ranges from 5.7 percent to 17.95 percent instead of in the high 20s that some cards have, he said.
Pioneer reported net income of $1.3 million last year. Federal regulations require that amount to be placed back into the credit union for member services, McGowan said. About half of Pioneer’s loan portfolio is in home mortgages, and the other half is in consumer loans such as auto loans and credit cards, McGowan said. “That typically gets a well-rounded household’s needs taken care of,” he said.
Pioneer also seeks to create an environment in which employees find ways to benefit its members. It is upgrading technology on par with that deployed by major banks, he said. Pioneer board chairman Terry Richardson said Pioneer has seen a number of positive changes since McGowan joined its management team in late 2010.
“Total assets have grown about $75 million since then, crossing a milestone in March at just over $200 million,” Richardson said. “It’s all about being known for consumer service. Dan and his team have done such an excellent job in working with people that much of our growth has come from referrals from existing members.”
Pioneer moved into its new headquarters and Charleston location on Presidents Day weekend. It was the first time in the credit union’s 77-year history that it had built a headquarters from the ground up, McGowan said.
McGowan said he sees the new building as something that conveys Pioneer’s success as a financial institution. He also wanted it to be something the city could be proud to have along Kanawha Boulevard and the Kanawha River.
“We are a true and genuine Charleston success story,” McGowan said.
That apparently has paid off for McGowan, who recently was honored as CEO of the Year by the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.
“When I came here 6 and a half years ago, we were the third-largest in our market and sixth-largest in the state. We have moved up to the largest in our market area and fourth largest in the state,” said McGowan, CEO of Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union.
Pioneer is based in Charleston. It has branches in Belle, Oak Hill, Hurricane, South Charleston and Huntington. McGowan was born and raised in what he calls Lower Alabama. When he did not get the CEO job at the credit union in Tallahassee, he heard from Dana Rawlings, CEO of Pioneer.
Rawlings had been hired in 2010 to make some changes at Pioneer following a year in which losses topped $100,000. Rawlings hired McGowan as chief financial officer, and he hired Trevor Hyre as chief operating officer. That gave the credit union three new people in leadership positions to devise and implement a turnaround plan, McGowan said.
The first thing they did was go after the low-hanging fruit. Excess cash was moved to build the loan portfolio, McGowan said. The following year, 2011, saw Pioneer record its highest ever capital growth through earnings, McGowan said.
Pioneer went from a net loss of $143,790 in 2010 to net earnings of a little over $1 million in 2011, which was a record for Pioneer. Earnings went on a decline after that, but they rebounded in 2015 and 2017, topping $1 million each year.
Asset growth and membership growth leveled off the past couple of years, but the number continue to rise, McGowan said.
Rawlings retired in October 2014, and McGowan was promoted to CEO. “We’ve tried to keep up the momentum. It has not necessarily been easy here in West Virginia,” McGowan said. “I don’t think we’re going to hit another record this year. We’re seeing a lot of delinquencies and charge-offs, but we’re going to navigate this as well as anybody else.”
People should expect to see Pioneer plateau for a while before taking off on another growth spurt, McGowan said. He said he could not elaborate on how that would be accomplished or even give any hints of it, but results could be seen as early as next year, he said.
In November 2000, the West Virginia School Employees Credit Union, as it was then called, assumed the business operations of the Mountaineer Federal Credit Union in South Charleston and changed its name to Pioneer West Virginia. In December 2002, it obtained a community charter that allowed it to expand its membership base. It now has members in 10 counties.
Today Pioneer West Virginia is the fourth largest credit union West Virginia and the largest south of U.S. Route 50. As of Dec. 31, it had about $196.9 million in assets and 17,242 members, putting it behind First Choice American Community F.C.U. in Weirton, Bayer Heritage F.C.U. in Proctor and Fairmont F.C.U. in Fairmont in both assets and members.
Pioneer is in a crowded market in Charleston, which is home to another four members of the 10 largest credit unions as ranked by assets: Star USA, West Virginia, Peoples and Members Choice West Virginia.
McGowan credited the success of the credit union to its philosophy of trying to build relationships with and provide service to its customers. “We are here to do things for people,” he said. “The banks and so many others are there to do thing to people.” As one example, Pioneer offers a credit card for people who carry a balance, McGowan said. Its interest rate ranges from 5.7 percent to 17.95 percent instead of in the high 20s that some cards have, he said.
Pioneer reported net income of $1.3 million last year. Federal regulations require that amount to be placed back into the credit union for member services, McGowan said. About half of Pioneer’s loan portfolio is in home mortgages, and the other half is in consumer loans such as auto loans and credit cards, McGowan said. “That typically gets a well-rounded household’s needs taken care of,” he said.
Pioneer also seeks to create an environment in which employees find ways to benefit its members. It is upgrading technology on par with that deployed by major banks, he said. Pioneer board chairman Terry Richardson said Pioneer has seen a number of positive changes since McGowan joined its management team in late 2010.
“Total assets have grown about $75 million since then, crossing a milestone in March at just over $200 million,” Richardson said. “It’s all about being known for consumer service. Dan and his team have done such an excellent job in working with people that much of our growth has come from referrals from existing members.”
Pioneer moved into its new headquarters and Charleston location on Presidents Day weekend. It was the first time in the credit union’s 77-year history that it had built a headquarters from the ground up, McGowan said.
McGowan said he sees the new building as something that conveys Pioneer’s success as a financial institution. He also wanted it to be something the city could be proud to have along Kanawha Boulevard and the Kanawha River.
“We are a true and genuine Charleston success story,” McGowan said.
This is the article Pioneer Chief Honored as Credit Union CEO of the Year - FINANCIAL-24 this time, hopefully can benefit for you all. well, see you in other article post.
Title : Pioneer Chief Honored as Credit Union CEO of the Year - FINANCIAL-24
link : Pioneer Chief Honored as Credit Union CEO of the Year - FINANCIAL-24
0 Response to "Pioneer Chief Honored as Credit Union CEO of the Year - FINANCIAL-24"
Post a Comment