Prichard, new TCUL chairman, has high hopes for new league, CU Resources infrastructures

<p>SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Watt Prichard had to stop and think hard to figure out how many years he’s been involved working with Texas credit unions – 34 years. Now the more than three-decade Texas CU career of the president/CEO of San Antonio Telephone FCU has reached another milestone – Prichard was named the new chairman of the Texas Credit Union League at the league’s annual meeting held here April 18-19. Prichard, like many people who work in the credit union movement, began his involvement with credit unions as a volunteer. With his accounting skills in tow – Prichard said he considers himself a “managerial accountant by attitude” – he later worked as an NCUA examiner for Region 5. In March 1986, he traded in his examiner’s hat to become president of San Antonio Telephone FCU. At the time, he recalled, the credit union had about $22 million in assets and 13,500 members. Chartered in 1936 as an AT&T credit union, the split up of the telephone company had a dramatic effect on the credit union’s field-of-membership. “Before the split up, when you were hired by the company, an employee knew they would work for AT&T until they retired. Since AT&T was split up, there have been significant layoffs and cutbacks. That never happened before,” said Prichard. In 2001, Prichard said San Antonio Telephone FCU lost 18% of its primary FOM due to company layoffs. When Southwestern Bell moved its headquarters from St. Louis to San Antonio a few years ago, SATFCU picked up some of the relocated executives as new members. But that wasn’t enough to make up for the membership the credit union lost previously. Last year, San Antonio Telephone FCU decided to expand its field-of-membership after being a single sponsor CU for more than 60 years. Prichard said the credit union contemplated converting to a state charter or a community charter, but it eventually decided on taking in underserved areas around its two in-city branches. SATFCU is in the process of conducting research to change its name. Prichard said he’s a firm believer that, “Any segment of society can be served cooperatively and profitably. It’s an art form, there is no formula,” and he stressed that credit unions have to become more proficient with serving the Hispanic community. He described the San Antonio credit union community as being “very dynamic,” with 34 CUs doing business there that are under $20 million in assets, and three – Security Service FCU, Randolph-Brooks FCU and San Antonio FCU – having over $1 billion in assets. Despite the divergence of their sizes, Prichard said all the CUs work well together. During the H.R. 1151 fight, for example, he said the entire credit union community donated money, some giving as much as $50,000 to the effort. Afterwards, the credit unions wanted to jointly do something to keep the credit union name in front of consumers, and they made a pact to cooperative work towards that effort. As an example of their efforts, the credit unions jointly raised about $290,000 for CU for Kids, the Children’s Miracle Network. This year, they also raised enough money to fund donations made to local politicians in their election efforts. Prichard steps into the chairman’s seat at the League shortly after the not-for-profit part of the business separated itself from the for-profit CU Resources, previously known as TCUL Services. Prichard said the separation of the two means a reduced political influence on decisions concerning fee-supported services. Under the new structure, the 11-member board of CU Resources includes six TCUL Board members and five members from the community-at-large. When Prichard’s one-year term as league chairman expires next year, he will be eligible to be chair for a second term. He hopes during his term in office that he will be successful with influencing the development of a new infrastructure for the league, and that the structure of the CU Resources Board will allow that organization to increase dividends to the dues supported side of the business. Prichard wants TCUL and CU Resources to both be stronger financially, With his chairmanship coinciding with the credit union delegates passage at the annual conference of a new dues structure (see related story page 1), Prichard said the league will see the first half of the increase during the second year of his tenure as chairman. “I hope efficiency and effectiveness will increase and continue the momentum of the continued improvement of services from the league and CU Resources,” said Prichard. [email protected]</p>