WASHINGTON – All good things must come to an end, and for the Association of Corporate CUs a very good thing is ending with the departure of its executive director Gigi Hyland. Hyland is leaving the ACCU to join Empire Corporate FCU, Albany, N.Y., as General Counsel. "I'm so pleased to have her here with us. She brings a tremendous amount of knowledge with her," said Empire Corporate President/CEO Joe Herbst. Hyland has helped put the ACCU on the map. In recent years the ACCU has been instrumental in getting corporates' views across to NCUA, and creating a dialogue between the regulator and corporates, as well as legislators and corporates. The ACCU is a CUNA affiliate. Hyland was technically a CUNA employee who worked out of CUNA's offices in Washington. "I can't say enough about my colleagues here at CUNA," said Hyland, who noted that although she is the face of the ACCU, she was able to call upon all the resources of CUNA to help the ACCU succeed. CUNA and the ACCU have an association management services agreement. "CUNA manages the association, and helps with access to the regulator, and offers expertise and economic support," said Hyland. An attorney by trade, Hyland said she is anxious to get back to practicing law, and is ecstatic to be able to do so within the credit union industry. "I do love the law. It was a good opportunity to take the knowledge I have of corporates and see it in action," said Hyland. Hyland graduated from George Mason Law School in Alexandria, Va. From there she joined the family business – a law firm serving the needs of CUs. She joked that it was creatively named Hyland & Hyland, with her mother and father as the founders. "It was a general practice with most clients being credit unions. We dealt with consumer lending issues, residential real estate and just about anything that a credit union would need," she said. Hyland's legal background served her well with the ACCU and its quest to help bring corporates the best reg possible for the corporate network. Many of the provisions in Part 704 require a legal analysis to shore up what corporates can and can't do. The current proposed Part 704 (see story page 1), is really three years in the making, and Hyland, having joined the ACCU in 1997, has been there for the whole process. She said people shouldn't overlook how corporates have become more involved with other issues on Capitol Hill as well, such as check truncation. "We really tried to educate legislators on who corporates are and how they fit in the system," said Hyland. She noted corporate participation in CUNA's Hike the Hills and corporate CU staffers getting involved with legislative issues as the catalysts for legislators' newfound knowledge of corporates. "The involvement of many of the professionals of corporates to participate with NCUA, NACHA and the Federal Reserve open the road to allow the ACCU to be at the table on issues that affect them," said Hyland. The next executive director will be in the fortunate position of having a lot of regulatory, legislative and association contacts firmly in place. "The ACCU is in a very, very solid position. Having the ACCU as the recognized forum for corporates, for issues that affect them, is a very big deal," said Hyland. The ACCU boasts all of the corporates as members, except LICU FCU, Endicott, N.Y. Membership dues range from $3,000 to $45,000 depending on the asset size of the corporate. "This is bittersweet. I've enjoyed working with the corporate network and developing the contacts that I have, and I'm happy to be staying in the credit union movement. This opportunity came up and I seized it," said Hyland. Hyland, a resident of Arlington, will relocate to the Albany, N.Y.-area. She will join Empire on Jan. 1. The ACCU will conduct a search for her replacement through CUNA pursuant to the ACCU/CUNA Association Management Services Agreement. Anyone interested in the position, should forward resumes to Patricia Sowick, VP, Washington Operations, CUNA & Affiliates, Inc., 601 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., South Bldg., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20004. [email protected]