Mills Exiting NAFCU Board for CU, Personal Reasons

FORT WAYNE, Ind.-There just are not enough hours in the day for Jim Mills to run his credit union, chair NAFCU, and be a grandfather. The Three Rivers Federal Credit Union president and CEO recently told Credit Union Times that he plans to leave the NAFCU Board at the end of this term, which concludes with the organization’s annual meeting in July. “We’ve got a lot of things going on at our credit union.” Mills remarked, adding, “I’ve got a lot of things going on in my life with my granddaughter.” Attending quarterly meetings in Washington, participating in executive committee meetings over the phone, and keeping in daily contact with NAFCU can take time away from other things, he explained. Mills credited his strong senior management team at Three Rivers with keeping the credit union running smoothly and allowing him to serve as NAFCU’s chair. In six years on the NAFCU Board, Mills spent his first year as a board member, his second chairing the search to find an executive vice president, his third chairing the search to replace retiring President and CEO Ken Robinson, and the last three chairing the board. One of the things Mills brought to NAFCU was 19-1/2 years as an NCUA examiner, so he was very familiar with how NCUA operated. He listed many accomplishments of the NAFCU Board under his chairmanship, including work to enhance the federal charter, taking the board out of the day-to-day workings of the trade group, lobby work on regulatory relief legislation, growing NAFCU/PAC, completing a major overhaul of the Web site, reorganizing the committees, and revamping NAFCU Services Corp. Also during his time on the board, a smooth transition between Robinson and current President and CEO Fred Becker was orchestrated. Mills gave much of the credit to NAFCU’s “12 very professional, intelligent board members.” [email protected]