Rayhill Retires at Redwood as CU Sits on Cusp of the Billion Dollar Mark

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – In a surprise move, William Rayhill has retired effective immediately as president/CEO of the $875 million Redwood Credit Union. “I’ve enjoyed being a part of Redwood Credit Union for the last 20 years, and contributing to the organization and its success. Now I’m looking forward to starting a new phase of my life,” said Rayhill in a press release. A credit union spokesperson said Rayhill was unavailable for comment. The move wasn’t a total surprise to the credit union, said Rod Dole a Redwood CU board member who also happens to serve as Sonoma County controller. “He just got back from vacation and announced it. We’ve been talking about it for over a year. He always joked that he’d like to retire at 55,” said Dole. Rayhill joined the credit union over 20 years ago and helped build it from a $20 million CU with 10,000 members to the $948 million, 105,000 member CU it is today. Redwood CU is located in wine country and Rayhill has 11 acres of land where he is growing one of the hottest grape varieties right now. He’s been getting a lot of interest from wineries. “A couple of years ago he planted a whole vineyard, Rayhill Ranch Vineyard. He has contracts in place for some of it,” said Dole. Redwood CU EVP and COO Brett Martinez has been named interim CEO. “I have a lot of respect for William as a leader, so there are some mixed emotions,” said Martinez. Martinez, 37, was formerly the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for the credit union. He has nearly 20 years of credit union experience, having previously served as a Senior Executive for both the California Credit Union League and Arrowhead Credit Union in San Bernardino, Calif. He holds a B.S. and an MBA in Business Administration from California State University/San Bernardino. Martinez is hopeful that he’ll be named the permanent CEO by the board. “There’s a possibility they’ll do a search. They haven’t really gotten to that stage yet. When William was out at conferences and such I was in the charge, so the board has some comfort level with me,” said Martinez, who noted as CEO he would just continue the solid mission, values, and culture the CU already has. One new area for the credit union is business services. “We have a new EVP starting that comes to us from the Golden One. That person’s main focus will be in the business services area,” said Martinez. [email protected]