Earl, Ex-Utah League President, Lands Job with Children's Miracle Network

SALT LAKE CITY – Scott Earl, the former president/CEO of the Utah League of Credit Unions, is heading up the “Credit Unions for Kids” charity of Children’s Miracle Network, the Salt Lake-based non-profit agency which funds children’s hospitals across the U.S. “We’ve been talking to Scott over the last two months and are excited to have him on board considering his long expertise in working with credit unions,” said Teri Rukenbrod, senior vice president-development for CMN. Earl, who served the Utah League as its president for 12 years and was a national CU advocate in the fight against banker attacks, departed the trade group last November by “mutual” consent following sentiment by some board members for “a tougher, aggressive” counter-attack to the bank challenge. Earl has been given a one-year contract with CMN to promote “Credit Unions for Kids” to a wider CU audience within CUNA and state leagues. CMN, which contributes funds to 170 children’s hospitals across the U.S. and Canada and lists 5,000 CUs as donors, said it hopes the addition of Earl will raise donation levels which in 2002 were at $6 million. Among corporate givers, CUs rank third in the nation behind Wal-Mart Corp. with $30 million and Remax Realty at $7 million. Texas and Oregon are the most active state leagues in the “Credit Unions for Kids” program putting on a host of fund raisers from bake sales to car washes, noted Earl, who was slated to promote the program during last week’s CUNA Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “The People Helping People philosophy and the goals of Children’s Miracle Network go hand in hand, and I couldn’t be more pleased to be working to benefit children’s hospitals across the country,” said Earl who added that he hopes to develop some “turnkey” programs with individual leagues to entice more CU participation. Before resigning as Utah League CEO, Earl was chairman of the American Association of CU Leagues, a post he also relinquished. CMN is endorsed by all 50 state Leagues and “is the charity of choice for America’s credit union movement,” noted a CMN press release. Rukenbrod of CMN said it is hoped Earl’s participation might increase CU penetration to 10,000 from its current 5,000 level. The lone CU executive on the CMN Board is Thomas Sargent, president/CEO of First Technology CU in Beaverton, Ore., but the chairman, Charles Amato, is president of Southwest Business Corp., of San Antonio, Texas which sells insurance products to CUs. CMN’s support is linked closely to singing and entertainment star Marie Osmond, whose Osmond Foundation helped organize the charity. She is a director along with John Schneider, ex-star of `Dukes of Hazard’ TV fame. -