Nealon Named to Top Job at $1.5 Billion Constitution Corporate CU; Fills Last Vacant Corporate CU CEO Slot

WALLINGFORD, Conn. – Bob Nealon is Constitution Corporate’s new CEO. Nealon is coming from the natural person CU domain, currently serving as EVP/CFO of the $487 million Sikorsky FCU. Nealon is very familiar with the $1.5 billion Constitution Corporate having served on its supervisory committee as well as its board. In fact he just resigned from the board because under the corporate’s bylaws you can’t be employed by the corporate and be a director. According to the Constitution Board, hiring a former board member was a plus because they think it will speed his adjustment time to the new role. Nealon doesn’t think the jump from natural person to corporate will be difficult. “I think considering our ownership is all natural persons, it should be a good fit. Also me being on the board for a period, gives me a sensitivity to the corporate side of things. I’m also looking forward to the learning experience,” said Nealon. The vacancy was created last year when former Constitution CEO David Addison resigned to become CEO of the $1.3 billion Texans CU, where longtime CEO Jim Bryan had retired. Constitution was one of three corporates with CEO vacancies, a big number for a network that only has 29 corporates. The CEO job was open at Central CU Fund after the resignation of Gary Glassman, and Corporate Central CU CEO Marc Schroeder announced his retirement plans. Both of those jobs have been filled as well. Nealon, 52, has been with Sikorsky for seven years. Prior to that he held managerial jobs at Amax, Alpie Group, Inc. and also worked at a major auditing firm. He holds an MBA from the Columbia Graduate School of Business and is a certified public accountant. Constitution is an interesting corporate. While it sticks to its knitting of serving Connecticut credit unions almost exclusively, it has had a lot of success nationwide with both credit unions and corporates with technology products emanating from its SmartSource Solutions tech CUSO. Its online credit union board solution, CU Boardroom, has become a popular choice for CUs looking to automate some board processes. It was also one of the first corporates to make the data processing transition to Open Solutions, Inc., and has helped other corporates make the transition.The IRS has become a factor for the corporate of late. Constitution was caught up in the unrelated business income tax audits the IRS did of all state chartered credit unions in the state. More recently, an examiner from a local IRS office asked for guidance from IRS headquarters about whether or not Constitution even meets the definition of a credit union and should be tax exempt. That issue looks like it will be resolved favorably for Constitution, according to feedback from CUNA and others. Nealon said he’s joining a strong corporate. “We have a very good team up there. Bill White has been up there 17 years, really knows the operational area up there. There are a lot of people that can help me make this transition,” said Nealon. White, who is VP of Strategic Alliances for Constitution, served as interim CEO during the executive search. White made it clear from the beginning that he was not a candidate for the job. White will return to his VP role on July 1. On the personal side of things, one of Nealon’s passions is the New York Yankees. A fan for many years, Nealon often takes in games at Yankee stadium and was on hand for last year’s memorable game 7 between the Yankees and long time rival Boston Red Sox. “It was just incredible,” he said. However Nealon may not want to wave the Yankee flag at board meetings as the corporate’s chairman, George MacDonald, CEO of Waterbury Connecticut Teachers FCU, is a die-hard Red Sox fan. “I’ll be careful,” he said. [email protected]