At 24 years old, right out of graduate school, Craig Esrael took over First South Credit Union in Bartlett, Tenn. Excited, confident and perhaps a little na?ve, Esrael entered a credit union on the brink of NCUA conservatorship with six quarters of losses, total capital of less than $2 million, the second worst CAMEL score granted, high staff turnover and six CEOs in seven years.

Esrael, not discouraged, hit the ground running and developed a plan to turn it all around.

That was 1983, now First South has over $92 million in total capital, the longest consecutive history of perfect IDC scores out of all financial institutions in Tennessee and the third longest history in the entire nation, 16 consecutive years of perfect five-star ratings from Bauer, a strong capital position and 14 branches. As of June 30, 2009 First South Credit Union recorded the third highest net worth-to-asset ratio in the nation for credit unions with more than $150 million in assets and the second highest ROA, for credit unions with more than $20 million in assets, out of all credit unions in the nation at 3.55%.