A man who made his mark, and his fortune, helping small banks and credit unions compete in an increasingly challenging economic environment has just published a new book on why he thinks such institutions are so important.

Too Small to Fail: How the Financial Crisis Changed the World's Perceptions by Louis Hernandez Jr. also takes a look at how the subprime crisis and ensuing banking meltdown occurred and issues a call to action for community financial institutions and their leaders to assert their proper role in preventing a repeat.

Hernandez is the chairman and CEO of Open Solutions Inc., a Connecticut startup he joined as a $10 million a year venture and led to its current position as a global provider of enterprise electronic commerce solutions to more than 4,000 clients.