United Resources Federal Credit Union – the new institution that may rise out of Western Bridge Corporate, assuming adequate member support – on Monday announced it had tapped current Western Bridge CEO Philip Perkins to helm United Resources.
The three-year term is contingent upon NCUA approval.
Paul Lewis, CEO of San Diego Medical FCU and chair of the United Resources Executive Personnel Committee, said in an interview that Perkins was picked because "he has been doing a fabulous job managing the bridge."
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Lewis added that Perkins – named by NCUA to the post at Western Bridge – was greeted by some suspicion by credit union interests but "he now has the support of the credit union industry. Everybody wanted to dislike him, but he has turned the tables, he has gotten everyone to like him. As CEO of United Resources, he will provide stability and continuity."
Prior to joining WesCorp (the predecessor to Western Bridge) in 2009 Perkins served as a senior vice president at Delaware Investments in Philadelphia. Other jobs on his resume include stints at Deutsche Bank in London and Moscow.
In a prepared statement, United Resources Vice Chair Elizabeth Lipke, CEO of Bourns Employees FCU in Riverside, Calif., said, "From a strictly business perspective, it is critically important for credit unions in the western states to have a credit union-owned solution for item processing, settlement and liquidity services.
"Capitalizing this new corporate gives credit unions that option now and into the future and preserves the franchise value that the sheer numbers of credit unions and assets in the West along with the internal expertise of the current staff provide. We are excited to now have a formal arrangement with a strategically focused, highly qualified chief executive to lead us going forward. We feel it's important for investing credit union members to know in advance who will lead this critical effort."
The board submitted a charter application to the NCUA on June 14. All 885 members of Western Bridge have received a capital solicitation to fund the proposed new corporate. They have until Aug. 31 to join in the capitalization effort.
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