Ken Watts, CEO of West Virginia CU League, Retires After 46 Years of Service

The West Virginia Credit Union League has been operating for more than 80 years, and for 46 of those years, Ken Watts successfully advanced the state’s credit union movement.

Watts, who retired on April 30, joined WVCUL as a field representative in 1975, organizing and growing credit unions throughout the Mountain State. He subsequently held the positions of marketing director, director of education and EVP, and was appointed the league’s president/CEO in 1989.

Rich Schaffer, who joined WVCUL 33 years ago and has served as its SVP since 2004, was named Watts’ successor, the league’s board of directors said.

“Forty-six years is a long time, but I still have the same kind of enthusiasm that I had back in 1975 when I started, knowing that we have a small part in helping [members'] financial lives through credit unions. That’s the kind of thing that has made the longevity not seem long at all,” Watts said when he accepted the 2021 Eugene H. Farley League Leadership Award in March from the American Association of Credit Union Leagues. “I am so thankful to have had a career that’s been touched by so many wonderful people.”

Joetta Heck, president/CEO of the $43.4 million Kemba Charleston Federal Credit Union in Dunbar, said Watts was planning to retire last year before the pandemic hit.

“Being the upstanding person that he is, he absolutely refused to do that and walk out during this pandemic,” Heck said, who chairs the WVCUL board of directors. Just as Watts has done throughout his distinguished credit union career, he continued to work tirelessly to make sure that credit unions not only survived but thrived during an incredibly challenging year.

Watts, who led a “small but mighty” league staff, always managed to consistently deliver strong financial performance results for both the league and the League Services Corporation, while also maintaining an affiliation rate of more than 93%.

“Ken is seen by credit union leaders and league staff as a model of honesty and integrity. His leadership style promotes fairness and integrity in all facets of the organization,” Charles Elliott, president/CEO of the Mississippi Credit Union League and 2020 Farley Award Winner, said. “His consistent actions have set a tone and an example, which others strive to emulate.”

Ken’s cooperative ventures are vast, noted Fred Robinson, president/CEO of the Tennessee Credit Union League.

“Some highlights for me include Ken being a founding director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Service Corporation; being a founding member and director of the TR Group; partnering with the Colorado League and later Illinois to provide card services to credit unions in West Virginia; leading the effort among Leagues [formerly in] NCUA Region II to promote a dialogue exchange with the chief regulator in face-to-face meetings, which resulted in a better understanding of credit unions’ priorities and examination concerns; and working with the Ohio Credit Union League in bringing shared branching services to West Virginia,” Robinson said.

Nationally, Watts achieved several key advocacy accomplishments, such as lobbying Congress on numerous issues affecting credit unions, according to League Peaks, the WVCUL’s official publication. He was one of the leaders during the “Don’t Tax My Credit Union” initiative coordinating with CUNA’s credit union choice campaign, which successfully overturned a negative U.S. Supreme Court decision affecting credit union membership restrictions.

The spring edition of the WVCUL’s publication was entirely dedicated to Watts and highlighted his career achievements.

Watts’ successor, Rich Schaffer, who also serves as the de-facto editor of League Peaks, noted that Watts’ retirement is not the end of an era, but a marking of time.

“Ken’s legacy of service will carry forward and will be felt for many years to come. We stand on the shoulders of people who have made this movement what it is today. We have been blessed with people like Ken who have dedicated their time to building it up further,” Schaffer wrote in a farewell address to Watts. “From Chester to Bluefield and from Charlestown to Ceredo, and every place in between, Ken traveled the backroads and highways to further the movement. It came in the form of kitchen-table bookkeeping, to chapter meetings, credit union annual meetings and League annual meetings. We need to pause for a moment to take it all in. This League record of service will not be broken. We can only turn the page and cherish our past as we move forward, knowing that the bar has been set high, and it’s up to us to maintain it the best we can.”