Mountain West Credit Union Association CEO Scott Earl Plans Retirement

The Mountain West Credit Union Association announced Monday its President/CEO Scott Earl plans to retire at the end of June next year.

Earl has served in his current role since the formation of the MWCUA in 2011 when the Arizona Credit Union League, the Credit Union Association of Colorado, and the Credit Union Association of Wyoming agreed to consolidate under one trade association. At the time of the merger, Earl was serving as president/CEO of the Arizona Credit Union League, a position he held since 2007.

He launched his credit union career in 1982 as the marketing director at the Utah Credit Union League. He spent 22 years with that organization, the last 12 years as its CEO. He also ran the Credit Unions for Kids Program at Children’s Miracle Network and served as vice president of league relations and disaster preparedness at CUNA.

According to the MWCUA, some of Earl’s notable achievements included championing the use of blockchain technology leading to the creation of CULedger, now Bonifii, which enables trusted digital transactions. He also explored new and innovative ways to serve credit unions in compliance, which led to a partnership with compliance solution provider AffirmX. This partnership later led to the purchase of the AffirmX technology with seven other leagues and service organizations to create CU Risk Intelligence. Earl also was involved in the Credit Union Vendor Management CUSO originally owned by the MWCUA and eight Colorado credit unions, which was purchased by the league in partnership with CU Solutions Group and Leverage.

Early in his career, Earl was a member of the first Development Educator class in 1982 and was instrumental in the first years of the DE program, serving as a mentor and member of the core staff. The program is administered through the National Credit Union Foundation. And in 1997, he spent several weeks in Moldova working with a small international group to draft the country’s first Credit Union Act.

“The (MWCUA) Board of Directors expresses its heartfelt gratitude for Scott’s tireless dedication and service, not only to the credit unions in the Mountain West region, but to the entire credit union movement itself,” Board Chair Todd Marksberry, president/CEO of the $3.4 billion Canvas Credit Union in Lone Tree, Colo., said in a prepared statement. “Scott’s leadership, integrity and heart for our credit unions, our members and our communities has been an inspiration for so many credit union leaders over the years. And his legacy of servant leadership will have a lasting impact on our credit union family for many years to come. We thank Scott and wish him, his wife, Bonny, and their family all the best in his retirement.”

The MWCUA board said in a prepared statement that it has named a search committee to determine the path forward for the league.

“I have been tremendously blessed to work in such a meaningful and fulfilling movement throughout my entire career,” Earl said in a prepared statement. “I have had many opportunities to work alongside colleagues whose passion and heart have developed credit unions into what they are today, the consumer’s best financial partner. I’m proud of our efforts at the Association, having created a regional system of support and collaboration for our members. I’m certain the work we began with the formation of the Association in 2011 and over the past decade is a solid foundation for an exciting and bright future.”

The MWCUA represents member credit unions that serve 4.2 million credit union members and manage $65 billion in assets. There approximately 137 credit unions throughout Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming.