CU2.0 Podcast Episode 45 Gary Oakland BECU
Call this the credit union oral history sequence – Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, now Gary Oakland who took over BECU, with around $700 million in assets, in the mid 1980s and when he left in 2012 it had become a $10 billion+ credit union, one of the nation’s very biggest.
How did Oakland do it? In this podcast you will hear his recipe for credit union success which, put simply, is make the member the center of this universe. When the member is served, the credit union will thrive.
“It’s all about the member,” said Oakland.
Oakland sees a bright credit union future – but he wonders about the arrival of bank trained executives and how that background will impact credit unions.
A break that came BECU’s way was when the big bank in Washington State, Seafirst nearly went belly up in the 1980s – and was saved from that only when Bank of America took it over. That gave BECU smoother sailing in its quest to be dominant in its state.
Oakland says he is proud that he left BECU with a small credit union attitude in a big credit union body.
It’s an inspiring credit union tale.
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