By Ray Birch
LARAMIE, Wyoming—Tyler Valentine believes credit unions are at a critical juncture, and if they don’t take steps to better embrace youth within their organizations—including addressing matters such dress code and work flexibility—they risk losing relevance with their members.
Valentine, president and CEO of $54-million Laramie Plains Community FCU here, has established the Mountain West Young Credit Union Professionals Committee in an effort to support the growth needs of young credit union professionals. The committee is part of the World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) program, in which Valentine has been an active participant.
“I believe youth inclusion in the credit union movement is one of the most critical issues credit unions need to address,” said Valentine, who took the helm at Laramie Plains in 2008 at the age of 25. “As more young people enter the workforce, credit unions need to respond to a different view of work-life integration. I feel they should be evaluating and changing policies and practices that make it possible for flexible work schedules and remote employees as well as dress codes that reflect changing attitudes. If credit unions don’t respond to this challenge, they risk losing out on an entire generation of talent.”
Numerous Awards
Valentine is among a number of young credit union professionals from across the globe CUToday.info is profiling as part of a regular series. In 2016, he was recognized in the Top 20 Under 40 Young Professionals in his community. In 2017, The Mountain West Credit Union Association presented Valentine with the 2017 Advocacy Leadership Award and he was recognized in the 2017 Top 20 Under 40 Young Credit Union Professionals in the Mountain West region.
Valentine emphasized that if the CU’s board of directors, management team and staff don’t infuse youth, and moreover, they don’t reflect the increasing diversity of their membership base, they risk losing members.
“If the people leading the credit union and serving the membership aren’t representative of that membership, why would members be expected to continue to use, or begin using credit unions as their financial institutions?” he asked.
An Early Start
Valentine recalled how he got started in credit unions at a young age.
“I started the summer I graduated from high school. I approached the branch manager of our local credit union where I had an account and pitched the idea of helping them cover summer vacations,” Valentine recalled. “I ended up working almost full time all summer. That fall, I moved to start college and Laramie Plains FCU was hiring. Since I had some experience, they hired me to work 30-35 hours a week while I was in school.”
It took Valentine fewer than 10 years to rise to the rank of president and CEO, and since he has taken over the credit union’s assets have more than doubled, two new locations have been built, and Laramie Plains has invested heavily in technology to better serve the membership and community.
Valentine said he was attracted to credit unions because he has a goal to leave the world better than he found it.
“I realized early on in my career, I could accomplish this through my work in credit unions,” he said.
A Never-Forgotten Lesson
Valentine said he never forgets what led him to realize credit unions are very different from other financial institutions and do things to help people in ways other financial institutions do not.
Tyler Valentine
“I was a loan processor at Laramie, working with our mortgage lender,” recalled Valentine. “She was working with a young couple who had young children. They had equity in their home but had low credit scores. Because we are a credit union, we looked beyond their credit scores to evaluate them as borrowers and were able to refinance their first mortgage, use the equity in their home to pay off all outstanding debt, and put them on solid financial footing.”
Valentine said that when Laramie Plains showed the young couple what the CU could do for them, their relief was “so strong that they were both in tears. I knew then that working in credit unions, where people are placed ahead of profit, was where I wanted to spend my career.”
Forming New Organization
Recognizing what credit unions had done for him personally, and how young people play a critical role in the growth and development of a credit union, Valentine formed the Mountain West Young Credit Union Professionals Committee in 2015, explaining that not only is there a need for networking and support programs for young CU professionals worldwide, that need is strongest in rural areas where those kinds of opportunities are thin.
“Following the World Credit Union Conference in Denver in 2015, several young professionals from our region attended the conference by participating in the Young Professional track,” recalled Valentine. “A group of us came together after WCUC with the help of the Mountain West Credit Union Association. We began by planning some young professional focused sessions at the next World Council annual meeting.”
Valentine said there was such strong support from the credit unions in his region during the event that he realized a more formal, local structure was needed.
“Those of us who had been working together were appointed by the MWCUA board of directors to form the Mountain West Young Credit Union Professionals (MWYCUP) Committee with me as the chair,” Valentine said. “There are two people appointed from each of our three states, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming.”
Growing Activities
Since then, the activities of the committee have grown to include a full young professional development track at the Mountain West CU Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention. Each year approximately 25 young professionals participate.
“This includes a full day of young professional-focused learning, volunteering for the Mountain West Credit Union Foundation golf tournament, a community service project, breakout sessions and participation in the rest of the conference,” Valentine explained.
The committee also started the Mountain West Outstanding Young Professional’s Award.
“This is where we send out a call for nominations, evaluate nominees and select the recipients. The recipients are acknowledged at the Mountain West Credit Union Foundation’s Star Awards Gala,” he said. “The morning of the gala we organize a community service project with a local non-profit where the recipients volunteer in order to give back to the local community.”
Young Professionals Hike the Hill
The committee also hosts a Young Professional Hike the Hill event each year.
“We ask young professionals from our region to write an essay outlining why they think political advocacy is important and what they hope to learn by attending the event,” he said. “Six participants are selected and travel to Washington, where they meet with CUNA, NCUA and elected officials from each state in our region.”
There are also young professional committees in each state that conduct professional development workshops, service projects and networking events. The MWYCUP Committee works to support those local efforts, Valentine said.
“This is only possible with the support of the Mountain West Credit Union Foundation that funds many of these activities through professional development scholarships granted by the foundation,” Valentine said. “We also have great support from the association staff and from credit unions in our region that believe in young professional development.”
A Needed Network
Valentine believes in the Mountain West Young Credit Union Professionals Committee because he recalls needing something like that as he started working in CUs.
“This program is important for rural and urban areas because it helps young professionals build their network of peers,” he said. “I became the CEO of my credit union when I was 25 years old and I didn’t have that network. I didn’t have peers in the industry that I could get ideas from or discuss issues with. The MWYCUP helps emerging leaders build that network, so as their careers progress, they will have this network to reach out to and help each other. When they get to those C-Suite jobs they won’t be alone. They will have peers outside their credit union to give them advice, work on issues and celebrate their accomplishments.”