I gave birth to a $29 Billion Organization

 

It was 1978. The Polaroid Employee Credit Union (PCU) President, Chief Financial Officer and myself as PR director spent night after night in a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge, near Polaroid's headquarters.

The President had accepted a post with Digital Equipment Corporation to establish a credit union for its employees. How would we build the best credit union in America which would serve the members better than any financial institution was our subject.

The President moved first. I joined DEC a month later. We were DEC employees temporarily until we could get the credit union up and running. We were housed in a tiny half cubicle.

It took several months.

I wanted to announce the credit union in the company newsletter. I was given a list of five. DEC had over 20 around the company. I went on a speaking tour of DEC sites, often traveling by helicopter.

The main computer manufacturing plant wanted a branch office. We said we needed a computer and gave them our requirements. The normal wait was a few months. By the time we returned to our cubicle after lunch we found the computer equipment we needed crammed into the small space.

Over the next few months, we designed and opened three branches, the computer system installed and staffed. The Polaroid CFO came over along with other staff from the back office on a rotating schedule to not hurt PCU, but we hired people from banks and other credit unions. 

We planned and opened additional offices in other key DEC area: Colorado Springs, Phoenix, D.C., Puerto Rico, Alburquerque, etc.

We asked Ken Olson, DEC CEO to be the first member. He said no, he would be the second. He wanted a factory worker to be the first. It was typical of DEC's paternal culture.

The DCU grew so fast we could barely keep up with the work load. We were invited to speak at credit union conferences on our innovations. We built our own building to house our expanding staff.

Like all credit unions in place of banks, the members, which required a $5 deposit, came first. All "profits" had to be returned to them in terms of better rates on all products, programs and services.

We were inovative, being one of the first financial institutions to offer ATM cards for our branches, then went national when the service was available nationwide. Technology has come a long way since those days, but we were ahead of credit unions and other financial institutions when a new technology was available.

When we thought a new product would be approved for credit unions, we had the marketing in place the day approval was granted.

We kept adding staff as needed making sure their needs were met along with the goal members came first, not as a marketing ploy, but as reality.

It was a hectic time handling the incredible expansion. Fortunately despite trial and error there were few errors.

After eight years, I left to move to Europe, fulfilling a long-term dream of living there. I stayed a member. My daughter was a member.

I continued to watch DCU grow. When DEC was no more, the credit union morphed into a community credit union from an employee credit union.

I was thrilled when visiting my kid in D.C. to see a DCU ATM in the supermarket. 

Today, when I woke this morning, my husband told me, DCU was waiting approval to merge with First Tech, creating a $29 billion organization. 

I've always felt DCU was my baby even if I was there only at its beginnings of its birth and toddler stages. From a professional point of few, I'm proudest of being there. 

One of the few things I regret living in Europe, there are no credit unions on the continent. Co-operative banks come closest, but they still do not have the member-first mentality. I will never understand why if given a choice between a credit union and a bank, people will not select the bank.