Edmonton, Alberta – The Board of Directors of the credit union, formed by Community Savings, Common Wealth and Servus Credit Union, chose the Chair of the Board as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer at their first Board meeting April 5 and 6. The new credit union will commence operations November 1, 2008 with approximately $9 billion in assets and will serve Alberta members from border to border.

The Board met over the weekend and reached alignment on the governance philosophy of the amalgamated credit union. The key officers were elected in order to move the integration process forward. Effective immediately, William J. (Bill) Anhorn of Medicine Hat is Chair and Doug Hastings of Lloydminster is Vice Chair for the amalgamated credit union. The Board members, four from each of the founding credit unions, are: Bill Anhorn, Terry Cooper, Rene Dumas, Peter Elzinga, Peter Galloway, Doug Hastings, Merv Loewen, Stan Odut, Bob Porozni, Penny Reeves, Lloyd Robinson, and Alison Starke.

The Board with the assistance of an independent consultant conducted an accelerated selection and interview process with the three CEOs of Community Savings, Common Wealth and Servus. The Board of Directors made their final selection on Sunday. Steve Blakely, currently President and CEO of Servus Credit Union has been appointed to lead the new credit union effective May 1, 2008. Murray Haubrich, Community Savings, and Jeff Mulligan, Common Wealth, will continue to lead their respective credit unions while transitioning into the new credit union.

"It is particularly difficult to choose a CEO in circumstances where we have three proven and effective leaders who bring unique strengths to their credit unions. However, it was imperative that we moved quickly to choose a new leader. All three CEOs have shown such commitment to the credit union vision and were all qualified to bring these three organizations together," stated Bill Anhorn, the Chair of the amalgamated credit union.

The board will continue to meet on a timely basis. Existing priorities include establishing a head office strategy and determining a name for the credit union. The directors will undertake a name selection and branding strategy review prior to registering the Articles of Incorporation November 1, 2008.

The new credit union will be the third largest in Canada. It will employ 1925 employees and serve approximately 400,000 members in 63 Alberta communities through 92 locations. At fiscal year end of October 31, 2007, the combined credit union assets totalled $8.58 billion with $93 million in income prior to profit sharing and taxes. The members of the three credit unions received $33 million in cash and dividends as a result of 2007 results.

Board of Directors Biographies

New President and CEO Biography