And the six regional finalists are...

The applicants campaigned, the credit union community voted, the ballots have been tabulated, and the six Regional Finalists for the CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec challenge are:

Here's what Dale Schumacher, chairman, CUES’ board of directors and president/CEO, Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, Tampa, Fla. had to say:

"The competition was fantastic. The 41 entrants encouraged their family and friends, coworkers and colleagues to vote, and they did. We received over 10,000 ballots. The interest in this challenge exceeded our expectation, as did the quality and variety of the ideas presented. Now, we congratulate the finalists, and look forward to reading about their projects’ progress between now and the final presentations in November."

The six Regional Finalists each receive registration, accommodation and airfare to CUES' CEO/Executive Team Network™ in Dallas, November 7–10, 2010. While in Dallas, the six Regional Finalists will face off for the grand prize, a CUES educational package valued at $20,000, and the honor of being named the Next Top Credit Union Exec.

To show our appreciation for the trememdous effort that each of our entrants put into their entry and campaign, we've decided to give everyone a free one-year NextGen Membership! We hope you will stay active and utilize all of the great services that membership includes.

We've had a couple of "surprise" videos submitted so far. Others should follow in the next couple of days.

Here's Amy Grothaus being surprised by her CEO!

And Amy Stanton being surprised by her boss!

And for those applicants that were dying to know how they placed, here's the top three vote-getters in each region.

  • WEST: 1st Tina Hall, 2nd Kirk Smith, 3rd Jill Nowacki
  • MIDWEST: 1st Amy Grothaus, 2nd Dana Stillwell, 3rd Bill Clancy
  • NORTHEAST: 1st Amy Stanton, 2nd Braden Young, 3rd Alexia Mavrakes
  • SOUTHWEST: 1st James Roller, 2nd Kelsey Balcaitis, 3rd Christopher Byrd
  • SOUTHEAST: 1st Ronaldo Hardy, 2nd David Tuyo II, 3rd Ashley Kohlrus
  • CANADA: 1st Jodi Chambers, 2nd Alexandra Rachey, 3rd Devin Selte

Not listed? Send us an e-mail at nexttopcreditunionexec@gmail.com and we can let you know how you finished.

Congratulations to our six Regional Finalists. Stay tuned!

The CUES Team

Announcements, Videos, 2010 CompetitionCUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Team