Special Announcement: All the Best to James and Welcome to Kelsey

James Roller, our Southwest finalist, has informed us that he is resigning from the competition because he has accepted a new position outside of the credit union industry. We are obviously sad to see James leave and we wish him well with his new endeavors. We asked James if he'd like to post a final note to the blog.

My Final Update:

It is with a humble heart that I resign my position in the Next Top Credit Union Exec competition. I’ve had a wonderful time engaging and involving each of you in my project to help make the credit union more employee focused. More specifically, I hope that the credit union will embrace physical health and financial health initiatives to improve employee performance and well being. I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity to enhance my professional career outside of the credit union, which will not allow me to complete this project to the end. I would like to congratulate all the other finalists and wish them the best of luck with their projects. I look forward to seeing how each of them will make a lasting impression on the credit union industry. A special thanks to CUES and Currency Marketing for their efforts and support.

Where does the project end for my team? Currently we have five individuals that will be completing a half-marathon in November and five that will be walking their first 5K event. Financially, our leadership team continues to pour into our staff wisdom and experience with more than one of our staff members being completely credit card debt free. I’ve failed in my mission to win the Next Top Credit Union Exec contest, but success has been found in knowing that physically our staff feels better about themselves and financially we understand the value of financial well being and freedom of debt burdens. Again, I thank everyone for their support, and look forward to seeing who the Next Top Credit Union Exec becomes.

Best Regards,

James Roller

Rather than leaving the Southwest region vacant, we have decided to offer the finalist position to the second-highest vote getter in the Southwest region, Kelsey Balcaitis. With her CEO's support, Kelsey is continuing with the project that she proposed in her application video. She will blog and create videos in the date slots originally reserved for James.