Glenn Kretchmer, COO of ATL Federal Credit Union, and Don Mills, President & CEO of Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union, were recognized by CU*Answers as recipients of the Robert H. Mackay award at the 2018 CU*BASE Leadership Conference held on June 27th in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Kretchmer has devoted 30 years to the credit union industry, 21 of them as COO of ATLFCU in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Accepting the award at the gathering of nearly 200 credit union professionals, Kretchmer thanked the CUSO for the honor, saying, “I know Bob Mackay and I know what this award means. I have seen it presented many times and my thought was always, well, I don’t ever have to worry about receiving that award!” Kretchmer added, “Thank you, CU*Answers for helping keep ATL Credit Union alive and for giving me the opportunity to be part of Xtend. I know that I received much more from that adventure than I was able to contribute. Thank you very much.” Prior to joining the credit union in 1996, Kretchmer served more than 15 years as an auditor with the Michigan Credit Union League. ATL Credit Union currently serves 2,000 members and has $13.4 million in assets. Kretchmer recently announced his retirement from the credit union, planned for October of 2019.
After serving eight years on the CU*Answers Board of Directors, Mills recently stepped down from the CUSO board to give other network participants an opportunity to participate. Mills accepted the award saying: “I’m shocked and very humbled to receive this award. The past nine years have truly been an amazing ride. Working with my fellow six board members has made a huge impact on me and my family. And it will continue to make an impact. I will continue to be involved down the road in other ways. Thank you for this honor.”
Since Mills was named CEO in 2002, Alpena Alcona Area CU has grown from $113M to $337M in assets, and today serves 28,500 members. When Alpena Alcona Area joined the CU*Answers network in 2005 they worked with the CUSO to champion the creation of an online credit card capability, which today serves credit card programs at more than a hundred credit unions across the country.
The Robert H. Mackay award was established in 2005 to recognize the leadership contribution of Robert Mackay, retired CEO of Berrien Teachers CU (now known as Honor Credit Union,) who served as a member of the CU*Answers Board of Directors from 1985 to 2007 and as Chairman for 19 of those years. Randy Karnes, CU*Answers CEO said “Bob’s leadership and inspiration served not only as a guide but as the compass for CU*Answers to grow and prosper into a CUSO that is now known in the industry for its core values of cooperation, collaboration and innovation.” Each year this award is presented to an individual who exemplifies these leadership skills.