Local business owner becomes first board chair of merged credit unions
Hatter Perry Dooley will be the first board chair of a newly combined Servus and connectFirst credit unions, the entity announced Friday.
Dooley, a board member with Servus since 2009 and chair since last year, was elected to lead the new board of directors at its inaugural meeting this week.
“I am deeply honoured and humbled to be elected as the first chair of this newly formed joint entity,” Dooley, the local owner of M&M
Meats and a director with the Medicine Hat Health Foundation, said in a release from the financial institution.
“I am excited to work alongside my fellow board members as we come together to build one of the largest and strongest credit unions in the country.”
Servus and connectFirst credit unions say their merger, announced in 2023, closed Wednesday.
The newly formed credit union has more than 3,000 employees and serves approximately 500,000 members across 140 branches in 80 communities.
The board includes six former directors of the Servus board, and five directors from connectFirst board, including connectFirst’s former chair Andrew Eberl. He is the vicechair of the new board. Prior to the merger, the board was approved by a member vote Special General Meetings held separately by each credit union in 2023.
As previously announced, Ian Burns is president and CEO of the new credit union. Immediately prior to the merger, Burns served as president and CEO of Servus.
ConnectFirst was formed when First Calgary Financial and Brooks-based Chinook Credit union merged in 2014.