Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 15, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 15 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S "Our loss is GFA's gain," Rosek said. at experience and expertise led the GFA board to select Hettinger to take charge of the credit union. "e GFA Board of Directors were thrilled to find a candidate the caliber of Mark Hettinger during our nationwide search," GFA Board Chair Doug Delay said in a written statement provided to WBJ. "Mark will bring experience, professionalism, and leadership to our members and the communities we serve." Setting up shop at GFA Hettinger, who was announced as GFA's new CEO in April, has some plans to connect to members and get involved in the community. He wants to network, grow the credit union, and make it appealing to the next gen- eration of members by making it more innovative. "And then as we grow as an organization, how do we continue to meet our members and the communities in their life events where they need us?" said Hettinger. "Do they need to meet us in a branch? Do they need to meet us via text or via Snapchat or all the various channels where they want to have that conversation with their financial institution? at is where I see the direction going and where I've had experience with that in Minnesota." At First Alliance, Hettinger found success texting with members and the introduction of high-tech and high-touch delivery systems in branches with interac- tive teller machines, which provide a member a way to do a transaction via a touch screen while also being greeted at the door. "Very much a concierge service," Hettinger said. Embracing the future sounds great, but at this mo- ment, banks like Silicon Valley Bank in California, First Republic Bank in California, and Signature Bank in New York all failed since March 10, when SVB became the first to fall under government control. So, naturally, it's something a CEO like Hettinger has to take into ac- count as he takes control, even though credit unions are different from commercial banks in that they don't have to make profits for their shareholders in the same way. "We saw that during the 2008-2009 crisis banks had made some decisions that put the organizations at risk, and there were a lot of bank failures; there weren't a lot of credit union failures," Hettinger said. "at coop- erative spirit of credit unions remains strong today because we are there for our members, not for the few shareholders that want to see a profit … We are here to make sure that your money is safe and that we are making solid investments in the community." GFA completed the expansion of its Parker Street headquarters in Gardner in 2020. W

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