6
VISION CREDIT UNION 75 YEARS / HERE FOR GOOD
At the Camrose Savings and Credit
Union branch on 51 Street, this
evolution was in full swing. Members
were greeted with a gleaming branch,
uniformed tellers and a range of
financial products.
The next step was growth. Between
1974 and 1978, the credit union
merged with J&L Credit Union and
Flagstaff Credit Union, and opened new
branches in Coronation, Stettler and at
Duggan Mall in Camrose.
By the time Oldekamp retired in
1979, the little credit union he’d spent
21 years building had changed its name
to Battle River Credit Union, grown to six
branches in five communities, and
increased to more than 10,000 members
and assets of nearly $50 million.
A new leader
for a new era.
If the 1970s were the time for credit
unions to show maturity and polish,
the period from 1978 to the mid-
1980s challenged credit unions to
tighten their belts and demonstrate
their value to members. Terry Kelly,
Battle River Credit Union’s second
general manager, was exactly the
leader for this moment.
Kelly was just 32 years old when he
became general manager. By all
accounts, he was a very different style of
leader. Whereas Oldekamp dialed in on
growing the credit union’s reputation
and membership in the flush ‘60s and
‘70s, Kelly had no choice but to focus
on efficiency in the gritty, recession-
gripped, high-interest environment of
the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
When Kelly took the helm in ‘79, he
inherited a credit union that had been
placed under ‘stabilization’ by the Credit
Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation
(CUDGC). In the mid to late 70s, Battle
River experienced a high level of loan
defaults, resulting in a million-dollar
loss. This meant that they couldn’t offer
loans without CUDGC approval. Kelly
had his work cut out for him.
In his first year, Kelly stripped back the
credit union’s expenses, reduced the
top-heavy staff by nearly 30 percent and
created a lean operation. “Those lean
times that Terry introduced were very
necessary to get the credit union back
on a good financial footing,” says
Mickey Mohan, who started as an
assistant branch manager in Stettler in
1978 and semi-retired as of Senior Vice
President of Operations in 2018.
Someone to count
on when the chips
are down.
Establishing a solid
financial footing at this
time was no small feat. The
1980s tested Albertans like
never before. Soaring interest rates
pushed mortgages into double digits
and strained household budgets across
the province. When interest rates spiked,
credit unions faced a tough balancing
act. Without access to the same
wholesale lending markets or deep
reserves as the big banks, they simply
couldn’t offer rates to compete.
These were challenging times for
Battle River Credit Union and even
1979
/ Gerrit Oldekamp retires. Terry Kelly
becomes General Manager. Head Office
relocated to basement of 51st Street
branch. Staff reduced by 28%.
1982
/ Installed Camrose’s first ATM
at the 51st Street branch.
1983
/ Created the Equity Reserve for
members, the roots of today’s profit
shares program. Constructed new
Sedgewick branch.
1984
/ Amalgamated with Vegreville and
District Savings & Credit Union. Name
changed to Battle River Credit Union Ltd.