NCBA CLUSA congratulates former board member Joe Bergeron on his retirement

Please join NCBA CLUSA in congratulating former board member Joe Bergeron on his retirement as president and CEO of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions.

"I consider my 47 years as an extraordinary honor and privilege," Bergeron said in a statement. "My tenure has allowed me to not only witness, but be part of, an incredible journey and evolution of credit unions in the Green Mountains, the northeast, and across the entire country."

"When [Joe] came on the scene in his first post-college career position, Vermont had 72 credit unions [out of] 22,000 nationwide," the Association of Vermont CUs said in announcing Bergeron's retirement. "Yet, those 72, all isolated in membership from each other, could never have dreamed of claiming almost 67% of Vermonters as members like their 16 successors do today."

In addition to his service to the credit union movement, Bergeron believed strongly in the importance of cooperation among co-ops, both regionally and nationally. In response to Vermont Gov. Phil Scott's recent National Co-op Month proclamation, he highlighted the credit union difference and said that credit unions "embrace their part in the broader cooperative community by helping ensure economic prosperity and fairness for everyone."

Erbin Crowell, Executive Director of the Neighboring Food Co-op Association, who was in attendance at Bergeron's retirement celebration in Burlington, VT, originally met Bergeron on NCBA CLUSA's Board of Directors.

"We immediately began exploring ways to make the case to our member credit unions and food co-ops that by working together, we could benefit our communities even more, particularly in terms of education and advocacy."

The association's board has named Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Carrie Allen to succeed Bergeron as the 7th leader of the organization. She will become the first woman president in its 78-year history.