Portland, Ore., October 8, 2012—Unitus Community Credit Union’s Brian Irvine was honored last Thursday as the Credit Union Professional of the Year by the Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA). Irvine serves as a Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Unitus, a Portland-based credit union with approximately 80,000 members.
NWCUA chose Irvine for its most prestigious individual award for his forward-thinking leadership in helping position Unitus as a technological leader among credit unions. Irvine, who received the award at NWCUA’s annual convention in Vancouver, Wash., credits Unitus’ leadership with creating an outstanding culture that truly sees IT as a strategic value-add partner and proactively created a relationship with IT that inspires technology leadership.
“Most CIO’s would give their right arm to have the relationship with their business partners that I do,” said Irvine. “But that’s as much credit to the business as anything I’ve done.”
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Irvine continued. “It speaks volumes about Unitus’ commitment to putting technological innovation and creativity to work for the financial wellbeing of its members.”
In his tenure, Irvine has been instrumental in launching industry-leading IT initiatives that have transformed Unitus’ online capabilities and improved internal processes for better resource allocation and efficiency.
According to Unitus President and CEO Patricia Smith, “During the past five years, Brian’s role as VP of Information Technology [has] grown in scope, yet he has also found time to focus on learning more about the credit union industry and has also participated in local and national advocacy efforts.”
Each year, NWCUA “honors individuals who promote the credit union philosophy, create innovative concepts, and provide leadership that has/had a significant and lasting impact on the credit union movement.”
ABOUT UNITUS COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
Unitus Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution serving people living or working in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Benton, Columbia, Deschutes, Douglas, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Linn and Lane counties in Oregon and the state of Washington. Additional information about Unitus is available at www.unitusccu.com or by calling (800) 452-0900.