BayPort CU's Stan Leicester Awarded League's 2016 Farley Award of Excellence

BayPort Credit Union Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Stan Leicester has been awarded the 2016 Eugene H. Farley Jr. Award of Excellence, one of the Virginia credit union system’s highest honors.

CONTACT:
Lewis Wood
Vice President of Public Relations and Communication
800768.3344, ext. 629
lwood@vacul.org   

BayPort Credit Union Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Stan Leicester has been awarded the 2016 Eugene H. Farley Jr. Award of Excellence, one of the Virginia credit union system’s highest honors.

The Farley Award was presented on April 22, in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Virginia Credit Union League's 82nd Annual Meeting.

The award is presented to a credit union professional or volunteer official in recognition of his or her outstanding contributions to an individual credit union or to the credit union movement. In particular, the award seeks to recognize achievements that exemplify credit unions’ ‘People Helping People’ philosophy. It is named in honor of retired Virginia Credit Union League President Gene

Farley, who served the League and Virginia’s credit unions for more than 40 years until his retirement in 1999.

Leicester was recognized for his leadership of a steering committee that helped coordinate construction and fundraising for the Credit Union House of Virginia in downtown Richmond. The facility opened in September 2015, and serves as the advocacy headquarters for the 148 Virginia-based credit unions in their work with state and federal lawmakers and regulators.

“Stan made the Credit Union House project something of a personal mission,” said Virginia Credit Union League President Rick Pillow. “He was a strong voice on the League’s Board of Directors to pursue this project and was instrumental in jumpstarting our fundraising campaign among credit unions to help offset construction and renovation costs. This project was a testament to Stan’s strong commitment to the success of Virginia’s credit union system.”

Leicester’s recent contributions also include representing credit unions at a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hearing in 2015. The hearing was held to officially announce a CFPB proposal on payday lending. As not-for-profit, member-owned cooperatives, Leicester noted many of the nation’s credit unions are working to free their members from the vicious cycle of payday loan debt. BayPort Credit Union’s payday loan alternative program had, at the time, helped more than 3,300 members free themselves from predatory lenders, while also helping these individuals improve their credit scores.

His advocacy work includes lobbying state lawmakers during the 2015 and 2016 General Assembly sessions to secure passage of pro-credit union legislation, including a current law that allows credit unions and banks to offer prize-linked savings accounts, which nurture a lifelong savings habit among members and customers. His lobbying work in 2016 aided efforts to enact a new law that eliminates a significant hurdle for state-chartered credit unions seeking to merge for the benefit of their members.

BayPort Credit Union has also supported credit unions’ financial education initiatives and boasts award-winning financial literacy programs of its own, including student-run credit union branches that teach young people to save and better manage their money, free web-based resources that improve personal finance skills, and financial counseling workshops.

“I’m proud to share this award with those credit unions that share my interest in advancing the system,” said Leicester. “Credit unions have an proud story to tell, one of service to their members and communities, and I hope I’ve had some small role in helping tell that story.”

ABOUT BAYPORT CREDIT UNION
Headquartered in Newport News, BayPort Credit Union is a $1.5 billion member-owned financial cooperative. The credit union’s 125,000 member-owners have access to a full range of financial products and services and access to two dozen branches throughout Greater Hampton Roads. Learn more online at http://www.bayportcu.org. 

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA CREDIT UNION LEAGUE
The state trade association for 148 Virginia-based credit unions, the Virginia Credit Union League provides legislative, regulatory, media, and consumer advocacy; compliance assistance and consulting services; development opportunities for credit union professionals and volunteers; communications; and products and services that empower credit unions to better serve their members. The League maintains offices in Richmond and Lynchburg, Virginia. Learn more online at http://www.vacul.org.