Washington, D.C. (May 11, 2015) – National Cooperative Bank (NCB), a leading financial services company serving cooperatives nationwide, held its annual meeting on May 7th at the Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, NCB announced its 2015 Board of Directors with Michael Mercer, president and CEO of Duluth, Ga.-based Georgia Credit Union Affiliates serving as Chair.
The Board welcomes four new members: Wilson H. Beebe, Jr., president, Thanexus, Inc, Manasquan, N.J.; Maurice R. Smith, president, Local Government Federal Credit Union, North Carolina; David B. Vliet, CEO of Tiburcio Vazquez Health Center, Hayward, California; and Paul Hazen, executive director, U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, Washington, D.C.
Beebe, Smith, Vilet and Hazen replace Jane Garcia, CEO of La Clinica de La Raza in Oakland, California; Robynn Shrader, CEO of National Cooperative Grocers in Iowa City, Iowa; Kenneth Rivkin, managing director of Hermes Financial Management and Auction.com in New York; and Judy Ziewacz, former executive director, State of Wisconsin, Office of Energy Independence in Madison, Wisconsin.
“We are extremely grateful for Jane, Robynn, Ken and Judy’s contributions and leadership while on the NCB Board and we thank them for their dedication and service,” said Charles E. Snyder, president and CEO of NCB. “We are excited for what the future brings with our new members as we continue our efforts to find new and innovative ways to expand our reach in the cooperative community.”
The Board benefits from a diverse roster of members, who come from a variety of industries in which cooperatives play an important role. In addition to the four new members NCB’s 2015 board members are:
Roger Collins, chief executive officer and chairman, Harps Foods in Springdale, Ark.;
Steve Cunningham, president of S.F. Cunningham, LLC in Vienna, Va.;
Janis Herschkowitz, president and CEO of PRI, Inc. in Cornwall, Penn.;
Peter Larkin, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association in Arlington, Va.;
Andrea Levere, president of CFED in Washington, D.C.;
Martin Lowery, executive vice president at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington, Va.;
Michael Mercer, president and CEO of Georgia Credit Union Affiliates in Duluth, Ga.;
Ray Moncrief, retired executive vice president and COO of Kentucky Highland Investment Corporation in London, Ky.;
Mary Ann Rothman, executive director of The Council of NY Cooperatives and Condominiums in New York, N.Y.; and
David Sawnson, partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At this year’s annual meeting, NCB had a panel focused on worker cooperatives that included Melissa Hoover, executive director of the Democracy at Work Institute; Blake Jones, founder and CEO of Namaste Solar; Brian Albert, director of Finance of Equal Exchange; and Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market. The panel was moderated by Laura Flanders of gritTV. The meeting also featured Josu Ugarte, president of Mondragon International.
