Heritage South Community Credit Union Board of Directors President Ken Malone announces today that Marvin McBee, long-time chief executive officer of the credit union, will retire March 31, 2019.
“The Heritage South Board of Directors honors the request by Marvin McBee to begin his well-deserved retirement on April 1, 2019,” Malone said, “and we announce that we have selected Laura L. Parham to be the credit union’s next chief executive officer.”
For more than 36 years, McBee has guided the development and growth of Heritage South Community Credit Union. Formerly EPCO Credit Union, located in the Empire Pencil Company plant in Shelbyville, he became the third manager/CEO of the select employee group credit union. He began supervising one employee and today leads more than 80 employees. The credit union has grown from an in plant single employee group serving 500 members with approximately $1 million in assets to a community charted institution that now serves nearly 25,000 members via five offices in Bedford, Marshall and Rutherford Counties.
“Marvin has done a tremendous job of helping people in our communities,” Malone continued. “Through his tenure at the credit union we have had phenomenal growth in every aspect of the organization, including total assets which are now in excess of $207 million.”
“When it comes to helping our members,” McBee related, “we have been helping when others won’t. It has been our goal every day to help as many members as we can!”
McBee expressed his gratitude to Laura Parham, his successor, for her dedication and support in the credit union’s mission during the past 34 years, “Her leadership will move our credit union successfully into the future! Our members will be winners!”
“I am proud to have been a part of this organization,” he continued. “Heritage South has been good to me and my family and also to our communities. While I look forward to retirement, I also will reflect on all the good things we have done and the good times I have had with my staff and other credit union members and those in the industry.”
Recently, the Tennessee Credit Union League recognized just how much help McBee has provided Heritage South and the credit union industry by inducting him into their Credit Union Hall of Fame.
Malone noted that Laura Parham began working with McBee in 1984, “These two have worked together for the good of the credit union for many years. They’ve seen many changes, conquered many challenges, and together they have developed a productive organization. Credit Union members should know that under Parham’s leadership that will continue.”
“We have the original owners and management of Empire Pencil Company to thank for the existence of Heritage South Community Credit Union, but the members and staff have Marvin McBee to thank for the contributions of this credit union to our community,” Parham commented. “Without Marvin’s vision, tenacity, and commitment to innovation there would not be a Heritage South as we know it today.”
“Marvin has always promoted the original credit union brand and philosophy of ‘People Helping People’. He has stayed true to that mission for the past 36 years. Thirty-four of those 36 years, Marvin has also served as my mentor,” Parham shared. “Were it not for the fact that he challenged me, believed in me, and supported me, I would not be presented with this opportunity. While we are excited about the future, there will be a huge void the day Marvin walks out that door. I promise to work just as hard for our members as he has and to continue to try to make Marvin proud of the work we’re doing here.”
Malone says that the board of directors has confidence in Parham’s ability to meet the challenges that will be in the credit union’s future. A life-long resident of Bedford County, Parham is a graduate of Cascade High School and Motlow Community College with an associate’s degree in General Studies. She also holds a degree in Management and Human Relations from Trevecca Nazarene College. She has had extensive continuing education in the credit union field. She is a graduate of the Credit Union Executive Society CEO institutes at Wharton, Cornell and Darden Schools of Business, and she has earned the Certified Lending Expert Designation from Lending Solutions, Inc.
Parham has been active in the community as a member of the TWHNC Celebration Association, Leadership Bedford, Fairlane Christian School board of directors, and Bedford Builds Habitat for Humanity board of directors. Prior to joining HSCCU in 1984, she began her financial experience in 1981 at Bedford County Bank. Over the course of 34 years, Parham has held nearly every position at Heritage South, most recently executive vice president.
Marvin and his wife, Cheryl, plan to enjoy family and travel whenever the opportunity arises. The credit union will soon announce a retirement event, honoring Marvin for his dedicated service.
Heritage South was established in 1957 as EPCO Credit Union in Shelbyville at the Empire Pencil Company. The name was changed to Heritage South Community Credit Union in 2006. HSCCU is federally insured by the NCUA and An Equal Housing Lender.
