American Heritage FCU - Bruce Foulke

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Bruce Foulke, the larger than life CEO of American Heritage Federal Credit Union. Bruce shared with me his experience growing up and the story of how he became involved with the Credit Union industry, eventually finding himself at the helm of one of our nation’s most innovative Credit Unions.

Bruce grew up in Pennsylvania, living in a small town outside of Philadelphia called Perkasie. He enjoyed a classic American upbringing that instilled within him a set of values that he still lives by to this day.

Although his father never graduated high school, Bruce’s parents always encouraged him and his siblings to pursue higher education. Bruce shared with me that his mother only recently revealed to him that she herself had not finished high school. She grew up with eight siblings during the Depression and found herself going to work to help support her family. She kept this fact from her kids so as not to give them an excuse to forgo a college career. Bruce assured me that knowing this would not have changed anything for him and his siblings. Bruce’s brother went to law school and became the Assistant Secretary of Labor. His sister holds the position of Senior VP at a major hospital. Bruce of course, found success in the Credit Union industry; in addition to his role as a CEO, Bruce also sat on the board of directors for Pennsylvania Credit Union Association and currently sits on the Board of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).

It all began after Bruce attended college at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

“I knew nothing about Credit Unions until 1977. I was working for these little old ladies when I was in college, mowing their yards. When they knew I was graduating they said to me, ‘Why don’t you go work for our Credit Union!’ I said, ‘What the heck is a Credit Union?’ They said, ‘It’s like a bank’. I said, ‘Cool, I’ll do that!’ So I went in for an interview and I was hired. The rest is history.”

Bruce set off on what would be a long and successful career. He went to work for Jim Blaine, CEO of the second largest Credit Union in the United States: the State Employees Credit Union. During his time there, he learned a great deal about being a loan officer and the ins and outs of Credit Union management and development.

“I got hooked on it. I just believe in helping people out, it’s the way I was brought up. My dad believed in God, country, and family. I too still believe in those things”

Then, 37 years ago, Bruce moved to Philadelphia for a job offer from what was then called Budd Workers Federal Credit Union (Budd made automobile parts for Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet).

“I had a ponytail back then; now I’m bald!”

The chairman of the board at the time thought the current management wasn’t going anywhere, so they hired Bruce to breathe new life into the Credit Union. He arrived as an outsider, and started immediately as CEO. Up until that point it had always been someone from the Auto Workers Union who was managing the credit union.

Bruce described his first impression of the Credit Union:

“The building was really small and located in a low income neighborhood of North Philadelphia. The building beside it was a burned out shell, the place looked like a war zone. I’m the type of guy that likes to go out of his way to help people, and I saw a real opportunity in this community to do that.”

On his first day at the job, there was a record snowstorm with almost two feet of snow. Despite leaving an hour early and braving the storm in his ’75 Chevy Vega, Bruce arrived late for his first day at the Credit Union. Nevertheless, he didn’t waste any time in implementing radical changes both physically and structurally within the credit union.

Bruce recalled the state of the office on that first day:

“The building was a row home converted into an office. The ceiling tiles were brown from everybody smoking in there, half the lights were burned out, and there was trash all over the place. The floors were poorly maintained; therefore, the build-up of dirt turned into mud from the wet slushy feet of the membership. The old manager chewed tobacco, everybody was smoking and I’m not a smoker. I sat there thinking to myself, ‘Oh Gosh, what have I done?’ ”

What he did do was literally throw away everything he could that wasn’t important. He cleaned up the entire place by the weekend and replaced all the lights with brand new light bulbs. It didn’t stop there; within two months he had all the ceiling tiles replaced with clean white tiles and he had brand new carpeting installed a few months later. The changes Bruce made were more than just cosmetic however.

“When I first started at the Credit Union, in order to get a withdrawal from your savings account, you had to give a week’s notice. Members had to fill out a piece of paper that would be lowered via a string with a clip on the end through a chute in the floor. A voucher for the withdrawal would be attached to the end of the string and pulled back up the chute. The member received a check a week later and had to cash it at a bank. They did not keep any money at the Credit Union.”

This system was the norm back then for most small Credit Unions. People could only open savings accounts or Christmas Club accounts. Checking accounts were not an option. But Bruce eliminated this week long waiting policy for withdrawing money from accounts and innovated same day cash withdrawals and checking.

They eventually went on to build a new corporate headquarters. It was designed to embody the American Colonial style from which the name American Heritage Federal Credit Union is inspired. People started saying, “Wow this place is nice!” and a new era began.

Bruce got to work right away building trust with the members.

“I was out there meeting all the members just to introduce myself because I was an outsider, they didn’t know who the heck I was! I have always been accessible to the membership, but our growth over the years from 4,000 to 145,000 members was cause for concern that some of the old timers might think it was hard to get in touch with me.”

Bruce asked his staff to add a 'Contact the CEO' button on their website, so that he was accessible to the members.

Bruce explained, “This availability is my way of showing my members that I care about their situation, just as I did when I worked in the branch on Hunting Park Ave. I personally call every member back and they even get my private telephone number. I tell them ‘If you got a problem in the future, here’s my direct number.”

This innovative practice seems to be working. With pride, Bruce told me:

“You know what? I don’t get that many complaints, I get far more compliments than I do complaints. A lot of CEOs are afraid to put themselves out there. I’m not afraid of it. I’m a volunteer firefighter, so I’m not afraid of going into a burning house. That’s the way I was brought up. I always wanted to be a firefighter.”

It appears Bruce’s dream has come true, as he often tells people:

“I put fires out in other people’s houses, at my house, and at work!”

I asked Bruce about American Heritage Federal Credit Union’s community outreach, and I knew I had uncovered a topic of passion for him.

In 1996, AMHFCU became one of the first Credit Unions in the United States to start a charitable foundation: the Kids-N-Hope Foundation.

Bruce shared with me the story of its creation:

“In 1994 I went down to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which was part of our field of membership, with the idea of taking some of the children to Disney World for the Make a Wish Foundation. The hospital said that we should just donate the money and they would oversee how it was used for the kids. I was on a mission to take some kids to Disney World though! So I went to Children’s Seashore House (a rehab center owned by the Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia), but they told me the same thing. I wanted to take these kids to Disney World!

“They proceeded to inform me that they were losing funding for their music therapy program and they shared with me a touching story:

“In their art therapy program, there was a 12 year old girl who became a paraplegic when she was struck by a car while riding her bike. She couldn’t use her arms anymore, so the art therapist working with her would put a pen in her mouth so she could draw. One day this girl drew a picture and the therapist asked her what it was a picture of.

“The girl said, ‘It’s a picture of my heart.’ The therapist asked the girl why there were all these red squiggly lines around the heart she drew. The girl explained, ‘It’s my heart on fire’. The therapist was shocked and asked the girl, ‘Why is your heart on fire?’ The young girl replied, ‘Because I can never hug my mommy again.’ ”

So Bruce told the hospital representative, “I guess we’re in the music therapy business.”

That very day he took his VP of HR and bought $2,500 worth of instruments. Bruce and his staff went on to create the Kids-N-Hope Foundation, and raised over $1,100,000 for the music therapy program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, making them one of the largest donors to date.

“That’s what I’m all about, if you want something to write about me, forget the Credit Union. I want to be remembered for helping children out. And for the Kids-N-Hope foundation.”

To understand the magnitude of AMHFCU’s community outreach, I encourage you to visit their webpage. It is truly inspiring how much work they do for their community. And it’s not just the staff. The members are involved too, and it’s a big source of pride for them.

Bruce told me, “People come up to us when we wear our branded shirts and say to us, ‘Do you work at the Credit Union? We love our Credit Union!’ A stranger saw my Credit Union jacket last week and said, ‘I want to thank you for all the charity your Credit Union does for our neighborhood.’ ”

This is a powerful message. Sometimes the best marketing is passive. It’s just doing the right thing. As Bruce says, “I just think that everybody has to give back.”

Bruce and I spoke about the lack of awareness Credit Unions are facing today.

“The Millennials don’t know what we’re about, what a Credit Union even is. I hear it all the time, ‘What’s a Credit Union?’ I recently spoke at a chamber of commerce meeting with almost 200 different people there from all different businesses. I talked about our Credit Union and what differentiates us from a bank.

“People came up to me after I spoke and said ‘Wow I didn’t know all that.’

“We even have many bank employees as members! The reason why people join is simple: We have the best rates and service out there. If I can’t win with my service and rates, or with my differences, than I’m not winning for the right reasons. The challenge is getting out there and informing people.”

I explained to Bruce the National Coalition of Credit Union’s mission; to implement creative marketing initiatives that raise Credit Union awareness, on both a regional and a national scale.

He told me, “There is a real need to get the Credit Union message out in front of more people to dispel the myths and misconceptions and to educate a new generation of Credit Union members.”

The NCOCU is ready to meet this challenge, and we look forward to making #2016TheYearOfTheCreditUnion

#AMHFCU