New CEO takes the helm at Steinbach Credit Union

After more than 26 years leading Steinbach Credit Union to its $10 billion milestone, Glenn Friesen is retiring. In his place, is former president and CEO of Credit Union Central of Manitoba Curtis Wennberg.

“I’m just excited to be a part of it. It’s really important for me to impart to you that I appreciate the opportunity and the opportunity for members to stay there. It’s a really unique business model at SCU. It’s got this real ability to grow organically one member, one product at a time and I want to make sure that that keeps going and I’m just very pleased about the whole opportunity,” he said.

“On behalf of the board, we are thrilled to welcome Curtis as SCU’s new chief executive officer,” said Maria Reimer, chair of the SCU board of directors. “Curtis is a visionary leader, with a proven ability to lead world-class organizations across financial services, cooperatives, and beyond. The board is confident that he will build on Glenn’s legacy, leading SCU into an exciting new chapter of profitable growth, service to members, and innovation.”

Born and raised in Manitoba, Wennberg left the province for 20 years to work in the financial world for banks such as HSBC in cities such as Toronto. He was chief operating officer at Manitoba Public Insurance upon his return to Manitoba in 2016 and then he moved to his current position with the CUMC.

“It’s an exciting environment and most of my career has been spent in the financial services area so lots happening these days and it’s just a great spot to be and even better is the credit union environment,” said Wennberg about his return to the finance world.

“I really appreciate and (am) excited about just being in the environment of credit unions where you provide financial services to folks as members, and all profits – everything we earn – goes to the benefit of the members and I think that’s terrific.”

Wennberg admits that he has some pretty big shoes to fill in taking over from Friesen and he said he will maintain and build trust and confidence of all SCU members. He said to have a successful credit union there must be competitive rates on products and maintaining the online and mobile banking that members already enjoy.