Nick Kessenich: Working for the member

<p>“He gave me a chance.” <br/><br/>It’s what Nick Kessenich hopes members will say when asked about the impact he had on their financial lives. <br/><br/>It’s also what $28 million asset <a href='http://www.mbr1cu.org/'>Members First Credit Union</a> in Madison, Wis., would say if credit unions could talk. <br/><br/>For nearly 40 years, Kessenich led the credit union as it grew from an organization run out of a basement and a briefcase into a community-based credit union that serves more than 3,000 members. <br/><br/>“The credit union was my life. What I’m proud of the most is when somebody thanks me because no one else would give them a chance,” Kessenich says. “I gave them a chance, they took it, and they succeeded.”</p>