9 minutes
Joe Hearn, CCE, was a business student at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, when one of his marketing professors came to him with news that changed his life. A local credit union—about $60 million in assets at the time—was looking for a marketing intern.
“Back then, I didn’t even know what a credit union was,” admits Hearn, a CUES member. Nonetheless, he went on the interview, got the internship and started a career with Dupaco Community Credit Union that has now spanned nearly three decades. In that time, the CU has grown to $1.3 billion in assets, with 350-plus employees and nearly 90,000 members in the tri-state area of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. Four years ago, Hearn, ascended to the role of president/CEO.
“I’ve been with Dupaco for 29 years now, and it’s been just an incredible ride of learning and growth and opportunity,” says Hearn. “I talk to our team all the time about finding their passion, and I was really blessed to find my passion with my first job right out of school.”
Concurrent with his three decades at Dupaco Community CU, Hearn has grown into a champion of CUs’ mission to improve members’ financial lives. Taking on the position of chairman of the CUES Board of Directors, he is looking forward to helping lead an organization focused on the important goal of leadership development.
“It’s all about helping individuals at credit unions maximize their potential,” Hearn says. “I believe very strongly in developing credit union CEOs, directors and future leaders, and that’s what CUES stands for: ‘Potential, realized.’”
The Start of His Journey
Hearn began his journey toward realizing his potential in Independence, Iowa, where his parents owned a small tire and appliance business.
“Basically I learned from observing my father and my mother,” he says. “They worked hard, treated people right, and were very involved in the community. They taught me the value of hard work, but also the importance of having a little fun along the way. Meetings at Dupaco are not complete without a couple of laughs or some lighthearted kidding about favorite sports teams or activities.”
Taking his parents’ work ethic to heart, Hearn spent his youth working jobs that ranged from detasseling corn to weeding bean fields to working on a chicken farm. He helped pay for college selling books door to door during the summers.
After earning his undergraduate degree in business management and marketing, Hearn planned to get his MBA. However, Dupaco Community CU’s then-CEO Bob Hoefer had another path in mind. On the very day Hearn was planning to enroll in the MBA program at the University of Iowa, Hoefer asked Hearn to become the CU’s marketing director.
Hearn’s first inclination was to say no. I said, “Bob, I’m going to the University of Iowa to get my MBA. I’m leaving today.” However, Hoefer was persistent. He convinced Hearn that the experience gained as marketing director would be just as valuable as obtaining his MBA.
“Why don’t you try it for a year or two?” Hoefer suggested. “You can always go back and get your master’s.”
“I thought about it and decided he was right,” Hearn says. “I talk quite a bit with our team about fate—how sometimes you run into people who set you off on a course. That’s exactly what happened to me.”
Hearn eventually did earn his MBA from the University of Dubuque in 2010. In the interim, he gained valuable experience from working at Dupaco Community CU.
“I feel like I earned my master’s from the day-to-day experience of working within the credit union movement,” Hearn says. “I started out wearing a hot dog costume because we were a meatpackers’ credit union and we had a Kids’ Club, and then I moved on from there.
“Bob, as the CEO, had an understanding that the key to putting forth a successful initiative was communicating with the members. Bob would have me at the table along with IT and operations, so I gained experience in many different facets of the credit union beyond marketing.”
A Valuable Mentor
In time, Hearn became involved in CUES, the Iowa Credit Union League, the Credit Union National Association and the Iowa Credit Union Foundation.
During his career at the CU, Hearn moved from marketing director to VP/marketing, then SVP/marketing and eventually to EVP/marketing. As Hoefer approached his retirement, Hearn took on the role of chief operating officer. After two years, Hearn succeeded his mentor as president/CEO.
Hearn can’t thank Hoefer enough. “Bob is like a second father to me, and I owe him a lot,” Hearn says.
Hoefer, whose affiliation with Dupaco Community CU spans more than half a century—and now includes advising the board—is proud of Hearn’s success.
“Joe is a high-energy, extremely results-oriented type of person, and he expects others to be as well,” Hoefer says. “When I left, there was no slowdown. If anything he goes at a pace even faster than I did. If I was going 120 miles an hour, he goes 150.”
Dupaco Community CU Board Chair Ron Mussehl also has good things to say about Hearn.
“Basically Joe’s leadership style lifts everybody up,” says Mussehl, a CUES Director member. “He’s done a very good job developing his team and positioning us for growth. He’s supportive of everybody—the board and his staff—and is extremely involved in the community.”
More specifically, Hearn says he’s leading the CU to “double down” on staff in terms of training, engagement, and building bench strength so employees can better serve members.
At the community level, Hearn has worked with the Friends of St. Mary’s, which is revitalizing a community by turning a vacated church campus into transitional housing, an events center for community education, daycare and nonprofit office space.
Hearn is quick to acknowledge the role of the Dupaco Community CU Board in building a stronger future for the CU.
“I’m extremely grateful to our volunteer board members for their vision, enthusiastic support of their financial cooperative, and for providing our staff the tools we need to get the job done,” Hearn says. “They are an inspiration to me and the entire team.”
His Involvement with CUES
Hoefer classifies Hearn as a dynamic leader, which will certainly be a positive attribute in his latest role with the CUES Board. “He’ll do an awesome job as chairman,” Hoefer says. “He’s got so much talent to give, and he delivers on it.”
Hearn sees serving on the CUES Board as an opportunity to reciprocate for the value he has received, including his Certified Chief Executive designation through CEO Institute.
“I see CEO Institute as a springboard to help enhance leadership within the movement. That’s why I’m involved on the board, trying to give something back,” he says.
Hearn has been on hand as a board member for several major changes within CUES, including the CUES rebranding and transitions in CUES leadership that have allowed Hearn to interact with three exceptional CEOs. The first was Fred Johnson, who retired after 23 years with the organization. “I knew Fred from my early days of involvement in CUES, and he was truly a great leader,” Hearn reports.
He also enjoyed working for two years with Chuck Fagan, who left CUES to return to his former employer, PSCU, as CEO. Now, Hearn expects new CUES President/CEO John Pembroke to continue guiding the organization on a positive path.
“John has the ability to take us forward,” Hearn says. “He was on the ground in Madison, working alongside Chuck, so as Chuck left, we had the momentum and direction and energy that we wanted. It was just natural for John to continue working to move us into the future.”
Hearn has nothing but praise for the other CUES directors. “They’re phenomenal people—intelligent, passionate and very engaged. When we discuss issues, it’s very energizing. When everything comes together, it can be profound. The board is firmly united in its mission to provide the best value for CUES members.”
Nurturing His Team
At Dupaco Community CU, Hearn uses the principles he has learned at CUES to nurture his team. Like Hoefer did before him, Hearn is sending his key people to CEO Institute and CUES conferences.
“I take to heart something that Bob told me, which is, ‘It’s not about what you know; it’s about the people you surround yourself with,’” he explains. “You bring your team along with you. You coach, and you mentor them. It’s easy for top-level leaders to get bogged down in day-to-day minutia. That’s why we need to grow and develop our team so they can tackle the day-to-day and free up those at the top to handle the major strategic initiatives and stay focused on the future.
“Our culture honors our history and internally we share stories amongst staff about member impact,” he explains. “I am constantly amazed at the way our staff are up to the challenge to navigate change and make powerful connections with our members to positively impact their lives and strengthen the cooperative.”
Hearn continues to use what he learned growing up in Iowa. “The core principles that my parents taught me—work hard, do the right thing, take care of people, have a little fun,” Hearn says. “Every day at Dupaco, we’re impacting people’s lives. They can have good credit, poor credit—it doesn’t matter. We’ll take them in and try to move them ahead. There’s something about doing that for people, putting them on a sustainable path to financial success in a movement that puts people before profits, that’s very fulfilling.”
On a personal note, Hearn is grateful to his wife, Trisha, for sustaining their home and caring for their two children, 11-year-old Ryan and 9-year-old Chloe. “I love her and owe her a great deal,” he says. “She understands that this credit union thing is in my blood. It’s a real team effort at home, and I couldn’t do any of this without her.
“When you love what you do, it’s not really work,” he says. “It’s your passion. It’s your calling. It’s energizing because you’re ‘all in’ and vested in what you’re doing. That’s why I love Dupaco and the credit union movement, and will do whatever I can to help each move toward achieving its full potential.”
Diane Franklin is a freelance writer based in Missouri.
