Several Recognition Awards will be presented to New York credit union professionals and volunteers during the New York Credit Union Association’s virtual 2020 Annual Meeting & Awards Presentation, slated for 9-10 a.m. on Monday, June 15. Today’s featured award is the Outstanding Professional Award, which honors professionals who have a true passion for credit unions and who inspire others with their hard work, dedication and success.

The Association’s Awards Committee has selected Mark Pfisterer, retired president/CEO of AmeriCU, as this year’s Outstanding Professional.

Pfisterer has served on multiple boards and has been active in the Association for many years, including serving as chair, vice-chair treasurer and member of its board of directors, among other roles. He has also served as chair of the Association’s Governmental Affairs Committee and as a member of the Association’s board and a trustee of the New York Credit Union Foundation. Additionally, Pfisterer was the chair of the UsNet board and served for many years.

Pfisterer began his career with AmeriCU, previously known as Up State Federal Credit Union, in 1979 when he was hired on as the controller/assistant manager for Administration. In 1981, he was promoted to executive vice president and in 1987 he became president/CEO.

Under Pfisterer’s leadership, AmeriCU’s assets grew exponentially as he dedicated his career to the “people helping people” philosophy of the credit union movement. In 2019 Pfisterer led efforts to support local charities including the American Heart Association in Oneida, Madison and Lewis counties; the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Rome Relay for Life; and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, among others. Alongside these efforts, he set aside credit union funds to support a variety of initiatives benefiting military service members and veterans, the Gregory Harris courtesy lounge at Hancock International Airport, ground transportation for honor flights and a moving wall memorial to the North Country.

Pfisterer led an expansion of AmeriCU’s field of membership to include all active military members, veterans and retired military members, allowing potential members nationwide to improve their financial lives.

Within the credit union, he hired a new chief lending officer tasked with developing best-in-class lending processes and products, implementing new centralized lending and creating additional efficiencies, and also hired a chief information officer to continue offering credit union members the highest levels of service. Those efforts speak to Pfisterer’s member-centric growth mindset, and belief that the only way for the credit union to succeed is for members to succeed.

Pfisterer is a proponent of lifelong learning as evidenced by his staunch support of the human resources development team, which contributed to AmeriCU being named to the Forbes 2019 list of best credit unions and a Best Place to Work in New York state. Each year he supported training and benefits reviews to ensure the needs of each AmeriCU family is met. In 2019, he supported offering improved life, disability and accident plans for employees.

As an example of AmeriCU’s commitment to the community and Pfisterer’s leadership, the annual Salute to the Troops Tribute Concert has been held at MountainFest. And at Fort Drum each summer, since 2013, AmeriCU has hosted a free concert featuring a national recording artist, a significant investment of time and energy, drawing roughly 20,000 attendees each year.