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Gerber Federal Credit Union announces election of Board Members
John Buckley, President/CEO of Gerber Federal Credit Union (Gerber FCU), is pleased to announce that four members were elected to the Board of Directors at Gerber Federal Credit Union’s 65th Annual Meeting held on April 18, 2015 at the Dogwood Center of Performing Arts.
Re-elected to the Board of Directors were members (left to right): Greg Zerlaut, Jim Merkel, Luci Moore and Randy Puff. These re-elected members will join Joe Roberson, Sandy Siegel and Susan Johnson on the board. At an organizational meeting following the election, the Board of Directors appointed officers to serve the credit union for the upcoming year as follows: Luci Moore – Chairperson, Randy Puff – Vice Chairperson, Jim Merkel – Treasurer and Greg Zerlaut – Secretary.
Luci Moore’s employment history includes over 30 years of service with Gerber Life Insurance Company. She currently holds the position of Director, Operations – Underwriting, New Business, Claims, Accounting, Policy Administration and Underwriting Tele Services (an outbound call center). In addition, she is Chief Underwriter for Gerber Life and has been a Project Leader across the organization, including holding the role of Gerber Life Insurance Educational Coordinator. She served on the St. Michael’s School Board and is a past President of the Michigan Home Office Life Underwriters Association (MHOLUA). Luci is married to Scott Moore, a local business owner of Moore’s Plumbing.
Randy Puff has served on the Gerber FCU Board of Directors for 33 years. He retired from Nestle/Gerber in 2009 after working there over 33 years. At Nestle/Gerber he held several positions in Sales, Marketing and Planning, all focused on the financial aspects of those functions. In his last position he was the team leader in the transition to the Nestle systems for the sales, marketing and customer service functions. He has an Associate’s Degree from Muskegon Community College, received his Bachelor’s Degree from Ferris State University and his Master’s Degree from Grand Valley State University.
Jim Merkel has served on the Gerber FCU Board of Directors for 23 years, including serving this past year as Treasurer. He is now retired from Novartis Consumer Health after working over 30 years as associate director of the Customer Financial Service Department, which is responsible for the credit extension decisions and collections from both Gerber and Novartis customers. He has been affiliated with numerous civic organizations including NCCS and the Boy Scouts. He is presently active with the Knights of Columbus, Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial, TrueNorth Community Services and All Saints Catholic Church. He is a graduate of Emory University located in Atlanta, Georgia and he has also completed the Graduate School of Credit & Financial Management. Jim has been married to Sandy for 44 years, they have two married sons and 3 grandchildren.
Greg Zerlaut is the past Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer of the Fremont Area Community Foundation, a position he held for 14 years. He was responsible for organizing, planning, directing and evaluating the Foundation’s financial and investment functions. He was involved in the Foundation’s state and national associations, chaired the Executive Committee of the national Fiscal and Administrative Officers Association and was a member of the Community Foundation’s Leadership Team of the national Council on Foundations. Greg was a frequent presenter at its conferences and seminars. Prior to coming to Fremont, Greg served as Vice President of Finance at the Muskegon County Community Foundation for seven years. Greg began his financial career with Comerica Bank – Hackley in Muskegon where he held the Assistant Controller and Controller positions for ten years and was the Employee Bene-fits Trust Officer for three years. He is now retired and spends his time volunteering, travelling, playing golf and boating. Greg has a BBA degree with an Accounting Major from Western Michigan University. Greg currently serves on the Finance Committee of the United Way of the Lakeshore. He was a member of the Fremont Rotary Club and served on the All Saints Church Finance Committee and Pastoral Council. Greg is a past President of the Ramshorn Country Club, past President of the Muskegon, Michigan Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants and a past President and Treasurer of the Holton Public Schools Board of Education. Greg is married to Christy, has a married daughter, a married son, and four grandchildren.
Credit unions are member-owned, not-for-profit and cooperative financial institutions. Our Board of Directors are volunteers, elected by the members, who oversee the credit union’s strategy guided by its members’ needs.
Gerber Federal Credit Union has over 13,100 members with assets totaling over $133 million. More than 120 businesses have partnered with Gerber FCU to offer the benefit of credit union membership to their employees, students, volunteers and family members! For membership details, visit www.gerberfcu.com/youbelong. Gerber FCU has two offices located in Fremont, MI, one in Newaygo, MI and one in Fort Smith, AR. Connect with us on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.