This prairie boy believes in banking with a community heart SITTING IN Phil Keller’s spacious Lonsdale Avenue office in North Vancouver and listening to him extol the virtues of life in the world of high finance, itis hard to imaginehim describe himself as a ‘‘prairie boy.”’ As chief executive officer of the North Shore Credit Union, a posi- tion he has held for nearly 29 years, Keller oversees a payroll in excess of $6 million and a workforce of 230. @ NAME: Phil Keller o AGE: 49 @ OCCUPATION: North Shore Credit Union Chief Executive Of- ficer @ RESIDENCE: couver @ BORN: Wilkie, Saskatchewan @ FAMILY: Wife Anne, three daughters North Van- The position sounds like it should be occupied by a financial wizard who hails from a big city By Surj Rattan News Reporter like Toronto and hangs out on places like Bay Street or Howe Street. But not Keller. He hails from the small farming town of Wilkie, Saskatchewan, and prefers to hang out on Lons- dale Avenue. lt seems as though Keller could have been born ina credit union. He started his career with a credit union in Saskatchewan in places like Prince Albert, moved to a credit union in Alberta, then went to work for a credit union in Ontario, moved back to Saskat- chewan to manage a credit in Kindersley before taking on the job of CEO of the North Shore Credit Union. Keller says what makes a credit union different from a standard bank is community involvement. “A credit union is structured and organized differently. There is a board of directors that is elected from the members of the credit union. The directors are very di- rectly linked to the organization; they’re owners as well as users. “Credit unions are very much people oriented. It’s an organiza- tion with a heart and a soul. “We focus a great deal on the needs of our members and the needs of the community and how best we can serve those needs,”’ says Keller. He adds that the North Shore Credit Union feels it has both an opportunity and an obligation to play an important role in the community. lt is therefore involved with a variety of local projects for stu- NEWS photo Mike Wakefield NORTH SHORE Credit Union chief executive officer Phil Keller, left, goes over some business with Doug Smith, the credit union's new vice-president of marketing and communication. The Working Opportunity Fund is o tox assisted investment program that brings together business, labour and government. Its portfolio vill consist of equity investments in B.C. businesses, treasury bills and other investment grade money market instruments. For more information call: For every dollar invested you will reveive: 20¢ Provincial Tox Credit 20¢ Federal Tax Credit Savings 4G¢ Approximate Tox Saving with RRSP contribution’ 20¢ Actual Cast of Your Investment* Renwick Day or Roy Gould - Your Investment Team- Global Securities Corp. Box 11190, Royal Centre 2900 - 1055 West Georgia St. Vancouver, BC, V6E 3R5 Phone 685-8207 Fax 685-8270 “Based on a subscriptian of $5,000 by a quoktying B.C, resident with oa yf reopen Peat anavol taxable income of opprosimorly $35,000. The equn savings per dollor invested ory approximately 47¢ for q taxable income of $25,000 and approximately 85¢ for a kizable iocomw of $60,000. Working Opportunity prospertus whach contains hl deigitt of the Offering, This ochrectisement is not a solicitation or an offer rs well securities of fund [FVCC) tid. The offer is mode salely by 0 cosfeninn WORKING © OPPORTUNITY, *” FUND... 44 Credit unions are very much people oriented. It’s an organization with a heart and a soul. 99 dents, seniors and projects such as recycling. ‘All of the funds we generate, be it salaries or taxes, stay within your local community and build the local economic base of the community. “The people are from here, they live here, they stay here, they shop here, and that helps drive the local community,” says Keller. He adds that moving from Saskatchewan to B.C. was like go- ing from one extreme to the other, but he says he is glad he decided to move west. “T love the North Shore tremendously. It’s a very friendly community with a strong sense of community overall on the North Shore. It’s a very relaxing at- mosphere. “There are good services on the North Shore, and there may be other services that you want that are only 15 minutes away in the city. I think we have the best of all worlds here. ‘““When people ask me, 1 say I’m 10 minutes away from the of- fice, and if I’m in a traffic jam then I’m 12 minutes away from the office. “This may sound strange, but being a prairie boy, 1 love the mountains and the ocean,”’ says Keller. Sony Hi-Fi VCR and High Grade V Tape Get 2 High Grade V tapes at no charge when you buy a Sony Hi-Fi VHS VCR. These perfect partners produce vivid, high-quality audio and video results for original or re-recorded taping — easily. Enjoy superb performance and legendary dependability today. Only from Sony. Sony Shuttle, MTS Stereo. carder videos. Also features VER Pius+, front panel inputs. While quantities last Sonyrs a tradesnarh of Surty VER Pluss 1s a tradumat’ ot Gemstar Development Corp Sony of Canada Ltd 16 an authionzed user SLV-494HF top-rated Hi-Fi VHS VER High-quality performance, superb features and depend- able service takes care of all of your time-shift recording and playback needs. 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