It is easy to assume that a financial executive achieves a high-level position due to their knack with numbers. Yet, the most compelling and perhaps surprising thing about senior executives of all kinds is their thirst for knowledge. A successful leader possesses a deep understanding of their business as a whole and is constantly learning and growing to best support the team members they lead.
Michael Valley, Merrimack Valley Credit Union’s (MVCU) chief financial officer and chief operating officer, is no exception. With more than 35 years of experience in the banking industry, Valley’s skills, desire to learn and understanding of his impact as a leader have enabled him to help grow MVCU into the multi-billion-dollar credit union that it is today.
For Valley, a career in banking can be considered hereditary. His father was a banker, so he was exposed to the industry even before he attended Stonehill College to earn a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in finance and economics. His first position in finance was as a corporate budget analyst for a large regional bank in Boston, where he worked for several years before going to grad school and earning an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. During this time, he worked at a retail company and gained valuable experience in the customer-facing side of the industry.
Valley held his first leadership role while working in the accounting division at Fleet Bank (now Bank of America). At the time, Fleet Bank was, as he describes, a “merger powerhouse,” where he experienced several mergers while he moved up within the company, learning about the intricate process of blending teams from two institutions in addition to the regular finance and accounting work that mergers require.
Valley took a new position as chief financial officer of Bridgewater Credit Union (BCU) in 2015. At the time, the credit union was experiencing major changes in leadership – including the hiring of a new president & CEO – so this new position posed a risk for Valley who did not yet have a rapport with his colleagues. But, as the existence of this biography proves, it was a risk that worked out well.
“As financial people, we manage risk for a living,” Valley says. “You’re never going to move ahead if you don’t take an opportunity that presents itself. I like learning and growing, and I believe you never stop learning and growing. Being a leader here has really helped me with that.”
Valley’s experience with mergers was invaluable when BCU merged with MVCU in 2018. Now part of the executive leadership team, his responsibilities went far beyond handling the credit union’s financials as he learned even more about the merger process from this senior position.
“At the leadership level, I had the opportunity through the Bridgewater – Merrimack merger to manage the overall integration,” Valley recalls. “That was a huge learning curve that teaches you to think about the whole company and how it operates because you need to redesign processes. I really learned a lot in this particular merger, and I’ve been able to hone those skills over time as we’ve gone through subsequent mergers at MVCU.”
During this time, Valley added “chief operating officer” to his title, his responsibilities increasing to supervision of the entire company’s operations.
“The one thing I love about working in finance and accounting is that it really helps you understand the business because you have to analyze everything that’s going on in the company,” says Valley. “Everything that somebody does, whether it’s making a deposit or issuing a loan, is recorded on the books of the company.”
Throughout his career, Valley has worked at both large banks, like Fleet, small community banks and now credit unions. He appreciates the commitment to community and the “people helping people” philosophy of credit unions. “I love credit unions today because of the collective mindset,” says Valley. “It’s really about the membership: giving back to members, helping our communities and embracing a supportive culture.”
A native of Wakefield, Mass., Valley now lives in Rhode Island with his two boxers – Archie and Abbey – after spending several years in Florida. When he is not working, he enjoys catching up on his favorite shows, which include Game of Thrones, the Big Bang Theory, Downton Abbey and Friends, and is both a travel enthusiast and a “foodie.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, Valley is excited about completing the integration of systems necessitated by MVCU’s merger with RTN Federal Credit Union in 2023.
“From an organizational perspective, once we get past the systemic conversion, we will really become one company, and you’ll see a wonderful shift now that all our processes are aligned. It really drives the organization forward and to the next level. I’m also looking forward to continuing to grow professionally and see where my role and experience will take me.”