Velocity Credit Union appoints Debbie Mitchell new CEO

Debbie Mitchell, president of Velocity Credit Union, was appointed CEO by a unanimous vote of Velocity’s board of directors in a meeting held December 23, 2008. Her new title, CEO/President, effective January 1, comes in the wake of the November 2008 passing of Larry Strong, former CEO. Mitchell, who has a 23-year history with Velocity, was named president of the 60-year old institution in 2007. “Velocity’s board of directors has every confidence that Debbie Mitchell is the right person to lead Velocity in today’s environment. She’s wise, passionate and a broad thinker,” said Carl Lynch, chairman of the board. “Debbie has directed the operation of this credit union for the past five years and has already proven herself to be a strong leader, who has built an exceptional management team.” Prior to her appointment as president, Mitchell served as Chief Operating Officer and led the credit union through a re-naming/rebranding campaign, culture change and major branch expansion in 2003-2005. Founded in 1947, Velocity was once known as Austin Metropolitan Financial Credit Union and primarily served city employees. Today Velocity serves the Austin metropolitan five-county area and has $476 million in assets, 200 employees and more than 84,000 members. Though Mitchell takes on her newest challenge in the highly competitive Austin market and in a relatively uncertain economy, she is confident and optimistic about the future. “Velocity Credit Union is solid and strong, with a healthy balance sheet, an experienced management team and dedicated employees. Velocity did not get involved in any way with the subprime mortgages that we heard so much about,” Mitchell said. “Our focus is on providing our members a safe, sound and secure financial institution — not sky-rocketing profits for stockholders that often involve high risk. We offer a variety of deposit and investment accounts, and continue to make sensible loans to our members using sound lending practices, as we have for over 60 years. “I am honored and humbled by this new challenge and look forward to serving the members and employees of Velocity Credit Union for many years to come,” said Mitchell.