Northwest labor press., November 16, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
November 16, 2018 | PAGE 7
... Retired welder gives
$500,000 to Shriners
From Page 1
Above: Retired UA Local 290
member Duke Mitchell (center)
receives thanks from Dev Dion,
associate director of develop-
ment for Shriners Hospital-
Portland.  Mitchell, 96, donated
$500,000 to the hospital. 
Photo Left: Mitchell is joined
by his Local 290 union broth-
ers, including Business Man-
ager  Lou  Christian  (right),
Springfield Business Agent
Jeff McGillivray (center with
beard), and retired business
agent Mike Carmickle  (front
right).
Mitchell related the conversa-
tion. “I told Mike ‘I’ve got a lit-
“I invested wisely ... not be- tle money here that I’d like to
cause I was smart, but because I get rid of. Can you come over
was lucky,” he told the Labor and help me with that?’ He said
Press. “I became a millionaire ‘Sure, I’ll be right over.’ ”
while I was still working, and I
The two met the next day at
didn’t even know it!”
the Springfield training center.
Mitchell’s daughter, Sharon
“When Duke told me what he
Stiener of North Carolina, said wanted to do, it was mind bog-
she and Mitchell’s other family
g l i n g , ”
members are
Carmickle
glad he decided
said. “I don’t
to give some of
“This is the greatest in-
know who
his money to
was bawling
vestment I’ve ever made
Shriners.
more, me or
in
my
life.
Helping
those
“My dad has
him.”
little kids get a start in
taken care of his
A plaque
life: I don’t think you can
family,” Stiener
acknowledg-
said. “I think
do anything better than
ing Mitchell’s
it’s going to a
that.”
donation will
good cause.”
— Duke Mitchell
hang in the
Stiener said
Shriners Hos-
her father made
pital in Port-
a lot of friends
land.
through the union.
“This is the greatest invest-
“Many of them are gone now,
but it’s wonderful to see this ment I’ve ever made in my life,”
turnout,” she said at the check said Mitchell, who lives in a
presentation ceremony. Among trailer park in Springfield.
the union brothers at the cere- “Helping those little kids get a
mony was retired business agent start in life. I don’t think you can
Mike Carmickle, the first person do anything better than that.”
Mitchell called after deciding
where to donate his money.
Pacific Northwest Ironworkers Federal
Credit Union goes nationwide
The Pacific Northwest Ironwork-
ers Federal Credit Union has
gone nationwide. The credit
union, which previously served
Iron Workers locals in five states
— including Locals 29 and 516
in Portland — recently received
a new charter from the National
Credit Union Association
(NCUA) opening membership to
90,300 union Ironworkers, their
families, and related businesses
nationwide.
“It’s been a long journey, and
now the next chapter begins,”
said CEO Teri Robinson.
When Robinson took the reins
of the credit union in mid-2010,
the Great Recession was punch-
ing Oregon—and the credit
union—in the gut. With just $7.9
million in assets and an unhealthy
net worth ratio of 4.8 percent,
NCUA gave her only a few
months to prepare a Net Worth
Restoration Plan.
“We were definitely on life
support,” Robinson said.
Did she melt down and look
for a merger partner? No. She an-
nounced at the credit union’s an-
nual meeting that some day it
would become Ironworkers USA
Credit Union. Only two other
credit unions in the nation were
serving Ironworkers at that time,
and one of them had merged out.
“It made perfect sense,”
Robinson said. “We were already
serving Ironworkers in five states.
When I looked at our members, I
could see that some of them came
to the Northwest to work and
then went home. I knew with
technology we could keep serv-
ing those members.”
The recession eventually
ended and the credit union expe-
rienced record growth, amassing
over $32 million in assets. The
case for Ironworkers USA was
made. Robinson and the credit
union’s Board of Directors see a
three-year strategic plan to fully
transition their expanded charter,
but they can immediately help
any Ironworkers who reach out to
be a member. For more informa-
tion, call 877-769-4766 or go to
IronworkersUSA.org.