In the Spotlight: Meet Rod Maddock

​This Senior Ag Loan Officer is retiring after a very successful 30-year career at North Star Community Credit Union. 

by Shawn Marie Brummer, Communications Specialist, Dakota Credit Union Association

Rod Maddock, Senior Ag Loan Officer, is officially retiring after a 30-year career at North Star Community Credit Union.  Rod’s career began at Benson County Coop CU, back before it was called North Star CCU, when there were just two branches and 11 employees.  He has been a firsthand witness to the credit union’s amazing growth, which today stands at 12 branches and more than 100 employees.

His career began in the spring of 1991, when he was working as a carpenter and happened to be assigned a remodeling and addition job at Benson County Coop CU.  An employee there, Cindy Hegland, informed him that the credit union was planning to hire someone to do farm visits and inventories and encouraged him to apply.  The CEO at the time, Gordon Arne, hired him and thus began his career in the credit union industry. 

Rod has a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology and Wildlife Management, and always wanted to work outside.  The idea of working in an office never appealed to him, but he says that after all the years working in a credit union office, he could not have asked for a better place to work.

The first several years on the job, Rod primarily did farm visits and machinery appraisals.  In 1993 he was named Ag/Consumer Loan Officer, the title he held for 20 years, until he was named Senior Ag Loan Officer in 2013. 

“Coming to work every day knowing that you work for a business that really cares about people, with passion for doing the best we can do to help the members, I would call that a successful career,” he stated.

Working with family farms, seeing the progression between generations, has also been very satisfying work.  He has worked with numerous second-generation farmers, and in one case has even served three generations from one family.

Rod says that over the course of 30 years, besides the tremendous growth, the technology has certainly changed.  he recalls that when he first started working as a loan officer, he used a manual typewriter to complete all his own loan documents.  Today, the process is virtually paperless.  He says the newer technologies have made it possible to be more efficient and accurate when analyzing a farming operation.

Besides his work at the credit union, Rod has been very active in the greater community with various clubs and organizations, including the Maddock Men’s Club, Maddock Economic Development, Park Board, City Council, St. Williams Church, Business & Technology Center, and a volunteer scorekeeper for the local high school athletic teams, just to name a few.

His retirement plans include finishing up a few projects at home, spending more time with his family and grandkids, stepping up his outdoor activities, traveling to visit national parks, and to continue his volunteer work in the community.
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Congratulations on your retirement Rod, and thank you for all you have done as a dedicated credit union advocate! 

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