Two Receive Hall of Fame Honors

​Retired CEO of Western Cooperative CU, Melanie Stillwell, and former CEO of Voyage FCU, Darla Erb, recognized with DakCU’s highest achievement award. 

Melanie Stillwell receives Hall of Fame Award from DakCU President/CEO Jeff Olson.

Recently retired CEO of Western Cooperative CU (Williston, ND) and a former CEO of Voyage FCU (Sioux Falls, SD) were inducted into the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) Hall of Fame during the elegant Summit Awards Banquet that was held on Thursday, May 16, at Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood, Iowa. The Hall of Fame honor is a lifetime achievement recognition, and the most prestigious of all DakCU’s awards.
 
As part of the ceremony, a video recap of each of the credit union executives’ history was played, which you can view at the links below, and part of the narratives are also reprinted below.
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Melanie Stillwell Hall of Fame Video
Darla Erb Hall of Fame Video
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Melanie Stillwell joined the staff of Western Cooperative Credit Union (WCCU) in 1998, and within four years, earned the title of president/CEO. When she first started, the credit union was at $75 million in assets. Upon her retirement on April 1, 2024, they were at an astounding $441 million with more than 18,000 members and eight locations in western North Dakota.
 
With more than 85 years in business, she is proud of the credit union’s track record of improving people’s lives and the number of long-time employees the credit union has developed, a testament to the quality and satisfaction the credit union brings not only to members, but to their staff. If you ask what she enjoys most about the industry, she will tell you it is the people she has met on her journey; employees, board members, community figures, and individuals throughout the credit union network. 
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Stillwell has a long history of volunteer work. Her talents have supported such organizations as the North Dakota State Credit Union Board; the Dakota Credit Union Association Board; the Credit Union National Association’s Examination & Supervision Subcommittee; Williston Rotary Club; Junior Achievement; the Williston State College Foundation; and the Williston Economic Development Board, just to name a few. She was previously inducted into the Credit Union Hall of Leaders in Washington, DC, and was named a “Top 25 Women in Business” by Prairie Business magazine. 

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Darla Erb receives the Hall of Fame Award from DakCU President/CEO Jeff Olson.

​Darla Erb became the CEO of Voyage Federal Credit Union in 1998, a position she held until her retirement at the end of 2019. Today, after 85 years, Voyage is still growing under the vision she set, now exceeding $233 million in assets, and serving a community that covers 24 counties in four states, serving more than 20,000 members.

Over the years, she would often say, it is the cooperative nature of credit unions, the people, and service to others that she most enjoyed about her career. She believes the credit union industry attracts a unique type of person; those that are helpful, selfless, empathetic, and loyal, and that are willing to work daily for the benefit of others.

Erb spent her entire career giving back to numerous organizations. She served on the board of the Dakota Credit Union Foundation; the Sioux Valley Chapter of Credit Unions; the Advisory Council of Members United Corporate FCU; and the Dakota Credit Union Association’s Education Committee. In the Sioux Falls community, she has served on the City Planning Commission; as a Diplomat for the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce; as a Board Member for the Siouxland Chapter of Alzheimer’s Association; and volunteered for the Sioux Empire United Way. 

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