A Coffee with Brett Oland from Bow Valley Credit Union

Join us for a coffee and chat with Brett Oland, President and CEO of Bow Valley Credit Union.

Bow Valley Credit Union took a chance and opened the first branch in an industrial park. 
Originally from Medicine Hat Alberta, Brett's journey has taken him many places in life, including the Cayman Islands (yes it's legal) and working in a not-for-profit.

Bow Valley Credit Union has opened their doors in beautiful downtown Acheson.
It's more than a transaction, its about people!

Transcript

0:14

Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park. My name is Cam Milliken, and I'm here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association. Hi, Jennifer. Hi, Cam, how are you today? I'm doing fantastic. It's a great day, and I'm really excited. We're here at the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So if you hear some noises in the background, it's because we're at the coffee shop, and you might hear a coffee machine going, or some kids screaming, or that kind of stuff. Anyway, we're doing it live right here, and it's great to be here. It sure is. And tell us about some very important people, Jennifer. Well, Cam, we would like to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the MyShak group of companies, Genics and Parkland County. These businesses do so much for the Acheson Business Association, and we could not manage to do the work we do without them. So thank you. Yes, thank you very much. We really appreciate what you do. Anything new, Jennifer, that you want to tell us about? Oh, Cam, you know what I was doing last night when I got home? No. Grade 7 social studies. Are you still in grade 7? I'm not, but my son is. Your son is? Okay. I was wondering about that. Boy, oh boy. How'd that go? Not so good. Well, better for him than me. Yeah, really? Yeah. Were you able to help him or did he help you? Well, a little combination of both. A little combination of both. Yeah. Do you remember your days of like? Jennifer, I don't even know if I made it through grade 7. So I'm not sure. The Hudson Bay Company and all of that. That's what we were learning. I used to go to them downtown. That's the only Hudson Bay Company I know. Well, that's good. Well, he had you there helping him. That's pretty awesome. And today I am very excited because we have a great, great guest with us today. So Jennifer, why don't you introduce our guest? We are excited to have another Acheson member in the house today. So our guest is Mr. Brett Oland, who is the president and CEO of Bow Valley Credit Union. Hey, Brett. Welcome. Welcome. Well, thanks for having me and really appreciate being here, being invited. And I just got to say a shameless plug for the ABA. These guys have been fantastic for Bow Valley Credit Union and getting into the park. And it's just been from day one. They've been very helpful and really appreciate all that you've done for us. Well, we appreciate you saying that. And for those, and we'll talk about this. We will. This, there actually is a credit union in Acheson in the industrial park. And we are one of the few, if not the only industrial park in the province that has an actual bank or credit union located. So cool! I know it's awesome. It makes it makes it, it makes it that you want to do business in Acheson. Absolutely. What a great place to do it. So Brett, thank you. It's good to have you here. You're located. We'll talk about that in a little bit, where you're at in case people are wondering. But hey, we want to know a little bit about you. Tell us about Brett Oland. Where did you grow up? Yeah. Where did you come from? Well, originally, originally, I was born in Medicine Hat. I guess that doesn't change. But no, no, where you're born is where you can't change that. No, no, no, no. Where you're born is where you're born. So right here in Alberta, an Alberta boy lived here most of my life. I was away for a little over two years, but came back, love it here, and great place to live. And yeah. So did you do all, did you stay in Medicine Hat until you were done high school, or did you move, did your family move at all before that? We pretty much stayed in Medicine Hat. I did a couple of years of college in Medicine Hat. I went to college in Medicine Hat too. You went to college in Medicine Hat? Did you know each other? No, my first two years in Medicine Hat. Great city. Yeah, that's a good city. Awesome. So Medicine Hat, and then what? You? Yeah, I went to the U of C., got a Bachelor of Commerce, continued to work in Calgary for PricewaterhouseCoopers. I was there for about five years. So that's one of the big four accounting firms around the world. And then decided to have a change in life. One day, I got a red light ticket in Calgary, and I said, enough, enough is enough, and left. And so I... You left Calgary. I left Calgary. Because of the red light ticket. Did you not pay the fine and you're wanted or something? No, I did pay the ticket, but it was the last straw. It was it. That was it. Yeah, I don't blame you. Yeah, I don't blame you. And that's back when red light tickets were only 50 bucks. Right, yeah. Now they're about $50,000 to pay a red light ticket, but yeah, so you had enough. You packed up the car. Yeah, and with the accounting background, accountants are really sought after in tax havens. And so I went down to the Cayman Islands and lived down there for a bit. Really? I didn't know that about you. You lived in the Cayman Islands. I did. Wow. And so that's a different type of banking that we're doing now at Bow Valley Credit Union. It's investment banking. More around hedge funds and investments, of course. All offshore stuff, tax haven. So tell us about the culture of living in the Cayman Islands. Was that like a big cultural shift? Yeah, for sure. I'd recommend anybody at some point in their life actually go live in a different culture, or not just travel there, actually live in a different culture, because it's really eye opening to see where other people are coming from, and different perspectives and things like that. And yeah, it's a very Christian-based island, to the point where everything stops at midnight on Saturday night. Oh, wow. Yeah. To be ready for Sunday, for God's Day. Right. And really great people down there. And I'm not sure if they've figured it out or if we've figured it out, because the pace is just so much slower. Right. So the community down there, they sort of have the car, they have their apartment, they have their TV, and that's all they want in life. Right. They don't want to travel. Simple life. They don't want to work too hard. They just sort of want to hang out with family and friends, and maybe they have that right. Some days that's- I think they do have that right. Some days that's like the thing, man. That's it. Wow. And how did you fit in with that? Was that- Oh, I had a great time down there. It was fantastic. Yeah, there was a hurricane when I was down there. And it was a big one. It was a Category 5 hurricane. Lost everything, lost my apartment, lost my car, lost everything I pretty much owned. So that's pretty interesting too. How long did you live there? A little over two years. I was down there. So you lost everything? Yep. Had to start from scratch. Start from scratch. And yeah, it was a real directional change in my life, which was probably well needed. And it was great. I agree with you. I think everybody, I think every young person should spend time in another culture. I think it's fantastic. So yeah. So Cayman Islands, hurricane, lost everything, decided I want to move back. Yep. No, believe it or not, the heat gets to you. Yes. The lack of mountains gets to you. Even just driving sort of gets to you, because you could probably make a loop around the Cayman Islands is quite a small place in about half an hour. Right. So it's just not. Yeah. The open road like we're used to in Alberta for sure. So yeah. Yeah. And decided to come back home and get things started in Alberta. Right. So what did you do? What? Worked at Walmart or what? Cayman Islands to Walmart? I don't know. I don't know. I did work at a pizza place for a while. All right. Was this pre-Cayman Islands? No, this was post-Cayman Islands. I joked that I retired when I came back from the island and sort of had a summer in my old stomping grounds in Waterton. Yeah. For a good friend of mine and his family, worked for them just cooking pizzas. Right on. Multi-talented. That's unbelievable. Not everybody can cook pizzas. I'll tell you that right now. So yeah. How long do you do that for? Just the summer and then decided that I needed to get my life career together again. It wasn't a career choice. Yeah. Unless you open a string of pizza chain stores. But yeah. Anyway, so then you quit pizza and you moved into? Yeah. And it's pretty interesting the timing of everything. That was right around about 2006. I came back and so that was just before the height of the great financial crisis which was 2008. Pretty interesting time. So it's really interesting to see in the Caymans all the money that people were making hand over fist. And some of the funds that we were working on, like we're making 12 percent per month in returns. Okay, so I'm going to ask you a silly question. I'm a layman and I know very little about this. I know that when I watch gangster movies and things like that, they're always talking about having offshore funds in like the Caymans. Now, sorry, this is how I know about it. So it's legit, right? It's legit. The Caymans is legit. No, it is legit. And so what's the advantage of having funds or money in the Caymans? Well, there's illegal jurisdictions and there's legal jurisdictions. So the Caymans is a legal jurisdiction where you can actually invest your money offshore. And generally, it's for wealthier family offices, and hedge funds and things like that. So tax savings, those kinds of things. And that's it. And I was never really part of getting the money in or out of the Caymans. I was more boots on the ground. So you weren't doing anything illegal. You had nothing to do with your red light speeding ticket, anything like that. You were all good to go. I just want people to know that that's it. You're not wanted or anything like that. But I think that's interesting, because you do hear about people setting up accounts in the Cayman Islands or whatever. And it's just interesting to know why they would do that. Yeah, and it's just to earn tax-free... Yeah, for sure. And it's actually pretty astounding when you get your first paycheck, and there's no deductions on it. No CPP, no EI. Wouldn't that be the dream? No kidding, eh? Then you come back to Canada, and it's like, are you kidding me? Like 50% of my paycheck is going to the government. Unbelievable. Okay, so sorry for the sidetrack there. So you're cooking pizzas, you're done with pizzas, then you're... Yeah, I had a short stint in sort of a professional job in Medicine Hat, and then I did meet my wife prior to this, but I actually met her while I was down on the Cayman Islands. But we ran into each other again in Edmonton, and that's why I moved up to Edmonton, and it was largely because of her, and got a job at Canadian Western Bank, and that's more into what I'm into now, is retail banking. And I was exceptionally fortunate to get involved with Canadian Western Bank just because of the fact... They were a smaller organization at the time, six or seven billion, which is small in financial services terms. So I got to see it all. So I got to see, in the finance department, you see budgeting, management reporting, board reporting, cash flow, accounts payable, you know, you name it, you saw it. And you just don't get that opportunity in, say, a bigger bank, like some of the big majors in Canada. Yeah. Wow. That's fantastic. Yeah. Awesome. And how long then did you stay with Canadian Western Bank? Better part of about five years I was with them. It got to a size, its business models was to double every five years. Okay. And it got to a point, and I think it was about 16 or 17 billion when I left. And it turned into too big of an organization for me. Right. And I know my sweet spot. And when I thrive, it's in sort of that medium, not quite large organizations, and I do much better in places like that. And you know what? I mean, kudos to you for knowing that, because a lot of people might be on the career chain, up, up, up and bigger and better type of thing. And obviously, that wouldn't make you happy. So you knew where your, like you said, your sweet spot was. So it's fantastic. So you're there for a while, five years, and then they're getting too big, and you want to... Yeah. And fortunately for myself and my family, we did pretty well during the great financial crisis, and especially we were blessed with Canadian Western Bank. And then moving to a different stage in our life. I think the tipping point from that, there's a lot of these tipping points in my life. Sure, yeah. We, my wife and I had our first son, and we were living in downtown Edmonton, and we went trick-or-treating. And... Okay. So we sort of tried to go around the condo that we were living in. Yeah. You go to somebody's door, and you knock on it, and they look at you and go, yeah, what do you want? And it's like, well, the kid, he's standing there in the costume. Dressed up for a reason, it's October 31st, folks. Okay, yeah. So I got no candy for you. And they try and accommodate. It's like, oh, here's a granola bar kid. Got a can of beans. Okay. So yeah, that was sort of a turning point for us. And it's like, well, yeah, maybe we just can't live in the city anymore. And so we decided to change in lifestyle. And the second kid was on the way and decided to go down to the mountains. And I was fortunate enough to get a position with a not-for-profit foundation called the Peter and Catharine Whyte Foundation. Really? And it's also basically the parent company of the Whyte Museum. Right. Yeah. Okay. Tell us a little about that. Sure. Yeah, no, it was definitely a different stretch for me. I was mainly hired to turn the place around to some degree financially. Right. And I did a little bit of that with PricewaterhouseCoopers is actually the turnaround guy. Sure. You hear and see about those guys. Yeah, no, yeah. Yeah. So largely you get parachuted into positions and basically correct finances. And rescuing the company or getting it back on its feet. So how did you find working for a not-for-profit compared to like? Yeah, bank. Right. It was not really not-for-profit. Like for-profit. Yeah. Yeah, very different. I enjoyed the less regulation, that's for sure. And definitely a different mindset, different objectives, which sort of I had to get my head around. It's not all about the profit. No, not at all. No. And so now I've sort of found a pretty good mix of where we're at with the credit union, which has both altruistic motives as well as profit motives, which is a pretty good spot for me. So were you living in Banff at the time then? Was that where the foundation was? Well, no, I commuted for the 20-kilometer to commute from Canmore, so we set up in Canmore. So you're living in Canmore? Yeah, and we continue to live in Canmore today. Been about there for about 14 years. And you'd commute to Banff every day? Yep, for about a year. Man, that's a tough commute, eh? Like, jeez, that's like... Man, the views would be great. Oh, I had to slow down because of the elk on the road. Yeah, that's a tough one. Yeah, the views would be great if all the mountains weren't... I know, it's crazy, eh? Those tourists, those crazy tourists every year. But anyways, wow, that's pretty incredible. Yeah, that's cool. I didn't know you worked for a non-profit. That's really awesome. Yeah, so in that position, and I sort of need to keep myself grounded to some degree, and all the while I was working at the Peter and Catherine White Foundation, I was on the board of the Bow Valley Credit Union. Right, okay. And it sort of morphed into a higher position as well because I also got on the board of Alberta Central, which is effectively the administrative and body behind all the credit unions in Alberta. And so they manage all the investments and payments there, and I was on the board for about seven years, and I was chair for about three of that board, and we're pretty proud of what we did there as well. All right, so let's morph into that. So Bow Valley Credit Union. Tell us about Bow Valley Credit Union. Sure. Yeah, we're a $600 million organization. Again, that's pretty small compared to the $1.2 trillion. But nothing to sneeze at. I mean, that's yeah. Yeah, no, it's pretty decent. We're considered a large credit union, but at the end of the day, we're not the size of RBC, and so we have our limitations, but also that comes with its benefits too, just because you pick up the phone and you actually know the other person. Yeah. Yeah. So Bow Valley started where? It started in Banff in 1953. Okay. So we've been around a little over 70 years. Yeah. And it was Banff Park Savings at that time. After that, we sort of merged with another credit union out of Exshaw. And now that's, if you know Exshaw, it's right outside of Canmore. Yeah. That's right. Next, it sort of moved into Canmore. We also got a branch in Cochrane, where our current head office is. We acquired a branch in Airdrie, and now we have two branches in Airdrie. Yeah. And I think in 2010, we merged with another credit union Key Savings in Calgary. And so we have a branch in Calgary. And our latest branch is in Acheson. It's our seventh branch. Right. We have plans for a Red Deer branch in January 2024, and a South Calgary branch in Lake Bonavista or Avenida. Wow. So great expansions. That's really great. Yeah. No, we've been growing leaps and bounds. We're about 18% membership growth last year. Fantastic. For 2024, we're on pace for about 11% growth, and then we'll keep that going. Yeah. So the Acheson branch, of course, is literally 30, 40 yards from where we're sitting right now. Well, Cam, we used to share office with the bank when they first came in. When Bow Valley first moved to Acheson, you and I shared offices. We did. I felt like I was a banker. I was giving out loans and things like that. So no, I wasn't. I didn't do any of that. Leaving at 3.30, arriving at 10, two hours for lunch. It was a good life until we had to move. Now I'm back to regular hours. But no, it was exciting to watch that happen and see you guys move in. Beautiful downtown Acheson has its own bank. See? I know. We're growing. I know. Just wait for we start building condos. It's going to be unbelievable. But anyways, tell us about that. So, you have a credit union in an industrial park. Yes. Why? Be honest. You don't have to... Because I know. But just was that a bit of a risk for you guys? Was it like... What were your initial thoughts on that? Because we kind of outed you a little bit to come. Yeah. Well, it makes a ton of sense if you think about it, right? You know, so Acheson, better part of about 400 businesses. 10,000 people coming here today, close to a major highway, makes a lot of sense in a lot of regards. And banking has changed over the years. Not everybody just wants to do everything online. Right. They want bricks and mortar when they're dealing with stuff. There's always stuff that you need to sign. You want to talk to somebody and look them in the face when you're doing things. So that's so true. I mean, there is a segment of our population, and I know that, when my mom was elderly, she didn't use her computer or anything like that. But all of my relatives, most of them, some computer savvy, they would rather... They don't want an online bank. No, they want to talk to somebody. So I think that's really great. Because a lot of the major banks are kind of shutting down their tellers and moving to a very online presence. You guys have an online presence, but you're still very... People focused, I would say. Face to face. Yeah, and I'll take that bet all day long. We hear countless time after turn, hey, you know what, I've been on hold for eight hours. It's like, all I want to do is X, and I can't do that online. And it's a real shame. And I think that's fine. They've sort of got a bit of the McDonald's brand of banking. The thing is, banking is emotional. It's people's money, it's people's livelihood. They need to not run through the drive-thru to do banking. No, I think it's great. I think it's fantastic what you're doing. And because our offices were there, and your startup here in Acheson, we got to see that firsthand. We watched people come in who that's what they wanted. They wanted an interaction with a live person, and that was really cool. Let's talk a little bit about Bow Valley, because you guys, gold is a big part of who you are. And talk to us about that a little bit. Why is gold such a big part of Bow Valley? Sure, and this actually stems back even to what I was doing in the Caymans and the great financial crisis. And I sort of saw money, hand over fist, come in and out of the Cayman Islands. And you sort of scratch your head and go, wait a minute, not everybody is doing as well as this. And so it puts you on edge, and it doesn't really sit well with you. And then the great financial crisis happened, and although we were largely insulated in Canada, there were a lot of winners and a lot of losers, in the US especially. And so that was sort of another touch point. And then COVID came around, and we saw the massive amount of currency printing, and people staying at home. So not being productive, staying at home, money being printed and getting cash in the bank accounts. And we knew that was going to be massively inflationary, and we continue to think we haven't seen the end of inflation. Right. We've offshored a lot of things to China. We've finally woken up, and are starting to bring manufacturing home and that type of thing. Yeah. Business is back home, and unfortunately, that's going to be massively inflationary. And I can safely say if we look back from the 3030s and go, wow, that was inflationary decade. Yeah. So we wanted to protect not only our membership, but our organization against what we see is going to be some perpetual inflation going forward. Yeah. And throughout history, that has been gold in the past. Yeah. And so not only do we use the profits of Bow Valley Credit Union to purchase gold and silver and precious metals, but we also encourage our membership. And we heavily rely on our partner, Silver Gold Bull, to be able to do that. So you can buy physical gold. Physical gold. Metals. Yeah. And that's important because most banks, it's a piece of paper and some people want to touch their asset. So yeah. So you can do that. Yeah. And for the more tech-savvy people, this week, we should be able to launch what we're calling our e-metals account. Okay. And so you can actually purchase fractional ounces of gold and silver, up to a hundredth of an ounce. Wow. Well, and that's important, especially for younger people today. Yes. Sure. A fraction of a hundredth of an ounce of silver is about 45 cents. Yeah. So, yeah, maybe you can't afford 50 bucks, but you can probably afford 45 cents. Yeah. And so at least you can sort of gradually contribute to it and not pay high-priced. Guess where I'm going after this. Yeah. I'm going to set up and run it. I don't want to get into that. It shouldn't be this week. Okay. So if you need test cases, we're here. If you need a beta people, we're right here. We'll beta for you. You're pretty much staff. Send us your money. I got 45 cents. I got my Bow Valley piggy bank. That's right. That's pretty cool though. That's because it does allow people to, some people just think they could never ever own some gold or silver, precious metal or whatever, just because you got to buy a full ounce, which is, I don't know what the price is today. Yeah, 37 or $3,800 for a full ounce of gold. And you can buy that fractional piece of it and have it, and easily transfer back and forth between your Bow Valley Credit Union account too. That's cool. That's really cool. So, we're running out of time, but I just want to, again, you have how many branches across Alberta? We have seven branches and then two more coming in the next, say, six months. Okay. So we'll have nine producing. And I actually want to ask a question. How is the Acheson branch been for you? Yeah, it's been fantastic. So mentioning earlier today that if this growth keeps up within Acheson, it'll be our biggest branch within a year. Fantastic. That is fantastic. You know, downtown Acheson is growing by leaps and bounds. Now we got one of the biggest banks in the world here. Just kidding. I mean, but it's growing. It will be one day when we build our condos and stuff. But I just think that's phenomenal. And credit to Acheson and businesses. I like that. But more credit to Bow Valley for being willing to do that. I think you guys are a bit of a pioneer in this. I agree. And I think that's fantastic. And kudos to you guys for doing that. Well, we hope so. And we still think there's time in Bricks and Mortar. And happy to help where we can. And especially in a great community like Acheson. Yeah, it's great. So Brett, we have one final question for you. Tell us the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day. Oh, boy, I've had tons of great mentors. And I think probably one that just popped in my head is get things right, not perfect. Yeah, it's probably I like that. A really good. That's good. Yeah. Get things right, not perfect. That's good. Yeah. Well, that's absolutely fantastic, folks. If you're interested in Bow Valley Credit Union, it's www.bowvalleycu.com. And they are located at 27717 Acheson Road. Right next door to the Wall Coffee Roasters. So you go open your bank account, deposit your money, come get a coffee. Yeah, fantastic. Or if you live in another part of the province, you heard Brett talk about where there's going to be branches or are branches. Wait a minute, Cam. They can go to Bow Valley, get their coffee, and come to the middle, to the ABA office and say hello. That's right. Come to the ABA office, become an ABA member or an associate member, if you're not from Acheson. And we'll have a great time together. Bow Valley, ABA, Wall Coffee. Fantastic. Matter of fact, if you sign up at the ABA and with Bow Valley, I'll buy you coffee. Just say, put it on. I know, just put it on Cam's card. That's all it takes right there. Now, don't bring the whole family. I can't afford that. But nonetheless, I'm going to buy gold. So maybe I will be able to one day. But I think this is fantastic. And folks, honestly, all joking aside, Bow Valley is an amazing, amazing organization, amazing institution. Brett, gotten to know you a little bit over the past couple of years. And I've enjoyed every minute of it. I love talking with you. You're a fantastic guy. And we really appreciate you. And the ABA appreciates you. And we love having Bow Valley in Acheson. We love having Bow Valley in Acheson. And we love having you now as neighbors, because we're not in there anymore, because we got kicked out of our offices. I'm not sure I've mentioned that, but enough. But anyway, it really is fantastic. So everybody, thanks. Thanks for listening. We're really glad. And we look forward to you listening next week. And yeah, Jennifer, anything you want to close with? Just again, Cam, we're almost at 4,000 listeners. Yes. Which is amazing. It is. Again, you and I thought it would be five people. Yeah, our family. So thank you to everyone that tunes in each and every week to listen to this podcast. And we want you to continue to tune in and share it. Yes, thank you. So wherever you get your podcast, whether it's on Apple or Spotify or anywhere else, if you don't know how to do the podcast thing, go to our business, go to our website at www.Achesonbusiness.com, and you can download the podcast from there. Make sure you tell your friends, your neighbors, your family, your enemies. If you don't have any friends, make one, and tell them about it. And until next week, everybody, see you later. See you next week.