Ed Swanson, Vice President/Consultant at Lending Solutions Consulting, has 35 years of experience in the credit union industry. Ed has assisted hundreds of credit unions throughout the country strengthening consumer lending, loan underwriting, risk based lending, mortgage lending, indirect lending, collections, sales development, member service and incentive programs.
Ed has spoken for over 45 Credit Union Leagues on a variety of lending and member service related topics. Swanson is based in the IL marketplace, and his last credit union position was with Patelco Credit Union (San Francisco, Assets: $5 billion+). He worked for Patelco for 10 ½ years where he developed and managed a Walgreens division for the credit union at the Walgreens corporate headquarters. Ed’s previous credit union experience includes 11 years as Vice President of Lending and Collections at Baxter Credit Union in Deerfield, IL; 3 years as Senior Vice President of Lending at Space Coast Credit Union in Melbourne, Florida; and 1 year as Vice President of Lending at University Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas. Baxter Credit Union grew from no assets to $400 million in assets during Swanson’s tenure at the organization making it the fastest growing start-up in credit union history.
Swanson earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Indiana University and was a member of the school’s football team and victorious Holiday Bowl team. In addition, he holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Swanson was an annual instructor at the CUNA Consumer Lending Management School for seven years and also was a featured speaker at CU Conference’s “Focus on Lending” Conference for twelve years. In addition, Swanson has spoken at numerous credit union league lending conferences and league annual meetings throughout the country sharing his credit union experiences and motivating credit union employees to be the best they can be at serving their members.
Fun Facts About Ed:
- Nicknames: “Big Ed” and “Swanny”
- # of Years Worked at LSCI: 11
- Hobby: No real hobbies to speak of as I travel 45+ weeks per year. I guess I am a “foodie” of sorts. I also love to spend quality time with my 3 adult daughters whenever I can as well as with my girlfriend who lives in another state. She is the most interesting person I have ever met.
- Favorite Sports Teams: Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears, and Indiana University Football
- Phobia: No real phobias, but I do have what I would describe as some rather unusual quirks. And I will eat just about any food other than green beans—it’s a long story.
- Best piece of advice from my mentor Rex Johnson: “Take your job seriously, but never take yourself too seriously.”
- Favorite quotes: 1) “Help others get what they want in life, and you will get what you want.” 2) “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots that you do not take.”
- Favorite band: ZZ Top; I have seen them in person over a dozen times in my life
- Interesting job you’ve had (besides LSCI): My first job in high school was as a landscaper at a Marriott Hotel. In college during the summers, I worked with a Plumbing contractor; it was the most physically demanding job I have ever had.
- Most famous person you’ve ever met: Besides the “infamous” Rex Johnson; I have met many of my sports idols–Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Scottie Pippin, and Dick Butkus. And I was also interviewed on live TV by Marie Osmond at the Children’s Miracle Network telethon in 2001. I was with a bunch of credit union people from around the country and they elected me to be the spokesman for the group during the credit union contribution segment where we presented Marie with a very large check with a donation from credit unions. It was a thrill to meet her as I had a crush on her as a teenage boy.
