Canadian Sikh Community’s Oldest Financial Institution Appoints New CEO

0
660

Dalbir Singh Mehta Becomes Head Of Khalsa Credit Union!

Dalbir Singh Mehta began his career with a chartered bank in India where he held progressively more senior positions after graduating with a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA).

SURREY – Canadian Sikh community’s oldest financial institution Khalsa Credit Union (KCU) Board of Directors announced recently the appointment of Dalbir Singh Mehta to Chief Executive Officer role effective Monday, February 1, 2016.

“I am very excited to become Khalsa Credit Union’s CEO and I look forward to our continued success,” Mehta said. “I have had the honour and pleasure of serving our membership for the past 12 years and will continue to work with the Board and staff to make Khalsa Credit Union the best possible place to work and to bank. I am proud to formally take the helm of an organization that clearly lives both the Sikh and cooperative values. I look forward to working directly with the Board of Directors, management, staff and our union to ensure we are bringing value to our membership and to the broader Sikh communities in and around Surrey, Abbotsford, Vancouver, and Victoria.”

Mehta, who is well respected by his peers and colleagues, has spent the past number of months filling the position in an interim capacity. During that time Mehta has spearheaded a number of significant initiatives for the organization, launching both a centralized Commercial Lending function and signing a contract with Credential Wealth Management to offer wealth management services to KCU’s members.

In addition, Mehta has led the credit union’s efforts to build a new branch in Surrey, the credit union’s sixth branch, and the first expansion for KCU in more than 15 years. He has also begun work on a brand new state-of-the-art location for the credit union’s Vancouver branch .These two branches will act as prototypes for a completely new branch model.

Mehta began his career with a chartered bank in India where he held progressively more senior positions after graduating with a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA).

Mehta has over 35 years of financial service experience with extensive experience in lending, management, operations and sales. His background within the Canadian credit union system spans more than a decade, the majority of which has been spent at Khalsa Credit Union.

Mehta began working at KCU shortly after immigrating to Canada in 2004. He, his wife and his daughter have made Surrey their home for the past 12 years.

Over that time, Mehta has become well respected by his peers and colleagues.

The Board and staff of Khalsa Credit Union said they look forward to Mehta’s continued leadership and innovation.

“The Board would like to acknowledge dedication and effort of both the candidates who applied for the role and that of the CEO Search Committee members who coordinated this process,” said Board of Directors, Chair Harinder Singh Sohi.

“We are looking forward to continuing our strong working relationship with Mr. Mehta and the management team over the coming months and would like to also take this opportunity to thank him for his leadership as Interim CEO over the past number of months. During that time he has clearly shown his ability to deliver on our strategic priorities.

“On behalf of Khalsa Credit Union, please join us in welcoming Mr. Mehta formally into the CEO position.”

Driven by both his Sikh and cooperative values, Mehta is an active member of the local community as well as being an ambassador for the credit union within the Sikh and business communities of BC.

He spends a good deal of time working in and with the community, especially in his role on the board of Deltassist, a non-profit organization dedicated to the wellbeing of the people of Delta.

In his free time, Mehta enjoys swimming, running and spending time with his family.

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors, Chair Sohi added: “I want to acknowledge that the Board has undertaken an extensive search leading to the appointment of Khalsa Credit Union’s next CEO. We received a wealth of applications and were very pleased with the high calibre of talent the posting attracted. When we set out on this recruitment we collected input from the entire Board of Directors as well as staff and advisors and determined that we wanted a CEO with experience and skill to accomplish a number of key goals for Khalsa Credit Union:

• Continue the strong growth trajectory our credit union has seen.

• Enhance the leadership at the senior levels of the organization to evolve a culture of service, accountability and employee engagement throughout the organization.

• Build on our ability to support to our members and further develop the profile of our credit union within our communities.

Khalsa Credit Union (KCU) was established on February 19, 1986 following the economic turbulence of the early eighties and long after most of the other credit unions in the province had been incorporated. This presented some early obstacles and challenges, but the faith of our founders never wavered, as their desire for a religious bond credit union serving the financial needs of the Sikh community became a reality. From those early struggles, KCU emerged stronger and more energized and today is a model of efficiency for the credit union system of British Columbia.