Benjamin Wickum – Collins Community Credit Union

Not long after applying to Collins Community Credit Union, Ben Wickum received what appeared to be good news: an email informing him he had made the final candidate list. There was just one problem — the message was meant for someone else with the same name. He flagged the mix-up to the recruiter and quietly assumed his chances were done. They weren’t. After the initial candidates fell through, Wickum got a second call, a second interview, and eventually a job offer. It was, in hindsight, a fitting introduction to a career full of unexpected turns that somehow always landed right.

Benjamin Wickum | Collins Community Credit Union | Chief Financial Officer

“My thought process was to be a lawyer,” Wickum recalls. “Didn’t work out, but I think I would’ve been miserable.”

That detour turned out to be the start of a career built on steady, deliberate progress — much like the financial philosophy he applies every day as CFO of Collins Community Credit Union.

A long way from the teller window

What started as a part-time job grew into a full-time position at a small community bank in Northeast Minneapolis. Over nearly nine years, Wickum rose to commercial lender before moving to another institution in the same role. Influenced in large part by his mother, a CPA and auditor who consistently encouraged him to explore the financial world as a career, he pursued an MBA in accounting from the University of St. Thomas and then earned his CPA designation. Those credentials opened new doors. He joined a boutique consulting firm in Denver serving community and regional banks, later transitioned into auditing — first at a regional firm and then at RSM, a national firm — before eventually making his way into the credit union sector.

Wickum joined Collins Community Credit Union in August 2013 as finance director. After two years, he was named to a newly created position: the organization’s first official CFO. The promotion carried real weight beyond the change in title.

“Getting the title change felt like vindication on the work and a recognition of being able to handle the position and the responsibility,” he says. “There is a little gravitas that comes with that title, influence that comes with that.”

Founded in 1940 by ten employees of Collins Radio, Collins Community Credit Union has grown into one of Iowa’s largest credit unions. Today it holds over $1.5 billion in assets, employs around 215 people, and operates branches in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Dubuque, North Liberty, and Des Moines — a long way from its origins on a factory floor.

Building what wasn’t there before

One of the defining chapters of Wickum’s nearly 13-year tenure came roughly eight years ago, when he helped engineer a significant transformation of the credit union’s balance sheet. Recognizing an opportunity to diversify revenue, he championed a strategy of selling or participating in portions of loans to outside investors — effectively building an off-balance-sheet loan portfolio. That portfolio eventually grew to approximately 1.5 times the credit union’s total assets, producing substantial servicing income and broadening the institution’s revenue well beyond traditional interest margins. He considers it his proudest professional achievement at the organization.

More recently, his team has been executing what he describes as an arbitrage trade — borrowing at one rate and investing at a slightly higher one — to capture incremental margins in a competitive environment. The approach reflects a philosophy Wickum has refined over more than a decade of navigating interest rate cycles, Federal Reserve policy shifts, and evolving member demands. It is not about swinging for the fences; it is about getting on base consistently and letting the small gains accumulate.

“We focus on walks, singles, and doubles rather than home runs,” he explains. “Aiming for big wins too often has led to setbacks. Consistent small gains have proven more effective over my 13 years of experience.”

Making the numbers mean something

For Wickum, the CFO role extends well beyond financial statements and balance sheet mechanics. He participates in monthly connection calls with the credit union’s full staff — sharing updates on the institution’s financial position, acknowledging challenges such as recent margin pressures, and recognizing the contributions of member-facing employees who work directly with members each day. What once felt like a burden has become something he genuinely values, a regular reminder of the shared effort behind every financial result.

“Everything at the company is something I can control or impact,” he says. “You can change the course of the company for better or for worse when you’re in this role.”

That sense of accountability shapes both his approach to risk and his approach to people. He believes in making sound decisions from available information and clear assumptions, and in learning from mistakes rather than repeating them. Leaders who shaped him along the way — effective ones and uninspiring ones alike — reinforced that outlook. The latter, he notes, at least validated what kind of leader not to be.

Looking ahead, the credit union is preparing to pursue external growth, including attracting new members and potentially opening additional branches, with a 12- to 24-month horizon in mind. A recent affiliation with the Iowa Consumer Council, a nonprofit advancing financial literacy across Iowa and six neighboring states, has expanded the credit union’s field of membership beyond its traditional county-based boundaries — a promising channel for reaching new communities and fulfilling the credit union’s core mission at a wider scale.

Leading from the back

Wickum describes his leadership style as deliberately hands-off. He sets high-level goals and then steps back, trusting his team to determine how to get there. He speaks with particular appreciation about his Controller, whom he credits as the engine of the finance team — methodical and detail-oriented in ways that complement his own broader strategic instincts. The two meet regularly to stay aligned on projects, priorities, and the development of the people around them.

He is equally intentional about nurturing his second-in-command and creating room for employees to grow, even if that growth eventually takes them elsewhere. He welcomes back those who leave and return, viewing talent mobility as a feature of a healthy culture rather than a failure of retention.

The varied professional backgrounds of his team are, he believes, a genuine advantage. People who have worked across different industries bring fresh perspectives and a willingness to challenge why things have always been done a certain way — a habit Wickum considers essential to avoiding complacency, and one his own English degree and consulting background helped cultivate long before he ever sat in a CFO’s chair.

Outside the office, he stays active coaching his college-aged son and high school-aged daughter, pursuing golf and tennis, and occasionally competing in triathlons. It is the portrait of someone who has never stopped moving forward — adapting through each new challenge, building steadily, and trusting that the most meaningful progress rarely announces itself. It just adds up.