2015
PINNACLE AWARD WINNERS
Capital Corridor
LAWRENCE DAVIDSON
CECILIA HOMISON Moving to Tallahassee wasn’t in the plans for Cecilia Homison and her husband until her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the couple found themselves making frequent treks to Florida from their home in Charleston. One day they decided they weren’t in the right place, and during a 30-minute discussion agreed to relocate to Northwest Florida. In 90 days they sold their home and changed their lives, “showing that sometimes doors open when you take a step on faith.” Homison, 52, who started her career as a CPA in Atlanta, is now CEO of First Commerce Credit Union, where she has been for 15 years (nine of them as chief financial officer and six as CEO). She loves the uniqueness of the credit union industry and the close connection it has with the community First Commerce serves. “We have a unique footprint,” she says. “We are chartered to reach out to our community at a different level, and we feel good about it.” Her role models for success are her parents, who grew up poor but are successful today. “They taught me that life will be what you make it. I admire their tenacity. They went after it and made it happen,” she says. “It made me what I am.” A strong believer in mentoring (she and her husband have been doing marriage mentoring at their church for 10 years), she established a yearlong small group program for nonmanagerial employees five years ago. “We teach them that everyone can lead … and it’s been a phenomenal success.”
850 Business Magazine
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OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2015
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