Jim Morrell
Department: Board of Directors
Jim Morrell is the President/CEO of Peninsula Credit Union. As a Community Development Financial Institution, PCU listens, serves, educates and cares about the financial livelihood of its members every day. They empathize to support the financial aspirations of households living at or around a household survival budget. Jim serves on the board of many local, regional, and national organizations. He is a certified Credit Union Development Educator in both the United States and Africa, with Master of Business and Public Administration from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Pacific Lutheran University.
Jim is driven to be a difference maker through improving people’s lives. Economic vitality results from many people in a community having decent jobs and profitable business. Mason County is poised for tremendous economic development opportunities through managed growth. He strives to promote economic vitality and development to help reduce the 41% of households in Mason County who live at or below a household survival budget (United Way, 2018).
The executive and board volunteer leadership opportunities Jim enjoys most are those that leverage innovation to affect positive change. Daily, he has an extremely fulfilling job bringing together the needs of our community. This work is informed by meeting individuals and households where they are with their financial journey in an effort to maximize their hard earned money. Making this difference by pursuing the EDC’s mission would help support the future economic growth our county needs to continue.
Jim says, “The EDC can address opportunities facing our community that require clear communication, partnerships, and open collaboration. Focusing on these types of issues will garner more traction with public and private partnerships when we can come together openly to discuss solutions. Solutions that emerge from open, collaborative conversations, will lead to opportunities for our County and economic possibilities to grow in a way which best suits our community.”
After growing up in Seattle, his grandparents purchased a summer cabin on Oakland Bay which he frequently visited. Mason County was a tremendous place to visit and an even better place for him and his husband to have called home since 2012. His favorite part about Mason County is the beauty of the surroundings seen from the golf courses or spending time on the waters of Hood Canal and Puget Sound.
Jim has had the opportunity to so far visit 28 other countries. This includes five countries in Africa where he worked with credit unions from across the African continent to leverage credit unions to spur economic development His favorite wines are Pinot Noir and Tempranillo, either of which goes great with Mason County oysters.
