Richard Stafford

President & CEO
Tower Federal Credit Union

As the president and CEO of Tower Federal Credit Union, Richard “Rick” Stafford works to ensure safe and sound institutional practices and extraordinary customer service to its members.

With more than 35 years of experience in the banking world, Stafford began his career as a branch manager at Manufacturers National Bank after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in management from Adrian College.

His career has included serving as senior vice president of the retail banking group and interim bank president at Metrobank, senior vice president of retail banking and chief operations officer at Citizens First and executive vice president of Peoples Bank.

Stafford joined Tower Federal Credit Union in 2015 as their senior vice president of member services. He would go on to become executive vice president of member services in 2017 and take on his current role in July 2017.

He earned a master’s degree in management from Walsh College and is a graduate of the Georgetown University American Bankers Association’s Graduate School of Banking.

What advice would you offer someone interested in banking and finance as a career?

Pursuing a career in banking and finance can be highly rewarding and offers a wide range of opportunities. There are so many unique and focused careers inside the walls of any institution. What I enjoy most is watching our team grow personally and professionally. It can be through enhancing their technical skills, exceptional customer service skills, growing as part of a team, enhancing their leadership style and constantly being adaptable to new ideas. Every day is unique and fun!

This profile is part of The Daily Record's Banking & Financial Services Power List for 2024. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. See the full list at thedailyrecord.com.