Alabama CIO has named Terri Bentley, Senior EVP & CIO at Redstone Federal Credit Union, a 2021 CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Awards winner.
The ORBIE honors chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Finalists and winners are selected by an independent peer review process, led by prior ORBIE recipients, based on leadership and management effectiveness; business value created by technology innovation; and engagement in industry and community endeavors.
Terri lives Redstone’s value of excellence and has been an integral part of Redstone’s success over many years, said Joe Newberry, Redstone’s President & CEO.
“She breaks down silos, listens intently and respectfully, and combines her staff’s skills, talents and passion into real technological breakthroughs,” Newberry said. “I cannot imagine a more deserving person for this very important and meaningful award.”
Bentley received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $350 million in annual revenue. She credits the talented Information Technology professionals on her team at Redstone for making this award possible.
“Redstone has always been referred to as an innovative leader in the financial industry. This award further attests to that,” Bentley said.
“Receiving this award opens the door for credit unions to be considered by FinTechs and software providers in the industry for various opportunities to build, buy, or partner,” Bentley said.
Bentley’s winning application described one of the Redstone’s most ambitious projects and how technology brought it to fruition. Its collaboration with Rural King, a national chain of over 120 farm and home retail stores, challenged Redstone to invest in new technology; hire 30 new employees; provide on-the-spot financing for power equipment loans; launch a new co-branded credit product; and establish a seamless end-to-end digital process in less than six months.
Support from Redstone’s executive team and its board of directors has also been instrumental in her success by supporting innovative technology as a business enabler, Bentley said. She goes on to recognize vendors, such as Fiserv, NCR, and others as true partners who align their strategies with Redstone’s for mutual success.
The CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. Since inception in 1998, over 1,500 CIOs have been honored as finalists and over 350 CIO of the Year winners have received the prestigious ORBIE Award.