14. Kirk Kordeleski

2007 was no picnic for the banking industry. Poor investments, maxed-out consumer loans and consolidation have changed the face of banking as we knew it. The stodgy business banker of yesterday has been replaced by a new, sleeker model. This new model has emerged from the ashes of a beaten industry and his name is Kirk Kordeleski. Presiding over unprecedented growth at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, he has built a better mousetrap from the ground up by focusing on—get this—consumers and community. While other banks spent the past decade getting gussied up and hoping to be acquired, Kordeleski quietly built BFCU into the largest credit union on Long Island, with $3 billion in assets.