When questioned about his insider benefits, he unapologetically boasted: "I'm a businessman. I saw my opportunities and I took them."

I don't remember the source of that quote. But the quote itself has resonated in my consciousness over the years as a journalist since I've seen countless well-connected politicians and lobbyists put that philosophy into practice.

I think of it now because of a recent application by Beehive Credit Union to convert to a federal mutual savings bank. A letter recently went out to Beehive's 22,000 members, telling them that Beehive's board of directors will meet April 9 to consider the conversion to a mutual bank.

The seven-member board includes Doug Foxley, well-connected lobbyist and former deputy secretary of state, as well as two of Foxley's lobbyist clients and a close political compatriot when Foxley was running Norm Bangerter's campaign for governor.

According to industry analysts, a credit union's conversion to a mutual savings bank, where members retain shares consistent with the amount of their deposits, is a first step to the eventual conversion to a stock bank, in which directors get a windfall.

I stress that neither Foxley nor anyone else involved in this conversion is doing anything wrong. They are conducting themselves in a straightforward manner with full disclosure. This column is about how smart people can use their well-earned connections in business and government - and often the combination of the two - to benefit themselves, whether there is a benevolent aspect to their actions or not.

And Foxley is among the best.

The letter to Beehive members noted the Utah Legislature has passed laws restricting the membership of credit unions. To grow, Beehive must convert to a bank. If successful, it will be the first credit union in Utah to convert to a federal mutual bank. About 30 credit unions have done so in the United States since 1988 and, typically, they don't stay mutual banks for long, say analysts. They eventually convert to stock banks.

Beehive has $177 million in assets, which equates to about $15 million to $17 million in retained earnings. In a second conversion to a stock bank, the shares are distributed disproportionately, based on deposits at the time of conversion, which usually results in a windfall for directors.

An article by Alan D. Theriault, president of CU Financial Services, which argues for conversion, says, as an example, that if a credit union with $50 million in capital converts to a stock bank with an initial public offering of $100 million, the directors would share $2 million.

That would be a nice sum for Foxley, as well as directors Jennifer Cannaday, government affairs officer for Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, a Foxley client; Brad Call, vice president of Maverick Stores, another Foxley client; and Kirk Green, a former official in the state Department of Economic Development, who worked closely with Foxley on the Bangerter campaign.

Foxley, you might recall, made millions in the late 1980s when, with the help of his Bangerter connections, he purchased school trust lands at a bargain price in Carbon County for a landfill, called East Carbon Development Company. His partner was Steve Creamer of EnergySolutions fame.

Recently, a group of lobbyists saw the wisdom of the Foxley model and used their clout in the Legislature to win approval for a landfill in Tooele County, buy the land from the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration and sell it a few months later to Allied Waste, assuring themselves royalties from the tonnage of garbage dumped at the site.