Credit Union Executives Make Career Moves

Credit Union Executives Make Career Moves
February 17, 2017 Marketing GrafWebCUSO

This past week, five credit unions announced new hires, promotions and retirements. In addition, the Filene Research Institute hired an executive.

WEST

The $640 million AltaOne Federal Credit Union in Ridgecrest, Calif., announced president/CEO Robert “Bob” Boland (pictured) is retiring at the end of 2017 after 39 years with the credit union. Boland began as CEO in 1992 when AltaOne was $180 million in assets and had about 23,000 members. Today, the credit union has more than $640 million in assets and 54,000 members. Boland was instrumental in the credit union’s field of membership charter expansion to all of Kern, Inyo and Mono counties as well as modernizing the credit union’s name.

The $1.1 billion Oregon State Credit Union in Corvallis, Ore., hired Daniel Echeverri as a mortgage loan officer. Echeverri comes to the credit union after four years with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Salem. Echeverri has prior experience within the credit union industry as he started in 2011 with the $6.6 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in his hometown of Anchorage. The bilingual Willamette University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics also earned customer service and customer loyalty awards with both Alaska USA and Wells Fargo.

EAST

The $642 million Leominster Credit Union in Leominster, Mass., promoted three employees.

Ellen Coughlin (pictured) was promoted to assistant vice president of human resources. Coughlin is now responsible for policy administration, performance management programs, recruiting initiatives, compensation/salary administration and employee relations. Coughlin joined LCU as a teller in the Worcester office and was later promoted to the loan servicing area before moving into human resources in April of 2004.

Joanne Lattanzi was promoted to assistant vice president of marketing. Lattanzi is responsible for managing media relations, event coordination, website and social media content. Lattanzi joined LCU in 2011 as marketing associate and was promoted to marketing manager and officer in 2013. Prior to joining LCU in 2011, she was the director of marketing and public relations at The First National Bank of Ipswich.

Nicole Legere was promoted to assistant vice president of compliance. Legere is responsible for the compliance department and has developed and administered a comprehensive compliance program at the credit union. She started at LCU in April of 2014 as a consultant through a partnership with the Cooperative Credit Union Association.

MIDWEST

The $1.1 billion TruStone Financial Federal Credit Union in Plymouth, Minn., announced the addition of Eric Benson as assistant vice president, branch manager of the Highland Park branch in St. Paul. Benson joined the financial industry as a part-time teller where he quickly excelled and was promoted to the role of branch manager. He has a track record of increasing sales, improving client retention and growing customer bases.

The $2.2 billion United Federal Credit Union in St. Joseph, Mich., promoted two employees to director-level positions.

Kameron Morris (pictured) was promoted to director of mortgage sales. In his new role, Morris will be responsible for managing mortgage sales through collaboration with both internal and external partners and developing and positioning UFCU mortgage advisors for success. He started his career with UFCU in 2011 as a member service advisor in the member service center, eventually becoming assistant branch manager in Berrien Springs and then branch manager in Stevensville.

Kylie Svorec (pictured below) was promoted to member service center director. In her new role, Svorec will be responsible for leading the member service center in delivering operational excellence, achieving business sales goals and exceeding members’ expectations for quality of service. Her experience with UFCU started in 2010 as a teller in the St. Joseph branch where she went on to hold the role of member service advisor and then assistant branch manager.

SOUTH

Virginia “Jenny” Smith of the $649 million Smart Financial Credit Union in Houston, Texas has retired. Smith held two high-profile roles concurrently within the organization. She was president/CEO of the credit union’s subsidiary, Smart Financial Resources and president/CEO of Smart Financial Foundation. Smith dedicated her 43-year career to the credit union movement, starting as a branch manager for the San Diego Navy Federal Credit Union branch in Iwakuni, Japan. Jason Deitz, current vice president of Smart Financial Resources and the Smart Financial Foundation, will take over as president/CEO of both Smart Financial Resources and the Smart Financial Foundation. With more than 23 years of financial services experience, Deitz specializes in marketing, business development, public relations, facilities strategy, insurance, investments and philanthropy.

VENDORS

The Filene Research Institute named Richard Swart, visiting researcher at the University of California, Irvine Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, as lead research fellow of Filene’s Center for Emerging Technology. Filene’s Center for Emerging Technology provides scholarly, applicable research and education to credit unions on financial technology. The first report to come out of the research center will explore the drivers of financial technology change and consumer adoption.

Please send your People news items to Tahira Hayes at thayes@cutimes.com.