EAST

Teachers Federal Credit Union, Farmingville, N.Y., announced that Christopher B. Welga has been named TFCU assistant vice president, risk management. In this position Welga designs, develops and evaluates risk-management strategies for the credit union. His role includes the maintenance of effective personal, physical and technological security. He is also responsible for disaster recovery and business continuity planning, fraud-loss prevention, maintenance of the credit union's compliance program and the development of policies and procedures. Welga previously served as TFCU's information technology supervisor for almost nine years.

United Teletech Financial Federal Credit Union, Tinton Falls, N.J., announced the promotion of Francis James from chief financial officer/vice president administration to chief financial officer/executive vice president operations. In his new position, James will assume responsibility for directing all operational functions of the company. UTF also announced management shifts within its branch locations. Laura Black has assumed the position of branch manager at the new UTF Neptune location. Black had been the branch manager at UTF's Middletown branch. Sarah Nazario was promoted to branch manager at the AT&T location in Middletown. Nazario had previously held the position of financial sales representative at UTF's Tinton Falls location. Randy Pietsch will assume the role of branch manager at UTF's new Marlboro location. He had been branch manager of the North Brunswick location. Phillip Woolfolk has been hired to assume the responsibility of branch manager of UTF's North Brunswick location. Woolfolk previously held management positions at both Sovereign and United Jersey banks.

Northeast Family Federal Credit Union, Manchester, Conn., announced that Fred Brown, its director of marketing and member development, was elected vice president of the Hartford Chapter of the Credit Union League of Connecticut, which was founded in 1935 to represent and provide services to the credit unions in Connecticut.

SOUTH

CUNA, Washington, announced that Lisa J. McCue has been named its new vice president of editorial communications. As vice president, McCue will head up CUNA's News Now, a daily Internet-based news and information service for credit unions and those interested in credit unions. She will also be in charge of CUNA's “NewsWatch” newsletter, a biweekly publication distributed to all CUNA-member credit unions. A former American Banker reporter, McCue joined CUNA as a communications specialist in 2005.

Insight Financial Credit Union, Orlando, Fla., has hired Todd Mellenberndt as its vice president of lending. Mellenberndt brings more than 12 years of financial experience to Insight Financial Credit Union, having held various positions with Bank of America, Wachovia Bank, Colonial Bank and Sunshine State Community Bank. In his new position, he will oversee all lines of lending for Insight Financial, including commercial and business lending, indirect lending, mortgage and collection.

Pen Air Federal Credit Union, Pensacola, Fla., has named Ron Fields to serve as CEO/president. Fields has been serving as the interim president and chief executive officer since the death of John A. Davis Jr. Fields has been with Pen Air Federal Credit Union since 2001, serving as the executive vice president and chief financial officer. Fields' career in the credit union industry spans over 30 years.

Alabama Telco Credit Union, Birmingham, Ala., announced the hiring of Robby Clark as branch manager for its Southeast Alabama Medical Center location. Clark comes from Compass Bank and has been in banking for about 18 years. She has held various positions in the financial world, including teller, personal banking assistant, financial service representative, premier banking assistant, financial sales representative and banking center manager.

WEST

Rocky Mountain Credit Union, Helena, Mont., announced that Laura Littleton has joined the credit union as its new vice president, branch sales and service. Littleton's responsibilities include guiding branch managers and member service staff at RMCU's three locations to produce greater opportunities for RMCU's members. Littleton is also responsible for facility security and operations.

San Antonio Federal Credit Union, San Antonio, announced that Leslie J.A. Sachanowicz has joined the management team as senior vice president and corporate counsel. Sachanowicz has served on the SACU board of directors since 1997 and has served as vice chairman since 2004. He previously served on the SACU supervisory committee from 1995-1997. Since 1990, Sachanowicz has worked with the Bexar County district attorney's office, civil division, as a civil trial attorney. He has tried cases in state justice of the peace, county, district and federal courts.

Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Manhattan Beach, Calif., announced that John Greenlee has joined Apollo Agencies Inc. as director of sales. Apollo is Kinecta's wholly owned property and casualty subsidiary. Greenlee joins Apollo from Washington Mutual Insurance Services Inc. in Irvine, where he most recently served as first vice president and national sales manager. Prior to WaMu, Greenlee was senior vice president at Western Insurance Services Inc. in Denver.

Ent Federal Credit Union, Colorado Springs, Colo., announced a new hire and a promotion. Jennifer Taylor has been promoted to service center coordinator at the credit union's Woodmen service center. Taylor has been with Ent for more than five years and most recently served as the coordinator of Ent's Jackson Creek service center. Ryan Panariso has joined the Ent team as a business banker. Panariso has been in the financial services industry for more than four years. Most recently, Panariso served at FirstBank as a banking officer. Panariso will be serving Ent's southern locations, including the Fountain, Decibel, Spaulding, Rye and South service centers.

VENDOR

CMG Mortgage Insurance Co., San Francisco, has named Joe Dillon senior vice president and co-general manager. He replaces Brian Shepherd, who left the company. Dillon comes to CMG from CUNA Mutual Group, where he served as a products executive for the company's credit union protection division, managing the financial aspects of the company's bond, special insurance package, collateral products, and property and liability programs. Prior to joining CUNA Mutual, Dillon worked as an underwriting executive at two major insurance companies, and as an insurance broker.

EAST

Connex Credit Union, New Haven, Conn., promoted Edgardo Quinones Jr. to branch manager of its Long Wharf and Church Street locations in New Haven. Previously, Quinones worked as assistant branch manager at the Connex North Haven location since May 2007. He brings seven years of experience in the financial services industry to his new position.

SOUTH

Local Government Federal Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C., announced the appointment of Don Larsen to the position of vice president, human resources. Larsen, who has more than 20 years of human resources experience, most recently served as the senior manager of compensation and benefits for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Durham, N.C. Larsen will direct LGFCU's human resources and training functions, including employment, compensation, benefits, employee relations, training and development, performance management and compliance.

BrightStar Credit Union, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has promoted Jenny Menendez to branch manager of the downtown Fort Lauderdale branch. She was previously assistant branch manager of the Hollywood branch. Menendez has extensive experience in credit union operations, organizational leadership and team-building. During her seven-year career at BrightStar, Menendez has played a significant role in improving cross sales and service by conducting extensive training.

MIDWEST

Heritage Federal Credit Union, Newburgh, Ind., announced the addition of Glenn Kingsbury as the assistant branch manager at 331 East Boonville-New Harmony Rd. in Evansville. Kingsbury comes to Heritage Federal Credit Union from United Fidelity Bank where he most recently was the office manager. Previously, he worked for Integra Bank as a banking center manager.

WEST

Elevations Credit Union, Boulder, Colo., announced the promotion of Craig Burkhard to the position of executive vice president/chief operating officer. Burkhard had been the chief lending officer at Elevations since June 2007. He joined the credit union in 2004 as vice president of lending. In his new role, he will be responsible for all lending, branch operations, wealth management, and marketing and business development functions at the credit union.

First Financial Credit Union, Albuquerque, N.M., announced that Marie Shrake has been appointed chief operations officer. Shrake has been with the credit union since 2002, previously serving as chief financial officer as well as internal auditor. She has 25 years of financial industry experience. Ron Moorehead joined First Financial as chief financial officer. Moorehead has 28 years of experience in corporate finance. Before accepting his new position, he served as a volunteer on the credit union's supervisory committee for 18 years.

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, Anchorage, Alaska, announced the appointment of Lisa Hall to regional vice president, Interior Alaska. Hall will be responsible for managing seven branches, five in the Fairbanks/North Pole area, as well as Eielson and Bethel. Lisa brings more than eight years of financial institution experience to her new role, most recently as the regional membership banking manager for a large national bank in Tucson, Arizona.

Sandia Area Federal Credit Union, Albuquerque, N.M., announced that Paula J. Peknik has been promoted to the position of executive vice president/chief operating officer for the credit union. Peknik began her financial services career at Sandia Area 25 years ago.

Ent Federal Credit Union, Colorado Springs, Colo., announced the addition of Bob Walla to its human resources department. Walla will serve as the credit union's manager of employment, relations and welfare. Walla has been in the human resources industry for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Ent, he worked for Intel Corp. as a human resources manager. Stacey Harris has joined Ent as a business banker for the credit union's west region. Harris brings more than five years of business banking experience to the position. Most recently, she served as a business banker for Chase Bank. Harris will serve the business banking needs of Ent's Bon, Uintah and Westside service centers.

VENDOR

NewOak Capital, New York, announced the appointment of Tom McAvity as managing director to market the firm's advisory, asset-management and capital markets services to the insurance industry and design customized solutions for insurers, banks, pension and endowment funds. McAvity has 40 years of professional experience, including 20 years dedicated to the insurance industry. He brings to his new position extensive experience in managing the portfolios of insurance companies in the context of their liabilities.

Creditor Resources Inc., Atlanta, named Tom Kazar vice president of sales. Kazar has been in the financial industry for more than 23 years. A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he holds a bachelor of business administration with a concentration in marketing. Kazar is working with key business partners to add new products and expand marketing distribution channels for CRI.