Catalyst Corporate on Tuesday announced that its board of directors has selected Kathy Garner to assume the roles of CEO and president of the Plano, Texas-based corporate credit union, effective March 5.

Garner had served as executive vice president of Member Relations and Business Development at Catalyst. She replaces Dianne Addington, a veteran credit union executive who has long insisted her wish was to retire as soon as a successor was named.

Said Garner in a statement, “I am very excited for the opportunity to lead Catalyst Corporate. … I am looking forward to connecting with member credit unions and continuing to provide valuable product and services.”

In that same statement, Lin Hodges, Catalyst chairman and CEO of the $1.2 billion Associated Credit Union in Norcross, Ga., said, “We are pleased to have someone with Kathy Garner's credit union background and understanding.”

Catalyst was formed last year as a merger of Southwest Bridge Corporate and Georgia Corporate and now has about 885 credit union members.

Garner joined Southwest Corporate when it merged with Northwest Corporate in December 2007. She had served as CEO of Northwest from 1995 to 2007. After the merger into Southwest she had been in charge of correspondent and payment services at Southwest.

Earlier in her career, Garner worked at U.S. Central from 1984 to 1995.