President/CEO Pam West, credited with growing the $41 million Vital Federal Credit Union from a small cooperative to a countywide financial institution in South Carolina, will retire March 31.

She will be replaced by Omero DeLorenzo, who served as Vital FCU's chief financial officer and chief operating officer for 10 years, the credit union said in a prepared statement. Tim Dill, the former vice president of branch operations, will become the new chief operating officer.

“When Pat West took the job of our CEO of our credit union, it had been a mom and pop operation for all of its 27 years,” Dr. Joseph Walton, Vital FCU's board chair, said. “It was housed in several rooms provided at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. Our credit union has been transformed into a successful and respected financial institution with a community charter, a main office in Spartanburg, and a branch office in Duncan.”

West took the helm in 1991 of Spartanburg Regional FCU. There were only 2,500 members and just $2.5 million in assets. Since then, membership has nearly tripled to more than 7,000 and assets have increased to $40.5 million.

West also guided the transition of the cooperative from Spartanburg Regional FCU to Vital FCU in March 2014.

She began her career as a part-time employee at the City of Greenville FCU in 1973. Later, West was appointed president/CEO of Texize Employees FCU where she served until her appointment at Spartanburg Regional FCU. West was one of the first credit union CEOs in South Carolina to complete the Certified Credit Union Executive program.