The STCU board of directors announced Monday that Ezra Eckhardt will become the next president/CEO of the Spokane, Wash.-based credit union on Jan. 1.
He will succeed Tom Johnson who served as president/CEO for seven years at Washington's third largest credit union.
Under Johnson's leadership, STCU grew from 88,421 members to 167,557 members, 14 branches to 21 branches and $1.3 billion in assets to $2.5 billion in assets. In addition, he launched the credit union's mobile app; increased consumer and commercial lending; expanded STCU's presence in Idaho with five branches, and restored the historic Hutton Building in downtown Spokane.
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After graduating ninth in his class of 975 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Eckhardt served six years in the U.S. Army. He was involved in support operations in Rwanda, Bosnia and Liberia and served as a company commander at Ft. Benning, Ga.
After working six years in management positions at Honeywell and Microsoft, he returned to Spokane in 2004 and became chief administrative officer at Sterling Savings Bank. In 2009, Eckhardt became its president and chief operating officer. When Sterling merged with Umpqua Bank in 2014, he became executive vice president and served in that position through February 2016. He left the bank to serve as chief operating officer for Wave Form Systems Inc., a provider of advanced surgical technologies.
Johnson announced earlier this year that he would retire, while remaining active in the community. Among his many other civic activities, he is president-elect of Greater Spokane Incorporated, an economic development organization that Eckhardt also has served.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
