Professionals Advance Careers at 7 Credit Unions

It’s been a busy spring so far at credit unions across the country, as seven recently announced new hires, promotions and retirements. Plus, CUNA and tech company Emergifi revealed new hires.

WEST

The $7.4 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska promoted three employees to fill executive level positions.

Scott Cherktow was promoted to SVP, IM applications. Chertkow has worked at Alaska USA for more than 10 years, most recently as vice president, IM operations.

Doug Horner was promoted to vice president, IM operations. Horner has worked at Alaska USA for more than six years, most recently as anchorage data center manager.

Shannon Conley was promoted to SVP, branch administration. Conley has worked for Alaska USA for more than 12 years, most recently as dealer loan center manager.

The $1.9 billion Vantage West Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz., named Michael Trueba as vice president and manager of business banking. In his new role, he will lead the business banking team and efforts. Trueba has been involved in Arizona business banking since 1976, including the last 22 years in Tucson in the community bank environment. In his new leadership position, Trueba will identify and develop long-term strategies to grow Vantage West’s business banking relationships.

MIDWEST

The $2.2 billion Royal Credit Union based in Eau Claire, Wis., promoted one employee and hired another.

Tami Cybulski was promoted to regional director of branch operations for the metro region. In her new role, she will oversee the overall operations of the metro area branches, and her responsibilities will include leading the branch managers and their teams to ensure the branches maintain strategic growth, profitability, member satisfaction and team member engagement. Since her start with Royal in June 2016, Cybulski has led and participated in many initiatives and committees while serving as branch manager.

Faith Pfeiffer was hired as branch manager of the Stillwater office. She is responsible for the overall operations in the branch and team member engagement. This includes ensuring that the branch meets financial, operational and growth goals. In addition, Pfeiffer will work with her teams to provide an exceptional experience for Royal members and the surrounding community. Pfeiffer brings managerial and financial experience to her new position at Royal. Most recently, she served as a manager at CLEAR Biometric Technologies.

The $1.1 billion Hiway Federal Credit Union in St. Paul, Minn., promoted SouaYee Vang from senior financial analyst to controller. SouaYee has more than 16 years of experience with Hiway. In this new role, SouaYee will lead the strategic development, oversight and execution of all accounting activities at Hiway. Among her many accomplishments, SouaYee was selected by CUNA earlier this year, to be a 2018 Crasher at the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, where she had the opportunity to visit with legislators and advocate on behalf of credit unions.

The $968 million Consumers Credit Union in Kalamazoo, Mich., hired Pamala Kemp as a mortgage lending officer. Kemp brings more than 19 years of experience in the residential and commercial real estate industry to her new role at Consumers. As a seasoned mortgage loan officer, Kemp’s well-rounded knowledge of the mortgage process will continue to propel Consumers as one of West Michigan’s top local mortgage lenders.

The $558 million Crane Credit Union Odon, Ind., announced President/CEO Bob Downs retired after a 29-year career at the credit union. During his tenure, Downs led the credit union through many objectives including two mergers and a conversion from a federal to a state charter. Most notably, the credit union grew from $48 million in assets in 1988 to $558 million and from having only one branch facility to 14 branches across central and southern Indiana. The credit union promoted Kevin Sparks to president/CEO. Sparks has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.

SOUTH

The $2.3 billion Truliant Federal Credit Union Winston-Salem, N.C., named Jeff Hibbard vice president of digital innovation. In this role, Hibbard will lead Truliant’s Digital Innovation team to drive the credit union’s digital innovation strategy and member experience, and transform internal processes. Hibbard brings more than two decades experience in financial technology to Truliant. He most recently served as head of product development and management at Fidor Solutions in Durham, N.C.

VENDORS

Emergifi, a credit union technology solutions company, hired Chris Hytinen as business development executive. Hytinen will work to provide credit unions with technology solutions to streamline operations and help them adopt new and better technologies. Hytinen will focus on sharing technological insights with credit union executives, providing those leaders with solutions that improve cash flow, productivity and data security.

TRADES

CUNA appointed Samira Salem as senior policy analyst. Salem will work with the team of economists to further advance CUNA’s advocacy priorities and create a clear understanding of the links between those priorities, the changing financial services marketplace and the broader economy. Prior to joining CUNA, Salem worked for Forward Community Investments, a Madison-based Community Development Financial Institution which serves communities throughout the state of Wisconsin.

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