9 Credit Unions Promote, Hire & Say Farewell

This past week, eight credit unions welcomed new talent to their teams or promoted existing talent to new positions. Plus, one credit union announced the retirement of a committee member.

WEST

The $8.4 billion San Diego County Credit Union in San Diego, Calif., hired Valerie Kwiatkowski as EVP of information technology. Kwiatkowski brings more than two decades of experience in IT management to the position. She is responsible for directing, planning, organizing and controlling all activities of the credit union’s IT department.

The $5.2 billion Ent Credit Union in Colorado Springs, Colo., hired Brian Homme as a corporate lending officer. Homme has been in the banking and finance industry for 38 years with extensive experience in both corporate and private banking. He most recently served as a commercial relationship manager at U.S. Bank for seven years. As an Ent corporate lending officer, he will manage a commercial loan and deposit portfolio with a concentration in manufacturing, contracting, healthcare and private nonprofit entities.

EAST

The $151 million Homefield Credit Union in North Grafton, Mass., promoted Dan Crossin to vice president, secondary market and mortgage operations. Crossin’s responsibilities include assisting in the management of the workflow for the Homefield mortgage lending team, handling secondary market sales and allowing the credit union to provide an even wider array of mortgage loan products. Crossin has been with the credit union for more than 10 years.

MIDWEST

The $3.7 billion Veridian Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa, promoted Vikki Distler to the position of manager of ACH and share draft operations. Distler, a resident of Denver, has worked at Veridian for 27 years. She has a degree in business management with a minor in human resources from Upper Iowa University.

The $2.6 billion United Federal Credit Union based in St. Joseph’s, Mich., hired Elizabeth Blad to branch manager in UFCU’s new Edison Lakes Parkway location in Mishawaka, Ind. As branch manager, Blad will be responsible for business development within the community, membership engagement and positive public relations. She will also be tasked with maintaining the performance of the branch.

SOUTH

The $2.9 billion Coastal Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., promoted two employees to assistant vice president roles.

Priscilla Awkard was promoted to assistant vice president, teller centers. She will take over leadership of Coastal’s teller centers in Raleigh and Durham, and will work to ensure that members are getting fast, accurate transactions through the credit union’s teller service. Awkard has been part of the Coastal family since 2011.

Justin Brown was promoted to assistant vice president, retail sales and service. He will lead one of two branch territories, and will be able to leverage his recent and past branch experience to continue developing branch staff into highly-performing teams. Brown has worked at Coastal since 2011, in both community engagement officer and branch market manager roles.

The $1 billion SAFE Federal Credit Union in Sumter, S.C., promoted three branch managers.

Tammy Avins was promoted to Wesmark branch manager in Sumter. Avins has worked at SAFE for 30 years in a variety of member service roles, including as branch manager at the Bishopville and Manning branches. She was most recently assistant branch manager at the Wesmark branch that she now leads.

Tyler Pike was promoted to Lugoff branch manager in Lugoff, S.C. Pike has worked at SAFE for more than four years, as a teller, member service representative, assistant manager, and now branch manager at the Lugoff branch. He has lived in Camden, S.C., for 25 years and is a 2009 graduate of Camden High School.

Amanda Reed was promoted to Lewis Road branch manager in Sumter. Reed has worked at SAFE for five years and moved into the branch manager role after serving as assistant branch manager for nearly a year. Prior to that, she worked as a titles specialist and member service representative at the McCray’s Mill Road branch.

The $7.5 billion VyStar Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla., hired two employees.

Chad Meadows was hired as EVP/COO. Meadows is responsible for the credit union’s branch, ATM, call center, and internet and mobile banking operations. This currently includes 46 full-service branches and 13 high school branches across Northeast to Central Florida, a regional network of 220 ATMs, and a nationwide surcharge-free network of more than 20,000 ATMs.

Joel Swanson was hired as chief digital officer, a newly-created role in which he is responsible for driving the credit union’s digital optimization and electronic member experience initiatives. Most recently, Swanson served as SVP of branch administration for the $7.4 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska.

The $833 million Neighbors Federal Credit Union in Baton Rouge, La., announced Committee Member Jim Carroll is retiring after 34 years. Carroll was elected to the Baton Rouge Teachers Federal Credit Union’s board of directors in 1974 before it became Neighbors, and has served the credit union since then. When he was elected to the board of directors, BRTFCU had less than $65 million in assets. Today, Neighbors has more than $833 million in assets.

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