Credit Unions Across Nine States Name New CEOs

The board of directors of the $2.6 billion Pawtucket Credit Union appointed Brian A. Azar president/CEO of Rhode Island’s second largest financial cooperative.

He will succeed current PCU President/CEO George Charette, who is retiring at the end of May.

Azar previously served as EVP/chief lending officer at the $2.7 billion Navigant Credit Union in Smithfield, R.I. Prior to Navigant, he was EVP/region president at Santander Bank and held senior positions at both Citizens Bank and Fleet Bank.

PCU serves more than 126,000 members.

David King was appointed president/CEO of the $789 million Safe 1 Credit Union in Bakersfield, Calif.

He succeeds Doug Kileen, who is retiring after 34 years at the helm.

King, a 25-year industry veteran, joined Safe 1 eleven years ago and most recently served as EVP of lending.

Safe 1 serves a membership of 72,640.

Luann Schmiedel was named president/CEO of the $640 million Oklahoma’s Credit Union.

She succeeds Mark Kelly, who is retiring this month.

Schmiedel, OKCU’s EVP, joined the credit union in 1986, leading various departments, operations and staff.

The Oklahoma City-based credit union serves more than 46,000 members.

Konstantina (Nina) G. Baker was promoted to president/CEO of the $569 million ProFed Credit Union in Fort Wayne, Ind.

She succeeded Gregory Troutner.

Previously, Baker served as ProFed’s president since January 2020. She began her career at the credit union in 1985 as a teller. Four years later, she advanced to assistant vice president of data processing and was later promoted to vice president/controller. Baker also served as COO and EVP.

ProFed serves nearly 55,000 members.

The $548 million ValleyStar Credit Union in Martinsville, Va., named Lisa Lambrecht as interim president/CEO.

She replaced Delbert Lee Morgan, who resigned after he was named president/CEO of the $2.1 billion Pen Air Federal Credit Union in Pensacola, Fla.

Lambrecht most recently served as ValleyStar’s EVP in 2020 and CFO in 2019. Before joining the credit union, she served as president/CEO of the $77.4 million Entrust Financial Credit Union in Richmond.

ValleyStar serves a membership of 53,710.

The board of directors for the $496 million Jax Federal Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla., named John Servos president/CEO.

He replaced Mary Svoboda, who served as interim president/CEO since March 2020 and has returned to her previous dual roles as COO and chief lending officer.

Servos joined Jax after a 22-year career at the $477 million Neighbors Credit Union in St. Louis, where he served as CEO for more than 12 years. He previously worked as the credit union’s CFO and vice president of compliance and audit services.

Jax serves nearly 40,000 members.

The $339 million Simplicity Credit Union in Marshfield, Wis., named Nicholas Faber as president/CEO.

He succeeded Kelly Korth.

Faber worked in public accounting for 10 years before joining Simplicity in 2018 as CFO.

The credit union serves more than 25,000 members.

The $281 million Everence Federal Credit Union in Lancaster, Pa., appointed Matthew Gehman as president/CEO.

He succeeds W. Kent Hartzler, who served as president/CEO since 2007 and is stepping down to join a consultancy firm.

Gehman joined Everence in 2015 and most recently served as the credit union’s chief lending officer.

Everence serves more than 20,000 members.

Andrew G. Barriger was named president/CEO of the $110 million Telco Triad Community Credit Union in Sioux City, Iowa.

He succeeded Tim Piepho, who retired after 35 years of service at the credit union. For seven years, he served as its president/CEO.

Prior to joining Telco Triad Community, Barringer held executive positions with the $119 million North Star Community Credit Union in Cherokee, Iowa, the $114 million River City Federal Credit Union in San Antonio and the $606 million Brightstar Credit Union in Sunrise, Fla.

Telco Triad Community serves a membership of 15,301.