Credit Unions, ALM First Appoint Professionals to New Roles

EAST

SECU Financial Partners, a division of the $4.6 billion State Employees Credit Union of Maryland in Linthicum, hired Jonathan Wasey as an LPL Financial Advisor. Wasey is a Certified Financial Planner with more than 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, and joins from BB&T, now Truist, where he spent 10 years as a wealth advisor working with high net worth clientele. Before joining BB&T, he worked with SunTrust for more than nine years as a client advisor in the medical and legal specialty field. Prior to that, Wasey partnered with American Express Financial Advisors, now Ameriprise Financial, for more than five years to develop an investment advisory practice with a focus on portfolio management.

The $818.3 million, Philadelphia-based Ardent Credit Union elected Sam Kachidza, director of real estate at Lidl US, LLC, to its board of directors. Kachidza brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in real estate, finance and accounting to the board. In his current role with international grocery chain Lidl, he is responsible for the company’s expansion strategy in Pennsylvania and oversees a team of real estate and construction managers. He previously held positions of increasing responsibility with Deloitte, ING Americas and Robert Charles Lesser & Company, and holds an MBA from the Gouizueta Business School at Emory University.

Greylock Insurance Agency, a subsidiary company of the $1.46 billion, Pittsfield, Mass.-based Greylock Federal Credit Union, announced six promotions.

Lori Goodell was promoted to SVP, agency manager. In her new role, she will oversee all agency matters. Goodell joined GIA in March 2005 as an insurance services officer, was promoted to assistant vice president, sales manager in 2009 and then to vice president, personal lines in 2016.

Jay Marion was promoted to vice president, senior commercial lines and business development manager. In his new role, he will oversee the commercial side of GIA’s insurance business and development opportunities for the agency. Marion joined GIA in 2004 as an assistant vice president as part of GIA’s acquisition of Read Shaw Insurance. He was promoted to vice president/commercial lines in 2016.

Julie Dieterich was promoted to assistant vice president, personal lines sales manager. She was previously GIA’s sales manager and has progressed within the agency since starting as a part-time intern in 2008.

Mary Benjamin, who recently came to GIA through the acquisition of The Roger Butler Insurance Agency (Butler) in Westfield, Mass., was promoted to the position of office manager in Westfield. She will also oversee the commercial lines business in the area. Benjamin joined Butler in 1997.

Nicole Sage and Hailey Lareau were promoted to assistant trainers in addition to their current roles as account managers.

The board of directors of the $1.7 billion, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.-based Hanscom Federal Credit Union elected John A. Delcore as chairman. Delcore takes over from Ray T. Phillips, who held the position since May 2019. Delcore joined the credit union’s board in March 2003 and since then has served on many board committees. He officially retired in 2019 as both a government logistics management specialist and contract logistics engineer for the U.S. Air Force on Hanscom AFB. Delcore retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a colonel after 38 years of active and reserve duty, including mobilizations and deployments. He has been a volunteer firefighter for the Ayer Fire Department for many years and now volunteers as its Community Response Team lead.

Also elected to officer positions were Teresa S. Conrad as vice chairperson, Raymond A. Kahre as secretary and Ray T. Phillips as treasurer.

The $975 million St. Mary’s Credit Union in Marlborough, Mass., announced three promotions.

Will Yager was promoted to vice president, indirect lending. Yager is now responsible for credit decisioning, funding, compliance, portfolio management and generating loan volume within the organization’s indirect consumer lending department. He joined SMCU in 2011 and previously served as assistant vice president of indirect lending.

Beth Bertonassi was promoted to assistant vice president, learning and development. She joined SMCU in 2003 as a part-time teller while attending high school and has since worked in various roles within the credit union. Bertonassi, who presents financial literacy classes to local schools and is a member of the Association for Talent and Development, will foster a learning organizational culture in her new role.

Amy Mallette was promoted to assistant vice president, real estate lending officer. Mallette joined the credit union in 2000 after 26 years in banking. She was the branch manager at SMCU’s South Bolton Street branch in Marlborough for five years until overseeing home equity lending for the credit union for the past 16 years, where she maintains the pipeline, coaches the processors and supports retail.

The $642 million, Gardner, Mass.-based GFA Federal Credit Union hired Kevin W. DeNorscia to its leadership team as vice president/member experience. With an extensive background in both organizational development and financial services, DeNorscia will be responsible for the growth and management of GFA’s retail and small business banking teams, branch networks, products and services. Additionally, he will be instrumental in expanding the sales education and culture to support the growing demand for innovative retail and small business financial programs. Prior to joining GFA, DeNorscia was self-employed as an organizational consultant, assisting banks and credit unions with defining, refining or implementing a sustainable culture of expectation and accountability through service and leadership.

MIDWEST

The $887.6 million, Notre Dame, Ind.-based Notre Dame Federal Credit Union announced one new hire and one promotion.

Thom Obergfell was hired as Fort Wayne market president. A lifelong Fort Wayne resident, Obergfell has over 36 years of banking experience and for the last decade has served in senior leadership for commercial lending. He serves on the board of trustees at his alma mater, the University of Saint Francis; is the treasurer for the Saint Peter Zion project, a local affordable housing initiative; is finance chair at Saint Peter’s Catholic Church and served for 11 years on the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission.

Chief Retail Officer John Wilkening will assume the additional role of NW Indiana market president. With over 25 years of banking experience, Wilkening joined Notre Dame FCU as chief retail officer in 2015. In 2019, he was named Executive of the Year by NAFCU.

SOUTH

The South Carolina Senate confirmed SAFE Federal Credit Union SVP/Chief Administrative Officer Jenny Michaels to the South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions. The board oversees the promulgation of regulations relating to the supervision of financial institutions in South Carolina, consideration of applications for new financial institution charters and consideration of new branch locations. Michaels currently leads the $1.45 billion, Sumter, S.C.-based SAFE’s risk, compliance, fraud, collections, information technology, accounting/finance and continuous improvement teams.

VENDORS

ALM First, a provider of financial advisory services to over 300 banks and credit unions, hired Anthony Olson as director, mortgage pipeline hedging. Olson previously served on Fannie Mae’s National Client Delivery Team and Capital Markets Pricing and Sales Desk as a relationship manager. Prior to that, he was a research analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton. He holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University in finance and real estate. In his new role, Olson will use his in-depth knowledge of mortgage pipeline hedging best practices to assist lenders as they seek to optimize execution and maximize profitability as they sell to the GSEs.

Please send your People news items to Natasha Chilingerian at nchilingerian@cutimes.com.