Careers Advance at Eastern & Midwestern Credit Unions

EAST

The $2.7 billion, Syracuse, N.Y.-based Empower Federal Credit Union announced one promotion and one new hire.

Nicholas LaFlair was promoted to vice president, commercial loan officer. In his new role, he provides businesses in New York State with commercial loans for their working capital needs and funds for growth. He also provides funding to commercial real estate investors for the development, purchase or refinance of properties across a broad range of real estate property types. His experience in the banking industry includes a diverse background from serving as a branch manager to his most recent position of senior commercial loan officer for Empower. LaFlair is an Eagle Scout and 2020 graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse.

Scott L. Harris was hired as vice president of wealth management services and CUSO Financial Services program manager. In his new role, he will oversee the investment, insurance and tax preparation platforms to meet the growing needs of Empower members throughout New York State. Harris has over 34 years’ experience in the financial industry, having spent time as a registered representative with MetLife and John Hancock. He served as wealth advisor and planner at Sagemark Consulting Private Wealth Services, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors. Harris most recently served as SVP and senior relationship manager at Key Private Bank. He is also a Certified Wealth Strategist through the Canon Financial Institute. He currently serves as president of the board of directors of Joseph’s House for Women in Syracuse, and is an ordained Deacon for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse at Holy Family Church in Fairmount, N.Y.

MIDWEST

The $5.6 billion, Waterloo, Iowa-based Veridian Credit Union announced two promotions and one new hire.

Rusty Naber was promoted to the position of branch manager of the EP True location in West Des Moines, Iowa. Naber has worked at Veridian for 17 years and previously served as the branch manager of the Ingersoll location in Des Moines, Iowa.

Neil Kennedy was promoted to the position of mortgage loan originator. Kennedy has worked at Veridian for 18 years and previously served as the branch manager of the EP True branch in West Des Moines.

Greg Schneider was hired to the position of business intelligence analyst I. Schneider previously served as an information technology business analyst II at Building Products Inc. in Evansdale, Iowa.

SPIRE Credit Union ($1.8 billion, Falcon Heights, Minn.) hired Stephanie Johnson as community relations director. She comes to SPIRE from the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club, where she spent 15 years working in community relations and most recently served as executive director of the Twins Community Fund. In her new role, Johnson is responsible for managing efforts to support SPIRE’s Core Action to “give back” including charitable contributions, employee volunteerism and community partnerships. She was the 2018-2019 president of the Corporate Volunteerism Council of the Twin Cities in St. Paul, Minn., and currently serves on the Highland Friendship Club Board of Directors in St. Paul.

Eric Hilbun, CFP was hired at Collins Community Credit Union ($1.4 billion, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) as a financial advisor, exclusively serving the credit union’s membership through Collins Wealth Management Group. Hilbun, a financial advisor with over 20 years in the financial industry, is now available to meet with individuals to evaluate their financial situation, offer recommendations, and coordinate their investment and insurance choices. Designed exclusively for credit union members and located at the credit union’s Dubuque, Iowa branch, Collins Wealth Management Group is a full-service financial advisory program providing retirement, insurance and investment services to individuals.

The $14.6 billion, Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union hired Diane Hughes as chief people officer. In her new role, she will partner with leaders across Alliant to create an exceptional workplace experience for all Alliant team members. Hughes joins Alliant from Northern Trust, where she most recently served as chief talent officer, and has extensive experience in talent acquisition, workforce analytics, learning and development, talent management and workforce planning.

The $3.9 billion, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Royal Credit Union announced one new hire and one promotion.

Shauna Lasiuta was hired as branch manager of the New Richmond office in New Richmond, Wis. In her new role, Lasiuta is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the office, as well as the coaching, guiding and development of team members. She previously worked at a variety of financial institutions, starting as a teller and working her way up to branch manager at four organizations. Most recently, Lasiuta spent two years working for the Washington County Sheriff’s office in West Bend, Wis. She is also president and treasurer of the Chisago Lakes High School Boys Basketball Booster Club.

Joshua Odegard was promoted to member experience manager. In his new role, Odegard is responsible for leading a group of team members to grow and develop Royal’s frontline teams, while working collaboratively with branch and call center leadership to effectively deploy the member experience team throughout Royal’s branch network and promote Royal’s core values. Odegard started at Royal in 2001 and brings experience in branch leadership, vendor management, call center operations and mergers/acquisitions. He most recently served as branch manager II at Royal’s Eau Claire Southwest and Eau Claire Downtown offices. Odegard is active in the community through the development and operation of Mighty Maddy’s Mission in Eau Claire.

CUSOS

Education finance CUSO Credit Union Student Choice appointed Kathy Duvall, president/CEO of SF Fire Credit Union ($1.6 billion, San Francisco), to its board of directors. SF Fire partnered with Student Choice in 2010 and Duvall, who has more than 29 years’ experience in financial services, joined the credit union as president/CEO in 2017. Previously, she spent more than 20 years at BECU ($29.5 billion, Tukwila, Wash.) as CFO/SVP of administration.

TRADES

CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle and Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan were recognized by political news source The Hill as “Top Lobbyists” for 2021. The honor recognizes people who wielded their connections and knowledge most effectively for their clients and organizations.

Nussle has made The Hill’s list since he joined the association in 2014 and Donovan has received the distinction for the last four years.

VENDORS

Lightico, a provider of SaaS platform to organizations including credit unions that accelerates customer journeys through automated workflows, hired Jeff Dobo as SVP of sales, North America. In his new role, he will lead Lightico’s sales operations on the continent. Dobo previously served as regional vice president of sales at NICE, overseeing its new logo acquisition team. Prior to that, he served as a senior director of sales integration at Bluewater Technologies Group. Dobo also served as vice president of enterprise sales at Black Box Network services as well as in a number of B2B leadership roles at Verizon.

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