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WEST
Fitzgerald Reyes The $802 million Community First Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif., hired Fitzgerald Comandante Reyes as CFO. Reyes brings two decades of financial services experience and most recently served as vice president of finance at OE Federal Credit Union ($1.4 billion, Livermore, Calif.), where he oversaw and managed several departments and functions including accounting and finance, card services, collections, and employee payroll and payment systems. He is currently completing his Executive MBA with a concentration in business analytics at Saint Mary's College of California.
EAST
Mendy Shaffer Recommended For You
The $651 million, Martinsville, Va.-based ValleyStar Credit Union promoted Mendy Shaffer to CFO. Shaffer joined ValleyStar in 2018 as vice president of accounting and most recently served as interim CFO. She holds an MBA from Radford University in Radford, Va. Shaffer also completed the American Bankers Association, Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Banking Leadership program through The Wharton School, and attended the CUNA Financial Management School and Southeast Region Credit Union School of Management.
SOUTH
Blake Watkins The $1.1 billion, Hoover, Ala.-based Avadian Credit Union announced two hires and two promotions.
Blake Watkins was rehired as senior business loan officer. Watkins brings 15 years of business services experience and previously served as a business loan officer for Avadian from 2014 to 2019. He most recently served as vice president of commercial banking for CommerceOne Bank in Birmingham, Ala., and will serve the Birmingham market in his new role at Avadian.
Clint Phillips was hired as a business loan officer and will serve the Huntsville, Ala., and North Alabama markets. Phillips has worked in both consumer and commercial lending since beginning his career in the financial services industry in 2019. Most recently, he was the assistant vice president of commercial lending for the $1.2 billion Listerhill Credit Union in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Clint Phillips Larry J. Uptain was promoted to commercial lending manager. Uptain joined Avadian in 2019 and has nearly three decades of experience in the financial services industry, having worked closely with business owners to pursue their goals.
Larry Uptain Quintin Milton was promoted to business loan officer. In his new role, he will serve the South Alabama market, as well as focus helping small businesses secure the funding they need to expand and grow by assisting those business members with credit cards, lines of credit, vehicle loans and equipment loans. Milton has been with Avadian for four years.
Quinton Milton CUSOS
Anthony Arizola Technology and automation solutions CUSO CU NextGen, a partnership between Members Development Company and ClaySys Technologies, hired Anthony Arizola as a sales executive. In his new role, Arizola builds profitable relationships by bringing technology to credit unions looking to transform how financial services are delivered to members, and spearheads efforts to expand the CUSO's base of investors as well as initiatives that provide value to clients. He brings over a decade of professional experience, including eight years in the credit union industry. He previously worked at the CUSO Xtend, as a regional sales representative for CU*Answers and as director of business development for LoanStreet, Inc.
VENDORS
Vance Sherard The Monett, Mo.-based financial technology company Jack Henry & Associates, which serves banks and credit unions, promoted Vance Sherard to vice president. Sherard has been with Jack Henry for 25 years and has led investor relations for the company since 2015. He has also held roles at Jack Henry in sales, corporate development and finance. Sherard holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute as well as an MBA in finance from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.
Please send your People news items to Natasha Chilingerian at [email protected].
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
