EAST

First Financial Federal Credit Union, Wall, N.J., has hired Deborah Downie as director of business development. Downie brings to First Financial over 21 years of experience at various Wall Street firms in corporate lending and institutional investing. Prior to her employment with the credit union, she founded the Two Rivers Women In Business Consortium in Red Bank, NJ., a professional networking group to help foster and support relationships while sharing resources and giving back to the community. Downie is a CFA and attended Baruch College where she earned her degree in finance and investment with minors in business law and education. She then went on to obtain her M.S. in investment management at Pace University's Peter Lubin Graduate School. First Financial also announced that Richard Stubbs Jr. was promoted to senior accountant. Stubbs began his career at First Financial as a teller in 2011 while finishing up his bachelor's in accounting. Three months later, he was transferred to the accounting department as an accountant. Stubbs is responsible for daily accounting operations as well as preparing financial reports for management and responding to internal inquiries. He graduated from Kean University in Union, N.J., with a BS in accounting in June 2011. He is currently pursuing an MBA from Keller Graduate School via their North Brunswick, N.J., campus.

GHS Federal Credit Union, Binghamton, N.Y., announced the promotion of Monica Lescault-Casterlin to controller. Lescault-Casterlin joined GHS in 1996 and within two years she was promoted to the accounting department, she continued to work her way to senior accountant and now to the position of controller Lescault-Casterlin holds an associate degree in accounting from Broome Community College with a minor in computer applications.