This past week, seven credit unions across the nation announcednew hires, promotions, retirements and accolades. Plus, CUCompanies hired a new executive.

MIDWEST

The $816 million Mayo Employees Federal CreditUnion in Rochester, Minn., announced Kenneth L.Kurth has been honored as a Credit Union Builder throughthe Minnesota Credit Union Foundation for his esteemed dedicationand faithful service to MEFCU as a board of director since 2005.The strategic vision and leadership Kurth has provided throughtimes of considerable growth and expansion of the credit union'sproduct line and branch office development has been key to thefinancial and strategic success of the organization.

Matt Daniels, member advisor II at the $1.9billion Affinity Plus Federal CreditUnion based in St. Paul, Minn., was named a Top 20 Under40 Young Professional by the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber ofCommerce and Echo Press.Daniels and other recipients willbe honored by the chamber and community newspaper at the chamber'sannual banquet and celebration.

Daniels has worked at Affinity Plus for five years, firstas a member advisor and teller, then advancing to operations,compliance and now consumer lending.

The $315 million INOVA Federal Credit Union inElkhart, Ind., promoted Joseph Messenger to vicepresident of finance. Messenger has been with INOVA FederalCredit Union for 11 years and has more than 19 years of experiencein accounting and finance in the local area. He is a graduateof Indiana University with a bachelor of accounting degree.

WEST

The $1.2 billion Altura Credit Union inRiverside, Calif., selected JenniferBinkley (pictured) to succeed long-time CEOMark Hawkins as president/CEO. Binkley has beenwith Altura for 14 years, the last nine as EVP and COO. Beforethat, she was president of Altura's award-winning auto locating andbuying service, Auto Expert. Altura announced in May 2016 thatHawkins, who has been CEO since 1988, planned to step down inFebruary 2017.

The $1.7 billion Numerica Credit Union inSpokane, Wash., hired three employees. DeannaHildenbrand was hired as AVP for marketing andcommunications. She joins the team with more than 21 years ofexperience, with a specialty in brand strategy and management inmarketing and corporate communications. She has a passion forhelping others and serves on the Children's Health Council.

Chris Palm was hired as senior loan officer.He has more than 13 years of experience in the insurance industryand spent the last two years in the financial industry. Mostrecently, Palm was a loan officer for 1st Security Bank ofWashington.

Cheryl Sands, the senior-most teller at the$1.3 billion Whitefish Credit Union in Whitefish,Mont., is retiring after 20 years of service. Sands began hercareer in 1996 at the Columbia Falls office of Whitefish, Montana'slargest credit union. Born and raised there, her firsthandknowledge of the community and local members made Sands aninvaluable asset for the branch.

Rick Dahmen was hired as external seniorloan officer in the home loan center. Dahmen has 17 years ofexperience in the lending field and is skilled in new residentialconstruction lending and is certified by the Foundations of RealEstate Evaluation and Appraising. He offers a wide variety of homeloan expertise including FHA, Veterans Affairs andconventional.

SOUTH

The $1 billion DuPont Community CreditUnion in Waynesboro, Va., hired TaraSmith as chief retail officer. Smith will lead DCCU'sretail business operations, marketing and community developmentefforts. Prior to accepting this position, she served as the vicepresident of retail at thee $636 million Orion Federal Credit Unionin Memphis, Tenn., where she was responsible for retail, training,marketing and business development.

The $2.4 billion Keesler Federal CreditUnion in Biloxi, Miss., promoted GeorgeMitchell to EVP and COO. He now serves as the second incommand to the president/CEO, Andy Swoger, who was hired in June2016. For more than 35 years, Mitchell has held managementpositions in the financial industry, including 14 years at the $20billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va., and sevenyears at the $2.2 billion Apple Federal Credit Union in Fairfax,Va.

CUSOs

CU Companies hired DavidHillert as senior underwriting counsel. Hillert bringsmore than 29 years of experience in real estate law, includingexperience in commercial title underwriting and with complex largemultistate and multi-site commercial transactions. Previously, heworked at Commercial Partners Title in Minneapolis, where he wasvice president/senior underwriting counsel.

Please send your People news items to Tahira Hayes [email protected].