Brandon Riechers, 42, was named president/CEO of the $2.1 billion Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis., Board Chair Doug Olson said Tuesday.

Riechers succeeds former President/CEO Rudy Pereira who resigned in April to become the new president/CEO of the $2.3 billion Premier America Credit Union in Chatsworth, Calif.

Riechers started at Royal in 1996 as a branch financial sales representative while he was a student at University of Wisconsin. He advanced through several leadership roles at Royal in lending, and has served as the credit union's executive vice president chief lending officer since 2012.

In 2014, Riechers was recognized as a CU Times Trailblazer 40 Below that features young executives.

He led the expansion of Royal's Minnesota markets by negotiating acquisitions of a bank and a bank branch. He also helped grow Royal's loan portfolio through business services innovation.

“We owed it to our members to conduct a nationwide search and consider all candidates,” Olson said. “We chose Brandon because he is a values-driven, member focused, strategic leader who is respected throughout the community and the credit union industry. Brandon is ready to lead Royal into the future.”

Royal is Wisconsin's fifth largest credit union by assets and serves 183,935 members.