This past week, seven credit unions across the nation announced hires, promotions and accolades. In addition, Coopera and CU Members Mortgage made additions to their executive teams.

MIDWEST

The $644 million LAFCU in Lansing, Mich., named Julianne Ackerson assistant vice president of branch operations. She will be responsible for managing the Owosso and Corunna branches. Ackerson comes to LAFCU from the $415 million Security Credit Union where she was assistant vice president and office manager of the Owosso branch for nearly five years. Prior to that, she served as the manager for the Owosso branches of Chemical Bank and Citizens Bank.

The $545 million Crane Credit Union in Odon, Ind., promoted Bryan Myers to SVP/COO. Myers has 16 years of experience in the financial services industry. He spent the majority of that time managing lending and operations functions. He joined Crane in March 2004 as the branch manager at the Bloomington facility. In 2009, he became vice president of lending and sales.

The $826 million Credit Union 1 in Rantoul, Ill., selected Todd Gunderson as EVP and COO. Gunderson has more than 25 years of experience working in the financial services industry. He comes to Credit Union 1 from Nationwide Acceptance, LLC where he served as SVP of branch operations/chief credit officer. Prior to his time at Nationwide Acceptance, Gunderson worked for NextGear Capital as division vice president, operations and sales.

SOUTH

The $520 million We Florida Financial Credit Union in Margate, Fla., hired Lori Cooke as vice president of marketing. Cooke previously served as assistant vice president of marketing at the $267 million Houston Texas Fire Fighters Federal Credit Union. During her time there, Cooke also served four years as marketing director and two years in other marketing roles.

The $2.5 billion Keesler Federal Credit Union in Biloxi, Miss., named Ben Donald regional manager of retail operations for the Pine Belt region.

Donald will oversee all daily operations for the Hattiesburg and Petal markets. He will continue as branch manager at the Turtle Creek branch in Hattiesburg, in addition to his regional manager responsibilities. Donald is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing. The $197 million JetStream Federal Credit Union in Miami Lakes, Fla., promoted Carolina Garcia to accounting supervisor. Garcia has worked at JetStream Federal for more than 18 years. She began her credit union career as the plastic card coordinator. After four years, she transferred to the accounting department. Garcia earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida International University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Daniel Weickenand, president/CEO of the $703 million Orion Federal Credit Union in Memphis, Tenn., was named CEO of the year by Inside Memphis Business Magazine. Weickenand has devoted 25 years to the credit union industry.

His management expertise in turning around distressed financial institutions led him to Orion in 2010. At that time, Orion’s membership was 49,000 and assets totaled just over $517 million. Under Weickenand’s leadership, Orion has grown to become the largest credit union in west Tennessee with more than 62,000 members and $700 million in assets.

VENDORS

Coopera, a Hispanic market solutions firm, hired two client relations team members.

Victor Corro joins the company as client relations director. Corro has more than 20 years of experience working with credit unions on a global scale. He joins Coopera from the World of Council of Credit Unions where he served in a variety of roles for the past two decades. Corro will work closely with the firm’s clients to implement Hispanic market growth strategies. He will assist other Coopera executives in sales and business development efforts, as well as manage the delivery of products and services in collaboration with the client relations team.

Tania Perez was hired as a client support specialist. Perez joins Coopera from State Farm Insurance, where she served as a sales team member with additional customer service responsibilities. For Coopera, Perez will assist with a variety of client support activities, including Coopera assessments, such as the Hispanic opportunity navigator, and the Hispanic membership and Hispanic target market analyses. She will also be responsible for a wide range of client communications, as well as administering Coopera’s translation services.

CU Members Mortgage, a division of Colonial Savings, F.A. serving credit unions nationwide, appointed Steve Hewins to SVP and manager of the division. In this new position, he will be responsible for directing institutional and loan level sales, as well as loan origination, processing and delivery. He will recruit and develop top performing sales and operations teams and provide strategic planning, staff training and leadership for all departments within the division.

Please send your People news items to Tahira Hayes at thayes@cutimes.com.

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