MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank, the nation’s first credit union, said yesterday that Ronald Covey, Jr., a long-time banker in New Hampshire and Maine, has been hired as its new president and CEO.
Covey, most recently executive vice president or commercial banking at Ocean Bank, will be just the eighth CEO in the credit union’s 100-year history.
Covey has also held senior management positions at Citizens Bank, Numerica Savings Bank and BankEast, and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.
He will succeed Ronald Rioux, who is retiring as head of the $650 million credit union in January, after 15 years heading America’s oldest credit union. During that time, Rioux has shepherded St. Mary’s through two mergers, grown the branch network from three to eight, and was instrumental in creation of America’s CU Museum in 2002 at the site of an original St. Mary’s branch. He also helped create a $35 million affordable housing program for New Hampshire credit unions in 2005.
Covey is expected to join St. Mary’s in mid-December and will work closely with Rioux and the board on a transition plan.
