New leadership in place at Education First FCU

Keith Brenek, CEO of Education First Federal Credit Union in Beaumont, Texas, plans to retire at the end of this year.

Kevin Conn, the new CEO of Education First Federal Credit Union in Texas
Kevin Conn, the new CEO of Education First FCU in Texas

Brenek joined the credit union as chief operating officer in 2008 and was named president and CEO in 2015. Before joining Education First, Brenek was CEO of Beacon Credit Union in Houston.

Education First Board Chairman Charles Starcke credited Brenek with helping grow the credit union. That included a merger with SAFE CU and the addition of new free-standing full-service branches.

He will be succeeded by Kevin Conn, who has served as executive vice president since he joined the credit union in 2015. Since that time he has helped guide the credit union through Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Tropical Storm Imelda in 2019, according to a notice posted by the Cornerstone Credit Union League, which serves CUs in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Before coming to Education First, Conn spent nearly 15 years in positions at credit unions across Texas, as well as two years as a young professional advisor for the Cornerstone league.

“Kevin is a visionary and we look forward to his progressive leadership contributing to our continued growth, and I have full faith that under his direction, Education First will flourish,” said Brenek.

Education First serves nearly 35,000 members with more than $454 million in assets. Call report data from the National Credit Union Administration showed a loss of nearly $365,000 through the first half of 2020, compared to earnings of more than $2 million during the same period last year. Deposits and allowances for loan losses were both up by about 10% in that time while charge-offs rose almost 5% and interest income dropped nearly 14%.

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