The board of directors at Spokane Teachers Credit Union, a $2.6 billion institution based in Liberty Lake, Wash., has named Ezra Eckhardt as its new president and CEO, effective January 1, 2018.
Eckhardt succeeds retiring CEO Tom Johnson, who during his seven-year tenure as chief saw the credit union almost double its membership.
“The credit union is playing a critical role in shaping the future of Spokane and the region,” Eckhardt said in a statement. He formerly served as president of the Spokane-based Sterling Bank when it merged with Umpqua Bank.
“Ezra won’t need much introduction among the region’s business and community leaders,” Johnson said. “I’m gratified that the credit union will be in the hands of someone with a long history of community involvement and leadership with so many organizations doing important work.”
Eckhardt, who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served six years in the U.S. Army, has also worked in management jobs at Honeywell and Microsoft. In 2004, he returned to Spokane and earned an MBA from Gonzaga University.
Since early 2016, Eckhardt has served as chief operating officer at Oregon-based Wave Form Systems Inc., a provider of advanced surgical technologies.
STCU posted net income of about $22 million in 2016, down slightly from $23.4 million in 2015.
