The new Chief Executive Officer of the Kaskaskia Valley Community Credit Union was introduced at a Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Thursday night.
Amber Benson is returning home to take the job as a 40-year employee of the credit union Kim Hocking prepares to retire in December.
Hocking started just two years after the credit union started in 1982 just for members of the Centralia Correctional Center. She has overseen the growth as the credit union was opened to membership among anyone in Marion, Clinton, Jefferson, or Washington Counties.
“There’s been a lot of changes. I went from hand-posting everything to getting a computer system in 1991. And then a real computer system when we started getting different offices. We went from one office to 3 in 2016.”
Hocking will step back to Chief Lending Officer before completely retiring in December to help with the transition.
Benson has been working at the corporate office of Benjamin Edwards in St. Louis after starting her career in banking in Salem. She is excited about being able to return home.
“The different things I’ve done I am just more community-focused. I like the small rural areas. I like being able to serve communities and that’s what the credit union stands for so it was an easy decision for me to come home.”
Benson sees advantages for credit unions because they are owned and directed by their members. She says her primary goal is to grow the credit union’s membership in its four-county footprint.
