LIHUE, Hawaii—After a 42-year career at Kauai Community FCU, President and CEO Mel Chiba will retire Oct. 17. EVP Tess Shimabukuro will succeed Chiba as CEO, according to The Garden Island.
KCFCU is the only organization Chiba has worked for since graduating from Kansas State University 42 years ago. He started at the CU as an assistant manager.
Chiba told The Garden Island that when he graduated from college he had two options: work as a teller at First Hawaiian Bank or take the CU position.
“I was ready to take a job as a teller at First Hawaiian Bank. Starting pay back then was $389 a month, but I was living at home so I just wanted to get my foot in the door,” he told the publication. “What happened was this job was paying $950 a month. Of course, my father told me to apply for this particular job. I didn’t know what Kauai Community was or what a credit union was, but for $950, I can do it.”
During his time at the credit union the CU has grown from 3,000 to 33,000 members and now has $443 million in assets.
“What we’ve done in the 42 years is we made this credit union grow,” Chiba told The Garden Island. “We produced and created a lot of financial services at very affordable prices and low costs. In the process, we helped a lot of families. I’ve worked with four generations of families now who’ve really appreciated what we’ve done.”