EAST HARTFORD, CONN.—Dean Marchessault, president and CEO of the $2.3-billion American Eagle Financial CU, has announced he plans to retire at year-end. The credit union has named a successor.
Marchessault has been with American Eagle Financial for 22 years.
“The board of directors and I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dean for his decades of dedicated service to American Eagle Financial Credit Union—particularly for his leadership as our president and CEO,” said Board Chair Michael P. DePasquale. “During his tenure as President and CEO, the Credit Union’s asset size almost doubled to $2.3 billion, and Dean has been instrumental in increasing American Eagle’s recognition as a leader and significant contributor within the community. We thank Dean for guiding American Eagle to the high level of success it enjoys today. We wish him all the best, and a long and healthy retirement.”
The credit union noted that during Marchessault’s time as president and CEO its membership and footprint have also grown “exponentially.” AEFCU currently provides banking services to more than 160,000 members, and opened its first office in New Haven County (Conn.) while also being granted approval to expand its field of membership into Western Massachusetts in 2019.
“Under his leadership, the Credit Union has remained steadfast in fulfilling its mission of enriching the lives of their members and communities,” AEFCU said. “In 2020 alone, AEFCU’s monetary contributions were just shy of $300,000 and included grants from American Eagle’s Donor-Advised Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, corporate sponsorships, and general donations as well as those derived from AEFCU’s Cash Back to the Community program.”
‘A Great Honor’
“Serving as the President and CEO of AEFCU has been a great honor and words cannot express how I feel about our American Eagle family,” Marchessault said. “I thank the board of directors for allowing me to lead such a sensational organization, and I want to express my immense gratitude to the employees of AEFCU for all the success that they helped our credit union achieve, and for their dedicated service to our members, particularly after this challenging year. This transition will be bittersweet for me, but I know that it will be seamless thanks to the amazing team we have in place.”
In announcing the retirement, AEFCU further noted that in recent years Marchessault has garnered several honors as a business and community leader including a C-Suite Award from the Harford Business Journal in 2020, and the Business Person of the Year Award from the Connecticut River Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2018. In 2019, AEFCU was named one of the “Best Places to Work in Connecticut” by the Hartford Business Journal.
Successor Named
Based upon its ongoing succession planning process, and after “rigorous deliberation,” American Eagle said it has selected Howard Brady as its next president and CEO. Brady has served as SVP-chief lending officer at American Eagle Financial Credit Union since 2015.
“We are confident Howard will provide the leadership necessary for the Credit Union to continue on its steady path of success, and we congratulate him on his promotion and new responsibilities,” said DePasquale.
The transition will take effect Jan. 3, 2022.