Staff Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Southern Advertising employee Chris Walker moves a new directional sign into place Thursday for drive-through customers at the new Highway 58 branch of the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union. The financial institution is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.Chattanooga's biggest credit union is getting a new head next week.
The Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union announced Monday that Todd Fortner is being promoted from executive vice president to president of the $1.1 billion-asset credit union.
He succeeds Blake Strickland, who is retiring after a 37-year career with the Tennessee Valley credit union, including 16 years as its CEO.
Fortner, a certified public accountant and graduate of Tennessee Tech University, joined the Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union in 2005 as chief financial officer after an extensive background in the financial services industry. Fortner began his career as an accountant with Hazlett, Lewis and Bieter Certified Public Accountants in Chattanooga. Prior to joining TVFCU, he served as controller for First Financial Bank and as chief financial officer for AOD Federal Credit Union.
Strickland began his career at TVFCU as the organization's first marketing employee in 1978 and held several marketing and operational roles before becoming president and CEO in 1999. Under Strickland's leadership, TVFCU grew from $289 million in assets and 66,783 members to more than $1.1 billion in assets and more than 114,000 members.
"It is indeed an honor to pass the baton to Todd who I know will continue to enhance member service to help everyone live the life they love at TVFCU," Strickland said in a statement.
The Chattanooga-based credit union is the 5th biggest credit union in Tennessee, behind only Eastman Federal Credit Union in Kingsport, Ascend Federal Credit Union in Tullahoma, ORNL Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge and the Knoxville TVA Employees Federal Credit Union.