First Harvest Credit Union (First Harvest), New Jersey’s second largest credit union by membership, has announced the hiring of a new executive leader to oversee its membership-facing experience functions and enhance its overall member experience.
Justin Hendrickson has joined First Harvest Credit Union as EVP and Chief Member Experience Officer (CXO), effective December 1, 2023. First Harvest has organized its retail branch network, its lending department, and its newly-created First Harvest Direct call center and internet banking functions, into one Member Experience division, which Hendrickson will oversee. This will allow members to more seamlessly navigate through multiple First Harvest delivery channels more seamlessly and conveniently.
Hendrickson has more than 20 years of credit union leadership experience, and will oversee these key member-facing areas of the credit union, as he has deep expertise in building and motivating innovative lending, banking, insurance and member experience initiatives in the New Jersey and greater regional credit union movement.
Hendrickson most recently served as Senior Vice President at the New Jersey-based Member Support Services CUSO, where he oversaw lending and asset management efforts for multiple partner credit unions. Prior to that, he served as a leader at New York City-based Municipal Credit Union, where he was part of a team hired by NCUA conservators to remediate lending-related regulatory findings and overhaul the consumer lending operation, increasing production by 25%. Hendrickson also held leadership roles at New Jersey-based McGraw Hill Credit Union, where he oversaw member engagement, including workplace/SEG programs and financial wellness, as well as New Jersey-based Motion Federal Credit Union where he oversaw lending, branches, member service and marketing functions. Earlier in his career, Hendrickson served as a personal banker, teller, member representative, and a branch manager, and has a keen understanding of the member-facing employee experience.
Hendrickson holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Centenary University, a Master’s degree in Jurisprudence from Seton Hall University School of Law, and has previously held his FINRA Series 6, 63, and 65.
“We are excited to welcome Justin to our leadership team, and work with our existing leaders on improving the member experience at First Harvest,” stated First Harvest President & CEO Mike Dinneen. “Throughout Justin’s career, he has demonstrated an ability to motivate his teams to provide innovative, member-centric credit union services and products. He is a true credit union professional, and he is well-regarded by his peers in the credit union movement. He will play a major role in our stated goals of achieving operational, regulatory, and member satisfaction excellence.”
As previously announced, the credit union has hired more than 20 new associates in its new First Harvest Direct initiative, creating new, locally-based member service contact center and digital banking center. The credit union has also launched a new suite of online products, including the Growth Savings Account.
“Prospective and existing members can now open more accounts online, and can be confident that their product and service needs will be handled here at our headquarters, by First Harvest staff members who are also fellow members,” stated Dinneen.