Longtime financial services executive Bruce Bryan will be the new president and CEO of HeritageWest Credit Union, replacing Steve Christensen, who stepped down Aug. 27 for personal and family reasons.

Christensen, 57, left Tooele County’s largest credit union after 14 years as president. Under his leadership, the credit union grew from two branches and approximately $100 million in assets to five full-service branches with assets in excess of $300 million, according to a company press release.

“We are saddened to see Steve go, but he felt it was the right timing for his family and for him to pursue other endeavors,” said Norma Worwood, chairwoman of the credit union’s board of directors.

Bryan, 52, has over 30 years in the financial services industry.

After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in business administration, Bryan worked for 11 years at Universal Campus Credit Union in Provo — now Utah Community Credit Union — as vice-president of lending, and for two years at Travis Federal Credit Union in Vacaville, Calif., also as vice-president of lending. In September 1997, Bryan moved to Utah and became the executive vice president and chief operations officer of Tooele Federal Credit Union, known today as HeritageWest Credit Union. He recently sat down with Transcript-Bulletin reporter Tim Gillie to discuss the present and future of the credit union:

Q: Given the current recession and trouble in the financial services industry, how healthy is HeritageWest Credit Union?

A: First thing people need to know is that their deposits are covered by federal insurance for up to $250,000. We have experienced a downturn in business along with everybody else as the recession hit. However, we did not get involved with any of the sub-prime lending strategies or other risky loan practices that caused troubles nationally. We did not, or can not, accept any of the federal bailout funds. As a credit union, our capital, or our strength, comes from our membership. We remain strong and healthy. Currently we are the 10th largest credit union in the state of Utah with assets of over $300 million.

Q: How has your membership changed over the last few years? Have you lost members during the recession?

A: Heritage West has grown in membership. We currently have over 40,000 members. We have added about 5,000 in the last two years. Some of that is from entering into the Salt Lake market, growth in Tooele, and family members of existing members opening their own accounts.

Q: What trends are you seeing on the lending side of your business right now? Who’s borrowing money these days and who’s stopped borrowing?

A: The car market continues to be good for us. Credit card use has kind of leveled off. Construction loans are down but refinancing home loans has been very busy.

Q: During the last few years under Steve Christensen’s tenure, the credit union grew dramatically and built several new branches. Any more plans for expansion?

A: We currently have five offices: Tooele, North Tooele, Stansbury, Grantsville and South Jordan. We opened the South Jordan branch because demographically we have a high concentration of members who live in that area. We can’t just go out and open a new branch in just any community and solicit new members. We have to open branches to serve our existing members. We don’t have any ambitious plans for new buildings in the near future.

Q: What changes do you have planned for the future?

A: We don’t have a lot of big changes planned in the immediate future. We will continue to build our financial strength by growing our membership and continuing to provide good service to our existing members.

Q: How did you find out that you were selected as the new president?

A: Steve’s leaving was a surprise, but when I came here as chief operations officer it was kind of an understanding that my position was created to make an orderly succession if and when the president, which was Steve, decided to leave.

Q: What do you see in the future for HeritageWest Credit Union?

A: We will continue to grow. We will look for ways to incorporate technology more into our services, but at the same time we don’t want to loose that personal touch. If people want to come down to a branch and talk to a real person, we will provide that opportunity. I call it high-tech with high-touch service.

Q: From your vantage point, what do you see in Tooele County’s economic future?

A: I think Utah and Tooele in many ways have weathered the storm of the recession and we will start to recover. The old-timers here won’t like it but I see that Tooele will continue to grow, both in population and jobs. I already have heard of businesses that are getting ready to expand their current operations in Tooele and there will be others, new companies, on the way. Tooele has the workforce and the space for new businesses.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com