Prairie Business Names 40 Under 40

Congratulations to both Derek Holt, Grand Forks Market President at First Community Credit Union and Amaya Kastner, VP of Operations, at Western Cooperative Credit Union on this outstanding recognition!

Prairie Business magazine has announced their “40 Under 40” list for 2024 in their December issue. We are thrilled to share that two North Dakota young credit union professionals are included in the prestigious recognition.

Congratulations to:
Amaya Kastner, VP of Operations, Western Cooperative CU. Amaya was named vice president of operations this past summer. She has worked for WCCU for 17 years in various roles, including teller, head teller, MSR/IRA representative, member service supervisor, accounting representative, assistant compliance officer and compliance officer, before her most recent promotion.

According to one nominator, “Amaya has been a dedicated and highly motivated team member who has a passion for member service and the credit union motto of ‘People Helping People.’ She has worked hard to suggest improvements to the company’s products and services while training staff on new changes to these products and services. Kastner has faced difficulties head on and climbed mountains of adversity with grace and more drive to do what is best for staff and credit union members.”

Derek Holt, Grand Forks Market President at First Community CU. Derek has worked in the financial industry since 2002. He was a regional business banking manager for U.S. Bank, before accepting his current role, which he has held for two years. A colleague wrote as part of the nomination, “Derek has changed the whole culture of the Grand Forks market; brought with him a positive attitude and a strong work ethic. He was even able to secure a partnership with UND Athletics in his first year with FCCU!”

Derek has a passion for people and the community he serves, providing excellent leadership for FCCU and empowering the team to want to be better people and to give back as much as possible. He is involved with many organizations and actively seeks out opportunities to be involved in the community.

Congratulations to both of these credit union professionals on this recognition! You can see the entire December issue of Prairie Business digital magazine here.