John Hirabayashi, president and CEO of Community First Credit Union, a state-chartered credit union serving more than 106,000 members on the First Coast, was recently elected to the JAX Chamber 2013 Board of Directors. Hirabayashi will serve as the board’s Member Relations Vice-Chair. He is the only board member representing a locally based financial institution.

“The JAX Chamber is an extremely important organization for this community, and it has been an important connection for our organization,” said Hirabayashi. “I am honored to have been asked to serve on its board of directors, and I hope to help the Chamber continue its positive influence in the business and economic sectors of Northeast Florida.”

Hirabayashi has been with Community First Credit Union since 1996, and has helped the company grow and expand to serving more than 106,000 members and having $1.2 billion in assets. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado (Boulder), has an MBA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®).

In addition to his work with the JAX Chamber, Hirabayashi has served on the boards of professional finance organizations, including The Cypress Group, Members Development Company (MDC), the League of Southeastern Credit Unions and the Florida Credit Union League. He is also active in the Jacksonville community, and has served on numerous boards, including the Alliance for World Class Education, the Florida Community College Foundation, Clay County Education Foundation and Duval County Public Education Foundation. He served as chair of the WJCT Board of Trustees from 2010-2011 and chair of Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI) in 2011-2012. He is currently a member of JCCI’s JAX2025 Steering Committee, which is a community driven effort to create a vision for Jacksonville’s future in 2025.

Community First Credit Union offers mortgages, investment services, small business services and a full suite of online services. For more information about Community First, visit www.CommunityFirstFL.org, call (904) 354-8537 or (800) 342-8416.