D. Samuel Inman Becomes Seventh CEO of Community First Credit Union
Inman has officially succeeded John Hirabayashi, who retired August 30
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., September 4, 2024 – Community First Credit Union announces D. Samuel “Sam” Inman, MBA is officially the seventh president and CEO of the credit union after John Hirabayashi’s retirement on Friday. This completes a 90-day transition which began in June when the credit union announced Sam would be the new president and CEO.
Inman succeeds Hirabayashi, who joined the credit union as CEO in 1996 when it was known as Educational Community Credit Union, a $200 million asset institution with 44,000 members. The credit union has grown exponentially, expanding its field of membership to include the entire Jacksonville community, and changing its name to Community First Credit Union.
Inman has played an instrumental role in growing Community First’s assets from $156 million to $2.8 billion with $344 million in retained earnings since joining the organization in 1990. Inman is also credited with building the organization’s risk management function, aggressively expanding the ATM and branch network, and growing the retail investment services program to over 5,000 clients and $400 million in assets under management.
Sam most recently served as chief financial officer (CFO) and chief risk officer (CRO) at Community First and has held various leadership roles the last 34 years. He started at the credit union as an assistant accounting manager and became its first internal auditor. Inman joined the senior leadership team as CFO in 1997. During his tenure, Community First was named “Credit Union of the Year” in 2020 and 2022 by the League of Southeastern Credit Unions and Affiliates.
Inman, 61, is a Jacksonville native and a University of North Florida (UNF) Alumni. He and his wife Karen have been married for more than three decades. Inman was born on Jacksonville’s Northside and is a graduate of Englewood High School. He was both “little brother” and a “big brother” in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida. He is passionate about serving and nurturing public education, our youth, and our schoolteachers.
He serves the community through various nonprofit boards and positions. He is currently chair of the board of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida and is a member of the board of the UNF Foundation. He has served on many boards and committees, including Learn to Read, the Teach Conference, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida. He is the treasurer of the Community First Cares Foundation.
Community First was founded Downtown in 1935 and remains Downtown Jacksonville’s longest continually operating financial institution. It has two HQ locations in LaVilla.
Community First Credit Union of Florida is a state-chartered credit union based in Jacksonville serving anyone who lives or works on the First Coast. Community First is one of the largest credit unions in Florida with $2.8 billion in assets and serving 175,000 members. Community First has 22 locations and more than 450 employees. A not-for-profit, Community First is a full-service financial institution offering banking, loans, mortgages and investments for consumers and businesses across the First Coast. Visit www.communityfirstfl.org.
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