PORT ANGELES — Curt Queyrouze has been appointed president and chief executive officer of First Fed, effective Sept. 17.
He will replace interim CEO Geri Bullard, who will continue to serve as executive vice president and COO of First Fed and its holding company, First Northwest Bancorp.
Queyrouze was appointed by the First Fed Board of Directors on Thursday.
Bullard was appointed to the interim position on July 13 to replace Matt Deines, who resigned as president and CEO on July 12.
According to an SEC filing on Thursday, Queyrouze, 64, will receive a base salary of $550,000 per year, a signing bonus of $100,000 and 50,000 shares of restricted stock.
Starting in 2026, he will become eligible for short-term incentive awards with an annual target of 50 percent of his base salary, and long-term incentive awards with an annual target of 35 percent of his base salary. He will receive a car and gas allowance of $1,000 per month plus $500 per month toward life insurance during his term of employment, which runs through Dec. 31, 2028.
Deines’ base salary was $515,000 a year at the time of his departure.
Queyrouze previously served as president of Everett-based Coastal Financial Corporation. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of Utah-based TAB Bank T, from 2016 to 2022, and its chief credit officer from 2014 to 2016. From 2009 to 2012, he was senior vice president and loss mitigation manager for Hancock Whitney Bank headquartered in Gulfport, Miss.
“His history of proven leadership, his focus on data-driven decision-making, and his commitment to creating long-term value for our shareholders made him the clear choice for the future of the company,” said First Fed board chair Cindy Finnie in a press release.
“Curt’s sterling performance leading financial institutions, combined with his clearly demonstrated dedication to his community, made him the obvious choice among a field of exceptionally strong candidates.”
Queyrouze’s appointment comes on the heels of a decision Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Washington that a company First Fed had conducted business with operated a Ponzi scheme.
According to the ruling, Water Station Management was among a cohort of businesses operated by Ryan Wear that defrauded investors of about $400 million between March 2018 and September 2024. Among the court’s findings were that the company failed to use investor funds as promised and instead diverted the money for other uses, including the personal gain of insiders.
The ruling includes a clause protecting First Fed from the case’s bankruptcy participants who might choose to use the Ponzi scheme against it in court.
First Fed is being sued for $106 million in King County Superior Court by 352 Capital Group, which alleges the bank was aware of Wear’s scheme and was among the parties receiving misappropriated funds.
On Aug. 14, Wear, 49, of Everett, along with a former 352 Capital Group advisor, were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on criminal charges in connection with the Ponzi scheme and hit with civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
