For immediate release: January 16, 2019
David Fernandes, president of Toyota Manufacturing Alabama Inc., and David Nast, president and chief executive officer of Progress Bank, have been appointed, and David M. Benck, vice president and general counsel of Hibbett Sports, has been reappointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Birmingham Branch. Their terms began January 1, 2019, and run through December 31, 2021.
Fernandes has served as president of Toyota Manufacturing Alabama Inc. since 2017. He was vice president from 2016 to 2017. Before joining Toyota Manufacturing Alabama, Fernandes served Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky as general manager and assistant general manager of production manufacturing. Prior to that, he served as a project general manager for Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America and assistant general manager for Toyota North America.
Fernandes is a member of the board of directors of the Business Council of Alabama–Huntsville Area, and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Huntsville Committee of 100. Fernandes earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1993.
Nast has served as president and chief executive officer of Progress Bank and Trust since 2007. Before joining Progress Bank, he worked in various positions with increasing responsibility with AmSouth Bank.
Nast is chairman of the Huntsville Museum of Art, vice chairman of the Alabama Bankers Association, and a member of the board of directors of the Huntsville Committee of 100, the Huntsville Sports Commission, and Leadership Alabama. He earned both a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Jacksonville State University. He completed Louisiana State University's Graduate School of Banking.
Benck has served as vice president and general counsel of Hibbett Sports since 2005. He previously served as vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary for Momentum Telecom from 2001 to 2005. Benck serves as panel arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the International Court of Arbitration for Sport and previously taught at the Cumberland School of Law.
Benck is a member of the President's Cabinet at the University of Alabama, the Council of the American Arbitration Association, and the board of directors of The World Games 2021-Birmingham. He received his juris doctorate from the University of Alabama in 1993 and bachelor's degree in economics from Birmingham-Southern College in 1990.
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta branch directors provide economic information from the branch territory to the district bank's president and head office directors, who use the information in discussing monetary policy options and making discount rate recommendations. Nast was appointed and Benck was reappointed by the Atlanta Fed's board of directors. Fernandes was appointed by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC. The Board of Governors appoints three of the Birmingham Branch directors, and the Atlanta head office directors appoint four.