FRANKLIN, N.C., Aug. 02, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Entegra Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ENFC), the holding company for Entegra Bank, announced that Craig A. Fowler has been elected to the Boards of Directors of the Company and the Bank.

Fowler is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Western Carolina University (WCU), a campus in the University of North Carolina system, with an enrollment of over 10,000 students. As a member of WCU’s senior management team, he oversees an annual IT budget of over $9 million and a staff of 82 and 23 full time equivalent student and hourly workers. He also has over 25 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies including as Vice President of IT at Corning Cable Systems, Director of Information Technology Operations Center for Dell Computer Corp, Senior Director at Raytheon Company, and Business CIO for Texas Instruments Defense Systems and Electronics Group.

In 2004, with reappointments in 2007 and 2010, Fowler was appointed by Governors Mike Easley and Beverly Purdue as a Commissioner to the e-NC Authority, which was a state effort to link all North Carolinians to the Internet. Fowler was also a member of the Board of Directors of the NC Technology Association from 2002 to 2009.

Roger D. Plemens, President and CEO of the Company, said, “With his strong background, we are pleased to have Craig as an addition to our board. Banking institutions are increasingly reliant on technology and Craig brings a wealth of knowledge to our board.”

About Entegra Financial Corp.

Entegra Financial Corp., with total assets of $1.2 billion at June 30, 2016, is headquartered in Franklin, NC and is the bank holding company for Entegra Bank. The Company’s shares trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “ENFC”.

Entegra Bank operates a total of 15 branches located throughout the Western North Carolina counties of Cherokee, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk and Transylvania and Upstate South Carolina counties of Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg. For further information, visit the Company’s websitewww.entegrabank.com.