MADISON, Wis. — The CUNA Operations, Sales & Service Councilhas named this year's Best Practice Award winners.

The council introduced the awards last year to highlightinnovative, cutting-edge solutions that optimize credit unionperformance.

This year's winners are as follows:

o Sales and Service Management: Financial Partners Credit Unionin Downey, Calif. for redefining its vision of “building lifetimefinancial partnerships” and subsequently established a unique newsales and service culture with the goal of creating value in themembers' minds by helping them to save money, make money, and savetime.

o Call Center Operations: Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Unionin North Andover, Mass. for increasing the diversity of itsservices, which included an expanded and empowered call center thatmonitors other areas of the credit union to reduce errors andincrease staff awareness and offers bilingual assistance. Inaddition, the call center's “We Shine” monthly incentive programwas developed to increase performance and member satisfaction.

o Operational Efficiency and Productivity: City County CreditUnion of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. for revamping its operations in orderto differentiate itself, lower operating expenses, and accommodatethe unique demographics of the area. What resulted was aphone-based delivery system that allowed for a high-performinginstitution that served more members with fewer employees anddelivered a faster, more efficient member experience with betterfinancial results.