"Through the years, the board of directors and employees of Western Vista Federal Credit Union have demonstrated a solid commitment to managed growth, have provided a wide variety of competitive financial products and services, and have maintained a high level of quality customer service," said Balser. "This commitment to helping our member-owners separates us from our competition and allows us to exceed our customer's expectations."

Ongoing Operations CUSO Makes Board Appointments

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Ongoing Operations LLC, a CUSO developed to help credit unions design, test and implement business continuity programs, has appointed several executives to its board of management.

Sean Zimmermann, vice president of operations and technology at the $1.8 billion Tower Federal Credit Union, is a new board member. Juri Valdov, senior vice president of external affairs at $1.5 billion Northwest FCU, is the new board chair of Ongoing Operations. Valdov moves into the spot vacated by Lindsay Alexander, president/CEO of the $380 million NIH FCU.

The appointments were made during Ongoing Operations' recent annual meeting. The CUSO's board includes credit unions and CUSOs from Florida, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Virginia.

One Man Marketing Bands

MADISON, Wis. — Two CUNA Councils have released white papers aimed at helping credit unions make the most of their resources.

Sponsored by the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council, "Balancing Priorities in One-Person Marketing and Business Development Departments" focuses on the advice and experiences of nine credit union professionals who lead one-person departments. Topics discussed include challenges, specialized tasks, outsourcing, use of technology, personals tools and tips and how they stay visible in the organization.

The paper also addressed a common issue in one-person departments of finding help or backup in the credit union. One idea provided in the paper was to use assistance from front-line staff with an interest in business development.

"When work was slow at a new branch, a teller at First American CU in Beloit, Wis., asked the credit union to allow her to call small businesses to introduce the credit union and promote the value of direct deposit. That effort eventually developed into a business development position for the teller," the paper stated.

The second white paper, "Strengthening Member Connections: 2007 Best Practices Awards from the CUNA Operations, Sales, and Service Council," profiles the successful efforts and initial results of the two award-winning credit unions.

Ascend FCU in Tullahoma, Tenn., won in the branch design category for the design of a new branch that translates into brick and mortar the philosophy behind its new name, brand identity, and sales and service culture. Spokane Teachers CU in Liberty Lake, Wash., won in the sales and service management category for its Conversation Engine, a member relationship management tool developed internally to suggest customized "conversation starters" to help front-line staff identify products and services to serve members' financial needs.

CUNA Council members are entitled to complimentary copies of these white papers; nonmembers may purchase the white papers for a price of $50 per copy. The papers are available online at www.cunacouncils.org.

Not Everyone Feels Current Economic Pain

HARRISBURG, Pa. — At least pawnbrokers, check cashers and payday lenders are doing OK during the rough economy, the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association noted last week.

The PCUA said in its daily newsletter to members, "Life is a Highway," the payday and check cashing groups show business is up more than 50% from a year ago. The state trade group drew the information from a report in The Allentown Call Leader.

Nonetheless, the news report demonstrates the need for Pennsylvania CUs to promote the Better Choice alternative payday product.

"The harsh reality is that many of their customers are your members. Want proof? Review your ACH reports for reoccurring transactions from payday lenders," warned PCUA.

To date, said the trade group, 71 CUs are participating. In 2007, these credit unions saved their members nearly $2 million dollars by keeping them away from payday lenders, the newsletter concluded.

People's Trust FCU Offers Teens an Extracurricular Learning Experience

HOUSTON — Personal finance was the headliner at a special summer camp hosted by People's Trust Foundation.

For two days 50 high school students participated in the foundation's first teen financial camp. The foundation is a nonprofit organization established by People's Trust Federal Credit Union in 2006 to advance financial literacy and economic independence among locals.

"It was evident to us based on the number of adults we were educating annually, that a real impact could be made by educating our children on the importance of financial responsibility," said Patricia Garcia, executive vice president of People's Trust Federal Credit Union and CEO of the credit union's investment subsidiary Signal Hill Investment Services.

Held at the Houston Community College Administration Building, the camp covered the seven-unit curriculum of the National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning Program. In addition to following the NEFE curriculum, the students took in information from guest speakers.

Lending, investment and human resources professionals from People's Trust Federal Credit Union presented various units to the students and provided the teens with their own professional experiences.

"With the success of our first teen financial camp, we will indeed have more, both downtown and hopefully in the surrounding areas," said Linda Birt, executive director of People's Trust Foundation, "it is just a matter of finding the available and appropriate meeting facilities to host the camps."

People's Trust FCU Sales and Promotions Coordinator Patrick Flynn handled the registration of the teen financial camp and spoke with the majority of parents signing up their children.

He noted, "The majority of the parents were glad that People's Trust Foundation was putting this camp on and wished someone would have done it for them when they were growing up. They don't want their kids making the same mistakes they made when they were younger."

He added that many parents wanted their kids to hear this information from someone else since kids don't always take what their parents say seriously.

Gasaway to Take Over CUMAnet Processing And Underwriting

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. — Credit Union Mortgage Alliance Network has promoted Gayle Gasaway to the newly created position of mortgage lending operations manager. The position merges the CUSO's processing and underwriting departments.

CUMAnet President Daniel von Schaumburg said he's confident Gasaway and the new position will improve member service and pointed to Gasaway's eight years with the company and versatile background as evidence of her skill set.

CUMAnet is a credit union-owned, full-service real estate organization, providing residential mortgage and home equity loan products and related services to credit unions exclusively nationwide for 13 years.

Mountain America CU Rolls Out Red Carpet for Open House and Indy

SALT LAKE CITY — Aiming to keep the momentum going following record turnouts at previous open houses, Mountain America Credit Union recently rolled out the red carpet.

The $2.7 billion credit union sent out just over 150 invitations to itdds business services members and had nearly 300 people show up to its most recent appreciation event that featured free tickets to the summer blockbuster "Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Nearly 300 people showed up, according to the credit union.

Michael Turner, senior vice president of commercial lending at Mountain America, had seen this type of event work at other organizations and decided to give it a try.

"First, I knew we needed to get a blockbuster movie and 'Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' surely fit the bill," Turner said. "Second, we needed to provide a pre-movie forum to give us the opportunity to thank our members, talk briefly about our products and services and allow them time to network."

The turnout surpassed previous events. An average rate of response from direct mail is 1% and the credit union saw a 200% response with this year's event, said Nathan Anderson, senior vice president of marketing.

Turner agreed. "It was a resounding success. After the movie was over I had several members stop me on their way out and tell me what a great event it was and how much they love doing business with us."