For its efforts with a project that helped 3,520 employees at 80 Wisconsin credit unions better train to offer members investing and saving resources, the state's cooperatives will receive the Governor's Financial Literacy award.

Dubbed "RP3," or REAL Progress & Pathways to Prosperity, the project kicked off last October and will continue through early 2011, according to the Wisconsin Credit Union League. The project engaged participants in approximately 10 hours of online learning about investing concepts including setting goals, distinguishing among investment vehicles, managing risk, diversifying a portfolio, maximizing tax advantages, understanding mutual funds and working with investment professionals.

The first phase involved 53 CUs, whose 1,623 employees completed the courses in December and achieved passing grades averaging 88.17%. Their knowledge of investing concepts, determined by comparing a pre-test to a post-test following completion of the coursework, had increased 28.27%. In January, another 1,897 employees from 56 CUs began the coursework. At its conclusion, the 18-month project will have collected enough data to see to what extent the learning had on participants' investing behavior and what factors such as income and age influenced success, the league said.