TORONTO-Three Canadian credit unions and a CUSO were ranked among Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies in 2006. Servus CU, Coast Capital CU, Savings CU and Concentra Financial CUSO were recognized for their business excellence in the annual competition among Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $10 million.
Winners come from a wide range of industries that have implemented world-class best practices. To qualify, they must show superior results for the past three years with no more than 50% of their shares publicly traded.
"If you think traditional values don't pay off in business anymore, think again," said John Hughes, Partner, Deloitte financial advisory service, a national sponsor of the Best Managed Program. "These three organizations demonstrate efficiency, hard work and integrity in dealing with customers and employees alike. It is a model of success among companies reaching for the highest standards."
Penny Reeves, board member of both Servus CU and World Council of Credit Unions, said the honor clearly demonstrates the ability of Canada's credit union movement to compete with the best the country has to offer.
"To achieve the designation as one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in a country as large and diverse as Canada is an incredible accomplishment," she said.
Myrna Bentley, president and CEO of Concentra Financial, also believes that a big part of why Concentra continues to qualify for this award is due to the quality of its people.
"This award recognizes the caliber of our people and our management practices," Bentley said. "It is indeed a team effort that has enabled us to be placed within this select circle of Canadian businesses."
For info: www.canadas50best.com.
AMBATO, Ecuador-Credit union board members here have participated in the first of six governance training sessions as part of the national Credit Union Director Competencies (COMDIR) program here. The program was held at Universidad Técnica de Ambato.
This is the third offering of the COMDIR program, which aims to further credit union growth, sustainability and governance by training board members on leadership, commitment, teamwork, planning, management and oversight.
The six-weekend, 34-session program encourages board members to support processes of change and modernization in their credit unions, which in turn lead to growth and greater outreach.
In order to be regulated by the financial sector regulator, credit unions must meet a minimum asset size. Given this stipulation, World Council estimates that approximately 80% of credit unions in Ecuador lack proper regulation. The COMDIR program seeks to educate board members of both regulated and non-regulated credit unions to promote sound institutions throughout the system.
DUBLIN-Ireland's Minister for Finance Brian Cowen was expected to introduce new measures to allow credit unions to offer pensions, including Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), the government-sponsored pensions, as well as life assurance products such as mortgage protection insurance to members.
"We expect to have feedback from the minister by next month," Liam O'Dwyer, chief executive of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), told local media. O'Dwyer said that about half of the country's 530 credit unions-or those that already offered insurance-would be able to provide PRSAs. "The new measures mean that a credit union member borrowing $60,000, for example, can repay the loan over eight or ten years, compared to three years previously," he said. "This is a good first step, but we would like to see the minister go further. "We need a more modern piece of credit union legislation, and the minister has indicated that he will look at this."
Cowen has said that he will change credit union law to allow credit unions to lend more money, over longer periods of time. More than 40 credit unions already offer mortgages and this will increase to about 55 by the end of this year, according to O'Dwyer.
KABUL, Afghanistan-WOCCU reported that since the WOCCU-Afghanistan project began in November 2004, it has established the first five investment and finance cooperatives (IFCs, as credit unions are called in Afghanistan) in the northern and eastern regions. They currently serve more than 7,000 clients, both women and men, in rural areas. WOCCU said it has recently expanded operations to conflict areas in the southern and eastern regions. In addition to establishing safe and sound IFCs that can respond to the overwhelming demand for financial services in Afghanistan, World Council's program aims to foster community development as a whole.
MT. KILIMANJARO, Tanzania-The World Council of Credit Unions joined forces with United Nations FCU, New York, to support to the UNFCU-affiliated Kilimanjaro Initiative.
Tim Challen, member service representative of United Nations FCU, lead the second annual, five-day Kilimanjaro Initiative Climb in Tanzania on Feb. 24.
The trek up Mt Kilimanjaro - the largest freestanding mountain in the world at 19,342 feet-aims to empower young people to become agents of change in society and to bring attention to Kilimanjaro Initiative's youth-based projects. The 2007 climb will specifically fund urban safety projects in East Africa, which are supported by UN-HABITAT.
Challen, who works in the UNFCU Geneva Representative Office, founded the Kilimanjaro Initiative in 2005, two years after he was injured in an armed robbery while working in Nairobi, Kenya. He had planned to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro before his injury, so the Kilimanjaro Initiative Climb grew out of his realization that it would be a symbolic opportunity to raise global awareness on urban safety and collect funds for cooperative projects.
"In hand with the community, we are setting about physical, economic and social development in a durable way," Challen explained.
WOCCU sponsored climber Jeff Healy, marketing manager at Teachers Plus Credit Union in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada. Healy will climb along with youth from around the world, United Nations specialized agency staff, UNFCU management and staff, and public and private sector representatives.
Last year, 25 climbers from the Kilimanjaro Initiative reached the "rooftop of Africa." UN-HABITAT selected the youth who received training as part of an Outward Bound program funded by UNFCU. The young people learned to overcome difficulty through perseverance, teamwork and understanding one's environment.
"In taking up Tim's cause, we are realizing the credit union spirit of 'People Helping People' and furthering our commitment to the UN and UN agency communities in East Africa," said UNFCU CEO Michael J. Connery, Jr., who reached the summit as part of the 2006 Kilimanjaro Initiative with 24 fellow climbers.
