JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-The Jacksonville Business Journal included coverage Omni Comm-unity CU's introduction of commercial products. The new products follow OCCU's merger with Miramar, Fla.-based Eastern Financial Florida CU.
SAINT JOHN, N.B.-Caisse Populaire de Shippagan, a credit union here that has been suffering through financial difficulties and which received a $60-million bailout package from the provincial government, found itself back in the news when the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal reported that an outside accounting firm brought in to review the CU's problems found CU's senior management was paid higher than market salaries and large bonuses, despite not receiving performance reviews. During 2004, for instance, "generous benefits and compensation packages (were) provided and appear onerous and not in line with competition," the report stated.
DALLAS-Double-digit growth by Texans Credit Union was highlighted in a report in Inside Collin County Business, making it the largest community chartered credit union in the Metroplex. The newspaper noted Texans has grown its branch network 25% by adding six new branches, has added 123 new employees in Dallas, and is anticipating a total of 519 employees by the end of 2007. It has also acquired the Curley Insurance Group (now Texans Insurance Group) and has added SBA lending to its product mix, the paper reported.
The Gainesville Sun featured Sun State Credit Union, but not in the most positive of lights. Instead, the credit union was used as an example of fees being charged by financial institutions. A reader of the newspaper said she was "outraged" about being charged $2 for coming in more than four times a month, followed by a charge for not having her transaction slip ready at the drive-through window. When contacted by the Gainesville Sun, Sun State President and CEO Jim Woodward said the credit union had voluntarily moved to waive the fees, saying the decision was based on exit interviews with members leaving the credit union, and that the move was already in the works when the reader complained.
