PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — One South Florida credit union reached out to its community recently by co-sponsoring a contest that awarded one local business with a free evaluation of its financial platform, in addition to a $1,000 gift card to the office products company Staples, the contest's co-sponsor.
The winner-the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC), based in Miami - is dedicated to the protection, restoration and long-term management biodiversity and to the prevention of regional extinction of rare plants, animals and ecosystems in South Florida and the Caribbean.
Power Financial Credit Union's "Small Business Makeover Challenge" was created not just as a vehicle to promote the CU's financial services, but also "to give one local business the change to receive complimentary professional services to jumpstart their 2009 business plans," explained Allan Prindle, president and CEO of the $480-million CU. "One of the key challenges for any small business-such as IRC-is having the right financial service partner along with the right technology tools that will enable increased productivity and efficiency organization-wide."
"We're always trying to find ways to work with the small businesses in our area," noted Brian Warfel, EVP, sales and service for the 55,000-member credit union."
The contest was marketed throughout the CUs eight branches, and Staples' stores throughout South Florida had signs advertising the contest.
"Power Financial Credit Union has always been committed to providing exceptional financial services to the local business community," Prindle said. "Our goals and objectives-as a financial institution-are all about advancing the financial interests of our members, and this contest demonstrates how small business owners can apply good financial planning and budgeting strategies to help achieve success."
IRC will receive private financial consultations provided by Power Investments, a marketing consultation with Power Financial CU's marketing department, a public relations audit from brainstorm2go.inc., financial literacy employee seminars, and a $1,000 Staples gift card, courtesy of Staples and Power Financial Credit Union.
"Being a nonprofit, we face limited resources and difficulty reaching out to the public," explained Jesse Freedman, a field technician for IRC, as the reason the institute decided to enter the contest. "Our team has the capability to do incredible things in research and analysis, but we sometimes fall short sharing this work with our community. If we could bridge the gap between our work and the community, we could do amazing things and the prize package that [the credit union] is awarding us will allow us to begin the process."
The Small Business Makeover Challenge was open to businesses located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, with less than 250 employees. Entries were accepted through March 23; the winner was announced on March 28.
Warfel stressed the main goal of the contest was to educate the community about credit unions."People don't realize we are here, and what we do," he said. "It's really an awareness campaign."
The total investment into the Small Business Makeover Challenge from Power Financial Credit Union is $1,000, Warfel said-$500 for marketing costs, and $500 toward the Staples gift card. The remaining $500 for the gift card is coming from Staples.
For other CUs considering a similar way to connect to its local community, Warfel said the best advice he can give is to "keep it simple."
"At this point, in this economy, anything you can do to help a business is good," he said.
