Facelift For Mass. CU Giant
BROCKTON, Mass.-Brockton CU now has a new persona. The Bay State's second-largest credit union with $1.1 billion in assets tore down the old signage last week to replace them with new signs reading HarborOne CU.
The new name is aimed at representing the broader markets for the 87-year-old credit union, which now serves residents in three counties south of Boston: Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable.
It also reflects a burnishing of the credit union's image, signified also by construction of a $10 million, 75,000-square-foot headquarters building at which operations currently at three sites will be consolidated.
The credit union's 130 employees and directors met to celebrate the facelift and the plans for the future with cake and a five-piece brass band. Employees also received jackets with the credit union's new logo.
SunWest Gives Up Inter-State FOM
PHOENIX-SunWest FCU said it is closing down its only branch in New Mexico as part of the terms for converting to a community charter.
The new charter encompasses more than three million people in Maricopa County and suburban Phoenix, and is one of the most populous ever granted a federal credit union. Under its old charter, the $250-million credit union served multiple groups, including Arizona Public Service Co., which operated a power plant outside of Farmington, N.M., where the credit union's sole New Mexico branch was located.
The closure of the New Mexico branch follows last week's shut down of the credit union's branch in Kingman, Ariz., because it is also located outside of Maricopa County.
Golden 1 Website Disrupted
SACRAMENTO, Calif.-The Golden 1 website was shut down for several hours last Monday due to a service problem by local phone company SBC in Sacramento.
The website, used by as many as 100,000 of the credit union 500,000 members, was down from about 8:30 a.m. until after 3 p.m. Credit union services remained available at the Golden 1's 67 branches, as well as via telephone or ATMs.
The phone company said the service failure was caused by a defective wire in the data circuit serving the web site.
Ex-Freddie Mac Chief Must Testify
WASHINGTON-A federal judge ordered former Freddie Mac CEO Leland Brendsel to testify before federal regulators on the company's accounting scandal.
U.S. Judge Leonie Brinkema reaffirmed the authority of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to subpoena Brendsel in the ongoing case.
OFHEO is also asking the court to enforce a subpoena for Vaughn Clarke, ousted as the company's chief financial officer last June.
OFHEO is seeking nullify a total of $37.8 million in retirement benefits for the two former executives on the basis of their roles in the scandal, by which Freddie understated profits by more than $7 billion over three years.
Beardon Hangs It Up At AEDCFCU
TULLAHOMA, Tenn.-Jimmie Beardon, the well-known CEO of AEDC FCU, called it quits after nearly a half-century with the CU.
Over 48 years with the credit union, Beardon, a self-described farm girl from Giles County, oversaw the growth of the credit union from a tiny shop with just two employees to a regional giant with $960 million in assets and 118,000 members through 500 select groups.
Beardon joined the five-year-old AEDC Federal Credit Union as a clerk, then took over as president and CEO 12 years later.
Armed Robber Headed To Prison
FAIRBANKS, Alaska-A man who used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol to rob Northern Schools FCU of more than $2,000 last August was sentenced to 54 months in jail.
Tadeusz Tomasic, 20 at the time of the robbery, was originally indicted on charges of bank robbery and carrying a firearm during a robbery, but agreed to plead guilty to the single charge of bank robbery. Tomasic could be out of prison in as little as 42 months.
