Vantage West CU Wins Award

UVA Community Adds Student Loans

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Pentagon Federal Credit Union doesn't have to rely on its own marketing efforts to promote its offerings; the credit union has also received considerable mass media attention. A look at credit card products mentioned in the media.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-It all comes down to one word for James Schenck: price. Or rather, PRICE.

INDIANAPOLIS-Finance Center FCU here has launched Shift Indiana, a website that calls attention to nonprofit groups throughout the region that share the same "People helping people" philosophy as CUs.

U.S. CENTRAL TAPPED FED WINDOW AS LOSSES MOUNTED

More NCUA Guaranteed Notes Sold

WASHINGTON-The annual running of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run attracted 15,000 runners and raised $578,000 for the Children's Miracle Network. Credit unions have sponsored the run around the nation's capital for 10 years to benefit Children's Miracle Network-affiliated hospitals. This year's donation helped bring the 10-year total of funds donated to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals more than $5 million. The race coincides with the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is scheduled to occur during peak season for the blooming of the cherry blossom trees that festoon the Tidal Basin.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-Saying it's time to stop griping in the background over NCUA's oversight of credit unions, a group of 32 CEOs and CU executives are complaining directly to Congress, asking that NCUA be placed under tighter controls.

MADISON, Wis.-When CUs join forces, it doesn't always lead to increased savings, according to a recent report from the Filene Research Institute titled "Impacts of Mergers on Credit Union Costs: 1984-2009."

FOREST GROVE, Ore.-Merger Solutions Group (MSG) has added new functionality to its website to help CUs answer merger-related questions and stay on top of merger news.

REDDING, Calif.-As credit unions continue to mull mergers, veterans of the process are reminding that due-diligence and planning are what make for successful CU marriages.

Matz To Chair of Exam Council

LAS VEGAS-As traditional avenues of marketing either decline or change, Kelley Parks says credit unions should seize the power of word-of-mouth advertising.

Raymond Brunner, CEO of West Aircomm FCU, Beaver, Penn., was one of 10 national credit union leaders inducted to the 2011 Credit Union House "Hall of Leaders."

Navigant CU, Smithfield, R.I., added to its board of directors Dr. Peter Baziotis, chief of Memorial Hospital's anesthesiology department and a clinical assistant professor of surgery at Brown Medical School, and James Salome, president of Vanco Industries. Separately, Charles DeBlois Jr., was elected board chairman, Catherine Parente was elected vice chairperson, and Roland Lachapelle was elected board secretary.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Jeff Russell, EVP of The Members Group here, said the LCD card being piloted by MasterCard is another example of the payments industry seeking solutions to credit card fraud and consumers' needs. "The industry is trying to figure out what is that next step as we transition to other types of payment technology, away from the mag stripe. Will that be EMV? Maybe we skip straight to mobile devices?"

OLYMPIA, Wash.-The chairman of tiny Tulip Co-op Credit Union here admits the CU "broke" during the recession, but he is also now reporting that repairs are fully under way.

During NAFCU's Strategic Growth Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., security consultant Don Thompson was sharing some of the rationales used by those who embezzle and steal from their credit union. A common remark, he said, is thieves will tell themselves and others that they are "overworked and underpaid."

As the business and nonprofit worlds have become more complex and seemingly in constant flux, what directors need to know about the organization seems clouded. It needn't be.