BURLINGTON, N.C. – Proponent FCU, chartered to serve employees of Hoffman-LaRoche’s New Jersey headquarters, has opened a 16,000 square-foot branch and administrative offices to serve the pharmaceutical giant’s employees here.

APPLETON, Wis. – Community First CU has opened a branch at Jefferson Elementary School.

ANDERSON, Ind. – Independent FCU will unveil its new headquarters today with a grand opening ribbon-cutting ceremony and will offer donations to Madison County charities, prizes and giveaways for the public, live radio remote coverage and building tours.

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Dupaco Community CU yesterday said it has reached an agreement to purchase a branch from East Dubuque Savings Bank, a local institution.

DECATUR, Ala. – Wolverine CU said it has signed with DeepTarget to implement the company’s OLB for online marketing services.

MURRAY, Utah – Utah Power CU has hired local contractor Big-D Construction to build a new home office, a two-story, 18,000-square-foot building.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has asked Congress for an almost doubling in funds for its Community Development Financial Institutions and to create a new segment that will focus on financial education, broader access to bank accounts and basic credit products.

RALEIGH, N.C. – As many as five more credit unions are believed to have hit the $1 billion mark since the first of the year, as the consolidation of the industry has accelerated.

LOS ANGELES – Seven credit unions are continuing to fight NCUA for the right to sue over the failure of WesCorp FCU but they now will do so in federal court, where a state judge agreed to NCUA’s request to transfer the suit.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Last week’s disclosure of the elimination of all capital at U.S. Central FCU means more losses are going to start trickling down to corporate credit unions and to their natural person credit union members in the coming days.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina CU League yesterday named Steve Fowler, a long-time league executive who has been serving as interim CEO, as its new president and CEO.

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Valley Isle Community FCU is celebrating its new home in the Lahaina Business Park with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony and a live radio broadcast this Saturday.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Columbia CU said it hired Brad Bourges, a well-known credit union executive, to be senior vice president and chief operations officer for the $750 million credit union.

PHILADELPHIA – Harry Nutter, a long-time director at Sun FCU and before that chairman at Defense Supply of Philadelphia FCU, died last week at 77.

TICONDEROGA, N.Y. – Ticonderoga FCU collected 106 used cell phones at three branches that it is donating to the STOP Domestic Violence Center of Essex County.

DENVER – Electrical FCU yesterday said it has signed with DeepTarget to implement the company’s OLB for online marketing services.

GROTON, Conn. – Charter Oak FCU has signed with Aithent, Inc., to implement the company’s Fraud Manager, a Web-based solution for financial crime investigations.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Stanford FCU members can receive a free website tailored specifically for their business courtesy of Newtek Business Services, the credit union said yesterday.

BOSTON – Mass Bay CU, which serves the state’s transit employees, has agreed to acquire ailing Turnpike CU, a credit union for employees of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority based in suburban Weston.

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court affirmed a guilty verdict in a phony check scheme in which a member of the anti-government group known as “We The People” tried to deposit millions of dollars of fictitious “bills of exchange” in his account at Treasury Department FCU.