PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Greylock FCU announced it is offering advertising and marketing services through its in-house ad agency.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Paul FCU said it has agreed to merge with Capital Trust FCU, creating one of the largest credit unions in the Twin Cities with almost $140 million in assets.

SAN DIMAS, Calif. - Christian Community CU announced it is providing $40,000 in college scholarships this year through its Focused on the Future program.

SAN ANTONIO - Security Service FCU will be the first MasterCard customer to implement the company’s new Integrated Processing Solution debit processing platform, MasterCard announced.

WARRENVILLE, Ill.–Just as natural person credit unions are billing themselves as trusted financial advisers, corporates want to get the word out that they, too, differentiate themselves as being the trusted source to whom credit unions can turn for disinterested advice.

FREMONT, Ohio - Fremont FCU announced a $125,000 grant to Terra Community College’s Investment in the Future endowment campaign.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - CU Journal gives readers the opportunity to weigh in on a variety of issues. Below are the results of a recent online poll. To add your two cents or to see past surveys, visit www.cujournal.com. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

DALLAS - The confidence level among credit union executives continued to plummet in the first quarter, according to the quarterly survey of credit union CEOs by Southwest Corporate FCU.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - What do the top 100 credit unions in terms of growth have in common? A sales and service culture, according to an analysis by one credit union expert.

MONTEREY, Calif. - The terms “Baby Boomer” and “retirement” are difficult for many credit unions to use in the same sentence. And that only makes the challenge of marketing retirement products to the retiring demographic even tougher, according to two analysts.

WASHINGTON - They say that good luck often comes in threes, and Cody Heule would certainly agree. A member services representative at Fiserv client Nebraska Energy FCU, Huele won not once, not twice, but three times during CUNA’s recent Governmental Affairs Conference, with her top prize being the 2008 Harley-Davidson XL 1200C SPORTSTER motorcycle raffled at the Fiserv CU7 booth.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Following a two-year investigation, Patrick Beaty of Pacific Marine Credit Union helped crack a case of a former Marine who had stolen the identity of 15 active duty Marines stationed in Iraq at the time of the theft. For his work, Beaty, Risk Management Officer with the credit union, was named as the State Civilian Investigator of the Year by the California Financial Crimes Investigators Association.

MONTEREY, Calif. - Increasingly, it all comes down to who do you trust?

WASHINGTON - CUNA has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents and records submitted by banking trade groups in the development of the Treasury Department’s “Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure,” better known as the plan calling for consolidation of numerous financial regulators, including NCUA.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA has issued prohibition orders against:

SPRINGFIELD, Illl. - The Illinois Credit Union League (ICUL) has kicked off its participation in the REAL Solutions program with two introductory meetings at its office here at which approximately 100 CU reps were in attendance. The sessions were led by Lois Kitsch, REAL Solutions program director, and Mark Lynch, field coach. REAL Solutions is a program of the National Credit Union Foundation, with the “REAL” standing for “Relevant, Effective, Asset-building, Loyalty-producing” Solutions. Through the program, credit unions can choose from up to 20 in the areas of education, transaction services, savings, credit, and home ownership products or services, they can offer that have proven successful in serving people of modest means, working families, and “low wealth” households.

VERNON HILLS, Ill. - For the fourth time, the $1.2-billion Baxter Credit Union (BCU) has been recognized by The Center for Companies Who Care. BCU was one of 41 companies named to its 2008 Honor Roll. Honor roll recipients are chosen for their dedication to improving the quality of life not only for their employees, but for members of the greater community as well, and for adhering to 10 specific attributes inherent to a “Company That Cares.” BCU was recognized for an improved process flow (Ackcelerant), the opening of three additional service centers and a new internal communications publication (Directions). Additionally, while BCU donated over $220,000 to dozens of agencies, BCU employees volunteered a collective 1,100 hours participating in activities such as The Relay for Life, The Angel Tree of Giving, and The Multiple Myeloma 5K. BCU also recognizes employee initiatives through the distribution of Service Excellence awards, Cuffs Awards (fraud detection), and AIM Awards (quality suggestions) and rolled out an enhanced mentoring program last fall. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

DUBLIN, Ohio - Shared credit union branches are being opened at a rate of 1.5 per day by Buckeye State CUs, according to the Ohio CU League. More than 80 credit unions in Ohio now participate in shared branching, and the number of shared branching transactions for participating Ohio credit unions increased more than 100% during the past four years. In 2003, the total number of transactions was just more than 800,000, while more than 1.7 million transactions took place in 2007. The figures include branches of Ohio credit unions located in West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA is among five regulatory agencies seeking comment on new and revised interagency questions and answers regarding flood insurance. The Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance were first published in 1997 under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. The proposed changes include substantive modifications to questions and answers pertaining to construction loans and condominiums, second lien mortgages, the imposition of civil money penalties, and loan syndications/participations. Finally, the agencies are proposing to revise and reorganize certain existing questions and answers to clarify areas of potential misunderstanding and to provide clearer guidance to users.

MILWAUKEE - Jennifer Schilling, CEO of the $130-million Empower Credit Union, was named by the Milwaukee Business Journal as a “Forty Under 40” award winner. More than 280 candidates under the age of 40 were judged on their business leadership roles, voluntary efforts and commitment to improving their communities. Schilling has been at the credit union since 1998, joining as an accountant before being named CFO and then CEO. She is also active in numerous other CU organizations. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com