Those of us who know Bob Walls well are stunned that the New Jersey Credit Union League Board of Directors released him as their league president.

LEOMINSTER, Mass. - Leominster CU said that Jack Caulfield, its president since 1992, has resigned to take the same job as head of the larger St. Mary's CU in nearby Marlborough. Leominster CU has about $350 million in assets, while St. Mary's CU has about $520 million. Caulfield, 49, helped build Leominster CU from a $130 million credit union. Gordon Edmonds, Leominster CU's SVP of lending, will serve as interim CEO.

WEST JORDAN, Utah - When Gordon Dames arrived as the new CEO of Mountain America in 1991, the credit union had ended 1990 with a loss of nearly $560,000 on less than $300 million in assets.

Travis Absorbs Napa Valley Schools

Catholic Federal Credit Union, Saginaw, Mich., announced that Vicki Hill was honored by Warrior International Ministries for Black History Month, Jeanne Lawrence was named collection department supervisor, Alicia Petricevic was named marketing assistant and Susan Ross retired.

SAN DIEGO - With little warning, an outbreak of Avian Flu could rapidly infect millions of Americans, leaving credit unions without staff, expertise, members and revenue.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Service CU donated $125,000 to the state's Flood Disaster Recovery Fund, aimed at helping victims of the recent flooding around the state.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - In a hotly competitive California banking marketplace, Arrowhead Central Credit Union ranks number-one in 2006 return on assets (ROA) for credit unions with of more than $1-billion in assets, closing the year with an ROA of 1.73%.

US Biometrics Intros AccessQ Lite

RALEIGH, N.C. - State Employees CU introduced a savings account it hopes will satisfy both the bulls and the bears among its members, one of the first credit union accounts tied to the returns of the stock market.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - St. Mary's Bank is the financial partner of a new public/private venture to revitalize an older section of town here.

WESTBROOK, Maine - The Maine Credit Union League doubled the budget on its statewide advertising campaign, adding a new consumer-based website and a more aggressive ad buy to help drive new membership growth at the state's credit unions.

Discussions with many credit union people confirm that two industry trends of great concern are lagging membership growth and deteriorating earnings. CU membership growth since 1996 has been a lackluster 2.5%, and only 1.5% since 2002. Factoring out temporary members from indirect lending, net growth has likely been flat, if not negative.

MasterCard Enters Remittance Mkt

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve last month rejected requests by lawmakers to shorten check hold times, saying it is too soon after enactment of the Check 21 law to warrant changes to its funds availability or Reg CC, availability of funds and collection of checks.

WASHINGTON - Even without the giant shadow of the application by Wal-Mart Stores for a bank charter, the effort by Congress to bar backdoor entry into banking by commercial entities moved ahead last month.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Performance is measured in countless ways, but the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. That's why Credit Union Journal wanted to take a closer look at how some of the top-performing credit unions got there.

Anti-CU Bill Making Rounds In Pennsylvania

One if by land, two if...you're trying to sum up all the terrific advice, strategies and knowledge shared during the Credit Union Journal's recent Business Development & SEG Conference in Boston. In this, the second of two columns, I try to offer at least a few of the tidbits that were part of the two days of meetings.

Those of us who know Bob Walls well are stunned that the New Jersey Credit Union League Board of Directors released him as their league president.