NEW ORLEANS - A member of ASI FCU was convicted in federal court for stealing $14,000 from the credit union after its ATMs went offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

For 75 years, the American credit union member has been defining himself and herself without the assistance of bankers or government. And it has been our modest assessment that we are a "working class of people" who raise our families, grow our communities, pay our taxes, and honestly tend to the general welfare of our nation. This modesty does not mean we are a class of shrinking violets. To the contrary, bankers, business and government have repeatedly relied upon us to bail them out from the immodest excesses of power, privilege and money. We have even carried them through their cyclical loses in business confidence, put up with their alligator tears about how difficult their tasks are and how little they are compensated for their hard work. And all the while, we have successfully raised the bar on our modesty by becoming a larger, smarter and more prosperous economic force.

Over the past several years, I have not only subscribed to The Credit Union Journal but have had the opportunity to work with The Credit Union Journal on numerous technology related articles (in particular, Kevin Jepson). I want to express my appreciation for the content improvements and professionalism that I've seen over the past year.

The Credit Union Journal's redesigned website includes a survey that changes periodically. Not only does the survey help track credit union views on current events, it will also be used to help The Journal's editorial staff determine what is important to readers.

Regulatory demands - they affect all of us, but the impact varies dramatically depending on the size of the organization. The regulatory burden falls disproportionately heavier on smaller credit unions than it does on larger CUs. This is especially true for credit unions with less than 20 employees. The Office of Advocacy, a part of the Small Business Administration (SBA), suggests in a 2005 study that smaller businesses spend approximately $7,650 per employee complying with all federal regulations. Larger businesses, those with 500 or more employees, in comparison spent approximately $5,280 per employee.

How often has someone asked you, "Have you seen that TV commercial...," before they launch into a detailed description of the spot's storyline? The problem: they have no idea which advertiser created and paid for the commercial.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Credit union executives and volunteers were mourning the passing last week of William Burke, retired president of Plains-based Valley Pride FCU and a current director of Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU. Burke, 70, lost his battle with lung cancer. Burke served on the board and as president of the Pennsylvania CU Association’s Wyoming Valley Chapter of CU, and was a former director of Pennsylvania Central FCU, Harrisburg. Among is survivors is his son, Ken Burke, who succeeded his father as CEO of Valley Pride FCU.

RAPID CITY, South Dakota – Army Guard FCU said last week it has changed its name to Minuteman FCU to reflect a new community charter that will allow it to serve anyone living the surrounding Pennington County. The new charter will allow the $8 million credit union to establish its first branch off the National Guard’s Camp Rapid, in downtown Rapid City. The credit union has purchased an existing branch from Black Hills FCU, which moved to a new branch up the street.

LEWISTON, Me. – Roger Bissonnette, active in credit unions since 1939, and one of the original members of the Maine CU Movement Founders Club, died last week at 86. Bissonnette got involved in credit unions during the Great Depression as a volunteer for St. Famille FCU. He remained a volunteer at the same credit union, now known as Maine Family FCU, until 1955 when he became assistant treasurer, then became CEO in 1963, a position he held until 1986. He also helped charter several other credit unions and eventually served as president of the Maine CU League, from 1971 to 1974. He served on the league’s board for 20 years.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Summit FCU announced Friday it has obtained permission to serve the 2,500 companies that make up the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, an estimated 250,000 employees. The Rochester-based credit union broke into the Buffalo market last year with its acquisition of Buffalo Employees FCU. The $350 million credit union already partners with BNP on ‘Smart Commute’ which encourages homeowners to locate near public transportation.

GRANTSVILLE, Utah – The former president of Grantsville FCU was sentenced last week to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution for embezzling an estimated $120,000 from the credit union. Prosecutors said Linda Carson was found guilty of transferring credit union funds to her personal account and to accounts of her family members and friends. Carson confessed to creating a phony $25,000 loan, which she increased nine times without the approval of anyone else at the credit union. Prosecutor agreed to reduce the amount of restitution from the $120,000 stolen under a plea bargain.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota CU Network announced Friday it has hired Mark Cummins, vice chairman of the CU Association of Colorado and president of Denver-based White Crown FCU, as its new CEO. Cummins has 28 years experience in financial services and has served on the boards of CU Indirect Lending, the CUES Rocky Mountain Council Board and played various roles with SunCorp CU and the Colorado league. He succeeds Kevin Chandler, who now serves as president and CEO of the Connecticut CU League.

WASHINGTON – CUNA wasted little time after last month’s elections in reaching out with campaign contributions to Democrat leaders who will control both chambers of Congress next year. Federal Elections Commission reports filed Friday show CUNA contributed $5,000 to Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who will chair the Senate Banking Committee, and to several congressional leadership PACs operated by the Democrats in the days right before or after the elections, including JOE PAC, for New York Congressman Joe Crowley ($1,000); Campaign for Maryland, for Maryland Congressman Wayne Gilchrest and IMPACT, a New York-based PAC financing Democrats ($2,500). CUNA and its state leagues helped build ties to key congressional leaders with almost $400,000 in contributions to leadership PACs during the elections. Leadership PACs allow special interest like CUNA to double the normal maximum allowable $10,000 contribution to lawmakers, with $10,000 allowed to their personal campaign fund and another $10,000 to their leadership PAC, and provide a vehicle for those lawmakers to finance private travel and entertainment and to funnel funds to their own political allies.

NEW ORLEANS – Democratic Congressman William Jefferson, who was the first Black elected to the House in Louisiana since Reconstruction, won easy reelection to the House Saturday in a special election, despite being the target of a well-publicized corruption probe. Jefferson won 57% of the vote against fellow Democrat, state Rep. Karen Carter to win his ninth term in the House, in a run-off required because Jefferson failed to gain a majority of votes on Nov. 7. Carter was unable to capitalize on a scandal that included allegations the FBI found $90,000 in bribe money in Jefferson's freezer. A solid credit union supporter who sits on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Jefferson is one of the co-sponsors of CURIA, the CU Regulatory Improvements Act. CUNA has responded with $10,000 in campaign contributions, including $5,000 as recently as November 24, to help Jefferson in the special election.

SAN DIEGO – Credit unions raised more than $25,000 in the final days of last month’s mid-term elections to help fuel Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray’s return to Congress. Among those contributing to a last-minute fundraiser at Mission FCU were: California CU League President Bill Cheney ($500); First Financial CU President Marla Shepard ($500); USA FCU President Mary Cunningham ($500); North Island CU President Michael Maslak ($500); California Coast CU President Jim McPheters ($500); CO-OP Financial Services CEO Stan Hollen ($300); Miramar FCU President Max Paul ($250); San Mateo CU President Barry Jolette ($250); and the political action committees for CUNA ($4,000); Orange County Teacher’s FCU ($1,000); First Future CU ($900); First Financial CU ($500) and Wescom CU ($500), according to records filed last week with the Federal Elections Commission. The group raised tens of thousands of dollars to help Bilbray, who served in Congress until 2000, win a special election in May to serve the final six months of the unexpired term of Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, after Cunningham was sent to prison for accepting bribes while in Congress. Bilbray was so appreciative of the credit union effort that immediately after returning to Washington he signed on as co-sponsor of the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, or CURIA.

SEATTLE – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, which has been under a supervisory agreement for the past year, said Friday it will resuming pay dividends to members–albeit a small one-for the third quarter. The Seattle Bank, which has been trying to dig itself out of a $320 million hole in its hedging, said it will pay a dividend of ten cents a share, or a total of $2.2 million. The resumption of dividends comes two years after the Bank signed a rare supervisory agreement with its federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Board that required it to exit the secondary mortgage market and cease paying a dividend for three years, unless approved by the FHFB. “I think this shows they’re making some real progress to righting their finances,” Geoff Bacino, a member of the FHFB, told The Credit Union Journal on Saturday. The Seattle Bank reported $9.1 million in net income for the third quarter. The dividend will be paid to the Bank’s 375 members, including 45 credit unions, later this month.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Shiloh of Alexandria FCU unveiled a new affordable housing program Friday in collaboration with the Virginia Housing Development Agency. The program will allow the $1.2 million community development credit union to originate reduced-rate mortgages without a requirement for private mortgage insurance. The mortgages will be issued through CU National Mortgage. The new product was introduced at a ceremony Friday with NCUA Board members JoAnn Johnson and Gigi Hyland, NAFCU President Fred Becker, and Cliff Rosenthal, executive director of the National Federation of Community Development CUs.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU has ratchet-up its visibility with a new kind of vehicle–30 pint-sized cars wrapped in promotional messages bearing the credit unions blue-and-white colors. The tiny Toyota Scions, wrapped in adhesive-backed messages by a local graphic design company are changed on a regular basis to promote the changing credit union products or services or community events the credit union may be participating in. “It’s just great when there’s a parade or community activity in town; it really raises the visibility of the credit union,” Desert School public relations director Jason Meyers told The Credit union Journal. The practice is known as guerilla marketing because these marketing vehicles keep popping up on an arbitrary schedule. “We’re constantly hearing from our members that they’ve seen one of our vehicles out on the freeway or at the supermarket or around their neighborhood.” The small fleet is apportioned out to employees, most of them to the credit union’s marketing and promotional staff, who drive them to community events. One of the promotional vehicles has a message in Spanish that targets the growing Latino community. Unlike television ads or Internet promotions, vehicle wraps have a captive audience, among motorists stuck in traffic or parked nearby or passing pedestrians. “We’re always looking for a creative way to get our brand name out there,” said Meyers.

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon Community CU announced it will contribute $1 million to help the Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation fund a physician training program. The funding will help 80 medical students to receive hands-on training during five-week internships at clinics around the state. The $750 million credit union plans to donate the funds in 10 annual payments of $100,000.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Valley FCU announced yesterday it has contracted with SEDONA Corp. to implement the company’s Intarsia member relationship management tool. The $113 million credit union will use Intarsia to monitor the sales, marketing and services to its 20,000 members. The system will allow the credit union to analyze product, service and member profitability and target cross-selling opportunities.