Short Takes and Atta-folks for a Thursday!

The dog days of August are upon us, and that of course brings vacation and a general slackitude in many companies. However, a few credit unions have been quite busy under that summer sun …

Members Credit Union continues to shine with its What Are You Saving for?  account and blog. WAYSF is a prize-based savings account and blog. WAYSF also includes videos of some of the monthly savings winners (including the little girl above). WAYSF is getting a lot of attention among the members of Members, and is also featured in this month’s edition of Fast Company! 

Not content to rest on the laurels of the national spotlight, Members is also back with it’s Football Pick ‘Em contest. If you aren’t familiar with the contest, check out the web site and video above, starring the credit union’s newest employee – “Mattaline.” Brilliant!

Truliant Federal Credit Union is also making a nice splash, as it rolled out its newest product, a Fuel Efficient Auto Loan product. This loan features a half-a-point discount on the loan rate for new & used vehicles that get at least 29 miles-per-gallon on the highway.

The Truliant product is a nice addition – some credit unions have added loan discounts for pricier hybrid vehicles, but these discounts did not always make enough of a difference for members who were thinking of getting a hybrid — especially now that the tax credits on them have run their course. This loan product allows members a little more flexibility to trade out of their gas guzzlers, and rewards them for making a purchasing decision that helps to moderate fuel consumption.

And let’s face it, that flexibility may help Truliant & its CUABS CUSO grab a few more sales at a time when vehicle sales are tanking.

North State Telco Credit Union is a single-sponsor credit union that is working hard in the summer sun to make life better in High Point and surrounding communities. The credit union has been collecting items for the High Point Battered Women’s Shelter for the past few weeks.  The credit union’s members have donated calling cards, dishes, umbrellas, furniture, pots & pans and many other useful items.

The collected items are used by the shelter’s clients as they make the transition back in to the community. Thus far, the credit union has made two deliveries to the non-profit, with a third heading out the door this week! Kudos to the credit union and the employees of North State Telco for coming together to meet the needs of families in the High Point community!

Even as this collection fades out like the summer, the credit union is also getting two other projects off the ground. North State is selling cookbooks to fund its new scholarship fund, and collecting old cell phones to donate to Victory Junction Gang Camp. Read more about all these North State Telco initiatives by clicking here.   

These are but three examples of credit unions in NC that are working hard to improve the lives of members and non-menbers alike in the communities in which they operate. Nice work!

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Members Credit Union Honors Its Rock on the Front Lines

As Denise Wymore blogged early this week, a true brand builder has made like Elvis and left the building. Members Credit Union’s building, that is. Jeanine Miller, who anchored the front lines of the credit union for 44 years, retired on Tuesday.

Members threw an all-out bash to honor the soft-spoken Jeanine, and nearly a hundred folks stopped in to say goodbye. While Jeanine’s legacy was largely wrapped up in the members she loved serving so much, there’s another piece to this story that I discovered while at the ceremony. Jeanine has been a touch-point for many leaders within the NC credit union industry. At one time or another, she has worked alongside or trained people such as Team & Wheel FCU President/CEO Juanita Brewer, and Ft. Bragg FCU CEO David Elliott. Jeanine was one of the first people leaders like Dave and Juanita encountered as they started their own careers in the credit union movement.

Of course, her influence extended inside the building as well. She was a rock for management through good times and bad. When Members’ primary sponsor group, the McLean Trucking Company, went belly-up in 1986, it was Jeanine who comforted and informed jittery members who mistakenly thought the credit union might fold right along with the trucking company.

Thanks to her leadership, her skill and her love for the credit union, Members survived that scare. She leaves the credit union 44 years after she started with the institution thriving – based on assets, Members is more than 100 times larger today than when Jeanine first reported to work there in 1963.

But her imprint on the lives of people she has touched throughout the years is her real legacy.

We’re starting a new segment here at the League, called Our Voices. In short, it’s a spotlight on the people who make NC credit unions great. To kick it off, here are a few words and pictures from the people who knew her best at Members.

Godspeed, Jeanine – and thank you for your 44 years of service on the Movement’s front lines.