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Credit Union Management Featured Article

Avoiding an Unnecessary Anchor
Key questions the continuing credit union board should ask to ensure a merger doesn't become a burden.

View a preview of Credit Union Management’s February digital edition.

CUES, CUES Director and CUES Supplier members, as well as subscribers to Credit Union Management, can access the complete digital version of our February issue by logging in at cumanagement.org and then clicking the rotating magazine icon. Email cues@cues.org for password help. Or, sign up for a handy monthly Credit Union Management email with direct links to top articles.

Member Resources

Consumer Credit Checks in Employee Hiring: PA HealthCare Credit Union has shared its policy about using consumer credit checks for employees, if warranted by the level and scope of a position’s responsibilities in CUES Members Share. Follow the link, then log in and select the Members Share button (password required; email cues@cues.org for assistance).

Review all your member benefits.

Blog: The Gift of Social is in the Doing: If social media were a highway, its ever-growing collection of tools would clog every lane beyond rush hour–along with the endless on ramp of new apps inching forward into the slow lane. There’s so much incoming activity, it’s almost stifling. Read more in this CUES Skybox blog post by Mike Lawson, principal of the PR/marketing firm DML Communications.

Enter the CUES Golden Mirror Awards Today

Gather your truly awesome marketing efforts of 2012, and submit them into the CUES Golden Mirror Awards. Enter by April 15 and get a Truly Awesome T-shirt; by April 26 to take advantage of early bird pricing; and by May 10 to beat the final deadline. Submit your award-worthy materials now.

Cool App: Trello lets you organize anything easily, from life goals and to-do lists to group projects. Add images, checklists, due dates, attachments and more to your Trello board. It’s also great for teams. Assign tasks, streamline communication, and get everyone on the same page, fast. It’s available for Apple and Android devices.

CUES Councils: Find a local meeting in your area by using the CUES Council map. Two council events are planned this spring.

CUES Heartland Council Meeting
April 24-26 
Kansas City, Mo.

CUES Iowa Council Meeting
May 16-17
Riverside, Iowa

Honor Your Peers

CUES Individual Awards reward those who have made a difference for your credit union, your members and your community. The nomination deadline for CUES Outstanding Chief Executive, CUES Exceptional Leader and CUES Supplier of the Year is June 3; CUES Director of the Year and CUES Volunteer Hall of Fame is July 10. Submit your nomination today!

Member News:

Name Change: Lansing Automakers Federal Credit Union, Lansing, Mich., is switching to a state charter and changing its name to Lansing Automakers Financial Credit Union and will market itself as LAFCU. The CU has six CUES members as part of its CUES Executive Group Membership.

New Position: Ed Lopes is the new president/CEO of Liberty Bay Credit Union, Braintree, Mass. Previously, he was president/CEO of Grafton Suburban Credit Union, North Grafton, Mass.

Community Involvement: On March 1, Kyle L. Markland, president/CEO of Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, St. Paul, Minn., is going to jump into Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis as a participant in the inaugural Executive Challenge, which is an event held in conjunction with the Polar Bear Plunge. Participants are challenged to raise $10,000 for Special Olympics Minnesota by plunging into freezing waters.

Late last year, Farmers Insurance Group Federal Credit Union, Los Angeles, and its members came together to raise $27,000 for the Farmers Family Fund over the holiday season. The CU’s “Give with a Simple Swipe” campaign encouraged members to use their debit card, where every purchase was rounded up to the nearest dollar and automatically transferred to the member’s designated account. While members saved the change in their accounts, the CU matched that amount and donated it to the Farmers Family Fund. To date, the CU has donated $37,000 to fund. The CU has one CUES member.

In the continuation of an innovative partnership that kicked off in 2011, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, Lowell, Mass., held a Feb. 12 reception for Wang Middle School students whose artwork is on display at one of the CU’s branch. The colorful paintings and sculptures are eliciting enthusiastic comments from credit union members, visitors and employees. The artwork brightens the branch and highlights the talents of local students. The CU has five CUES members as part of its CUES Executive Group Membership.

Students at James Madison Memorial High School have been learning invaluable financial literacy skills right on the school grounds since Jan. 28, when a Summit Credit Union, Madison, Wis., branch opened in the newly constructed “Welcome Center,” inside the school’s main entrance. The CU has eight CUES members as part of its CUES Advancing Management Group Membership.

Texas Trust Credit Union, Mansfield, Texas, will donate $30,000 to the North Texas Food Bank, which will help feed 90,000 people. The campaign's goal is to encourage enough donations of food and money to feed another 30,000 people. The CU will raise money and collect non-perishable food through a six-week food drive in the communities it serves. The CU has 13 CUES members as part of its CUES Advancing Management Group Membership.

CUES Supplier Member News: United Solutions Company, Tallahassee, Fla., a CUSO providing technology solutions to credit unions, is celebrating its 30th birthday in 2013 with several activities, including the "What's At Your Core?" campaign. WhatsAtYourCore.com Plus, the CUSO announced a $5,200 "Support Your Board Giveaway," offering a prize package of tablet computers for each board member, as well as a year's subscription to the firm’s BoardReports.org service, for a lucky credit union.

Read more—and submit your own--CUES member news.

CUES Calendar

Free! Webinar: Employee Compensation in Review: 2013 CUES Employee Summary
Feb. 28
1-2 p.m. Central time

Execu/Summit®
March 10-12
Snowmass Village, Colo.

CUES Advanced School of Business Lending™
March 11-15
Miami

Credit Union Executive Dialogue
March 14-15
Miami

CEO Institute I: Strategic Planning
University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
April 7-12

CEO Institute II: Organizational Effectiveness
Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management
April 21-26

CUES School of Product and Channel Management™
April 29-30
Embassy Suites Downtown Chicago

CUES School of Business Lending-School I
April 29-May 3
Embassy Suites Downtown Chicago

CUES School of Growth and Profitability™
May 1-3
Embassy Suites Downtown Chicago

CEO Institute III: Strategic Leadership Development
May 5-10
University of Virginia, Darden School

Check out all the upcoming CUES and CUES Council events.