Two Credit Unions Honored As OpSS Council Best Practices Award Winners

October 1, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christopher Morris - CUNA Councils
CUNA Councils (608) 231-4102
cmorris@cuna.coop

Madison, Wis. - Two credit unions were the winners in the fifth annual CUNA Operations, Sales & Service (OpSS) Council’s Best Practices Awards, which recognize innovative solutions optimizing credit union performance. The award winners delivered presentations on their entries during the council’s 12th annual conference, which took place Sept. 27-30, in San Diego, Calif.

Red Canoe CU in Longview, Wash., won in the Sales & Service Management category for its creative implementation of CUNA’s “Creating Member Loyalty” program. By the credit union’s entire staff dedicating time and effort into training, coaching and implementation, they achieved synergistic results including 20% deposit growth in the first six months of 2009, and exceeded lofty loan growth, sales performance, and quality service goals. They have also seen staff self-esteem grow tremendously. Red Canoe CU attributes their success with the program to:

• Senior management immersion
• Pre and post-session reporting
• Creation of follow-up sessions
• Internal promotions
• All-staff recognition
• Consistent measurement standards
• Clarifying the terms sales and service

Missoula FCU in Missoula, Mont., won in the Branch Design category for its Platinum LEED Certified Branch. The branch is only the second building in the state to achieve this level of certification (Platinum is the US Green Building Council’s highest LEED certification). In addition to being looked at as the “green” financial institution in the area, the credit union’s ongoing, long-term operational expenses will be reduced - $20,000 estimated per year in energy costs alone. Double-stacked drive-up tubes and a grey-water irrigation system which filters and reuses water from fountains, sinks and showers for watering native grass landscapes highlight only a portion of Missoula’s ingenuity resulting in a dynamic and ongoing public blog. The innovative branch design has also garnered a variety of press and non-industry awards.

The OpSS Council Best Practice Awards were created to identify, recognize, and share new approaches and solutions with universal application in the credit union movement. Winners were chosen, without regard to credit union asset size, based on strategy, process, application, and results.

The winning presentations are available online at www.cunaopsscouncil.org - select the “2009 Best Practices Awards” link.

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CUNA OpSS Council

The CUNA Operations, Sales, & Service (OpSS) Council is a member-led partnership of operations, sales, and service professionals dedicated to providing education, leadership, networking support, professional development tools, and expertise to its members in order to shape the enhancement of the role and diversity of operations in the credit union industry. The CUNA OpSS Council is one of the six organizations that make up the CUNA Councils, a network of more than 4,750 credit union professionals. For more information, visit www.cunaopsscouncil.org or www.cunacouncils.org.

Copyright © 2009 - Credit Union National Association, Inc.