May 8, 2008
OTTAWA -- Credit Union Central of Canada presented its annual National Credit Union Awards for outstanding achievement during a ceremony Wednesday night that concluded its annual conference.
Because of the quality of this year’s entries, the judges selected two winners for the 2008 Community Economic Development Award -- Coast Capital Savings of Surrey, B.C. and Vancity Credit Union of Vancouver.
Coast Capital was honoured for its support of a program called the Quality of Life Challenge that brings diverse partners together to generate long-lasting solutions that prevent and reduce poverty in Victoria. It has committed $500,000 and many hours from employees to this program that has made a significant contribution to increasing incomes, providing affordable housing and encouraging community engagement.
Vancity received recognition for its efforts at addressing the lack of affordable housing and the difficulty of owning a home in the Vancouver area. Its program, Facing Poverty: Affordable Housing and Home Ownership, has focused on education, products and services, advocacy and working with community groups.
Examples of the activities include: home ownership readiness workshops and an innovative mortgage that offers a 20 per cent down payment loan with no interest payments for 10 years and a low rate on the remaining 80 per cent. These “springboard mortgages” have allowed 16 families to move from assisted housing into their own homes.
Coast Capital was also selected as the winner of the 2008 National Credit Union Innovation Award for its use of Julie – the Online Greeter™ as part of a redesign of its website. Julie provides visitors helpful information in an entertaining way. You can see Julie, played by actress Jackie Blackmore, at www.coastcapitalsavings.com.
The website also has many changes designed to improve customer service. It integrates in the online environment a new, open-design concept now exhibited in Coast Capital Savings’ branches. The changes, including Julie, have resulted in increased traffic and longer visits.
Four young credit union professionals were recognized as National Young Leaders:
• Terry Moore, Director, Marketing Communications, Credit Union Atlantic, Halifax
• Tara McKeown, Branch Manager, Affinity Credit Union, Saskatoon
• Stephanie Wiens, Senior Community Account Manager, Assiniboine Credit Union, Winnipeg
• David Lanphear, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Services, Envision Financial, Langley, B.C.
Lanphear received the National Young Leaders Award, which provides a $10,000 scholarship to cover tuition and travel costs to attend a leadership development program at a university in Canada.
Wayne Nygren, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Union Central of British Columbia, was inducted into the Canadian Credit Union Hall of Fame in recognition of his more than 35 years service to the credit union system. He was CEO of B.C. Central from 1985 until April, 2006. He was a director of Canadian Central from 1988 until 2006.
About the credit union system:
There are 465 credit unions affiliated with Credit Union Central of Canada. They have more than five million members and assets of more than $104 billion. The credit union system is a three-tier structure of local, provincial and national organizations. Local credit unions operate autonomously and are controlled by their members. Credit unions are the primary shareholder members of provincial Centrals. The provincial Centrals are in turn the primary shareholder members of Credit Union Central of Canada, which functions as the system's national trade association and services provider. For more information about Canada's credit unions, check out www.cucentral.ca