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We strive to partner with credit unions and their members. Here's what they say about working together.
Mark Everson, Wings Financial Federal Credit Union
Bev Beaucage, KV Federal Credit Union
Darryl Long, Baton Rouge Federal Credit Union
Missy Anderson Mound, General Mills Federal Credit Union
Mary Lib Perry, State Employees Credit Union
Bob Hoefer, Dupaco Community Credit Union
Sheree Eddie, Jax Metro Credit Union
Sandy Selewski, Co-op Services Credit Union
Ruth Zardezed, CCSD Federal Credit Union
Ron Cobb, McNeese Federal Credit Union
Linda Miller, ISU Credit Union
John J. Wohadlo, Advance Financial Federal Credit Union
Stewart Ramsey, Blackhawk Community Credit Union
Richard Valois, First Community Credit Union
Greg Anderson, University of Illinois Employees Credit Union
Letter addressed to
Dave McCarron
Regional Vice President-Lending
North Central Marketing Division
CUNA Mutual Group
Minneapolis, Minn.
I want to give you my personal feedback on your [Lender Development Program] session.
You did a tremendous job in your delivery, energy, humor, and general self-deprecating way of talking about $$$ and finances. I truly felt that you were talking to your audience and as a result they were very receptive to the message…as most in the room could easily relate to the challenges of living paycheck to paycheck.
I also liked your use of dealer ads from the daily newspaper. It brought to light a timely and real life issue that all lenders face – competition against dealers. You put a spin on combating zero percent financing that frankly I had not considered.
The Money Game delivered a powerful and sobering message that hit home with everyone in attendance. In addition, your talking about our other products was a refreshing slant to our training.
I liked the use of "action steps," specifically in asking for payments that members can afford – and then approving for more money than they requested.
You did a great job of giving our lenders ideas and tools on how to sell products, [by showing] techniques they can use for selling credit insurance, auto loans, checking accounts, etc. Believe me, training in this fashion, while not the tried and true credit insurance training, will in fact increase sales on everything – credit insurance included.
Lastly, I was impressed by your homework, in the sense that you knew our product offerings inside and out. It reaffirmed to our staff what a GREAT DEAL our products really are for our members. This made the staff feel good about our organization, themselves, and the job they are hired to do in selling these services to our membership – that we really do have GREAT PRODUCTS.
It's good for them to hear it from someone outside the organization, especially someone who is exposed to so many different organizations. You did a great job in driving the point home.
Mark Everson
Executive Vice President & COO
Wings Financial Federal Credit Union
Apple Valley, Minn.
E-mail addressed to
Jeff Davenport
Division Vice President
CUNA Mutual Group
Northeast Marketing Division
Latham, New York
I believe it’s important for you to be aware of how much our loan and management staff appreciate the service from Account Relationship Manager Susan Savoie. I was reminded yesterday just how much Susan represents the vision and trust that we have long enjoyed with CUNA Mutual.
After her visit, we felt a renewed strength, infused by her unending knowledge of support available, not only for our present products, but for creative opportunities that we previously had thought were unavailable because of our budget.
Susan represents the best of CUNA Mutual, the best of credit unions, and is truly a professional friend to us all. Thanks for choosing her to serve KV FCU. We'll be a stronger credit union as a result.
Bev Beaucage
President/CEO
KV Federal Credit Union
Augusta, Maine
E-mail addressed to
Ches Marks
Division Vice President
CUNA Mutual Group
Southwest Marketing Division
Dallas, Texas
We had a great experience that I’d like to share with you.
Corporate Property & Casualty Specialist Carl Ryba [of CUNA Mutual] gave a series of presentations to our 44 employees regarding robbery and check fraud.
Carl worked around our schedules to provide us with three separate robbery sessions and four check fraud sessions spread over two days at two offices. This allowed all necessary employees to get trained, while still having the office staffed for members. That was nice but required extra work on Carl’s part.
He arrived early for set-up each time and was completely prepared to give an organized, efficient, and professional presentation. His information was fresh and interesting. Afterwards, I heard comments from supervisors with more than 15 years of experience saying that they had learned a lot.
We recently came back to CUNA Mutual after being with Chubb [insurance company] for three years. What Carl did for us makes me glad we did. It’s not just the coverage, but the extras that CUNA Mutual does for credit unions that makes the difference.
Darryl K. Long
Manager/CEO
Baton Rouge Telco Federal Credit Union
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
E-mail addressed to
Robert Kigin
Account Manager
CUNA Mutual Group
North Central Marketing Division
Bloomington, Minn.
I wanted to express how fantastic [MRC/GAP Sales Specialist] Leann Glenna is to work with.
As a training manager, it can be a bit unnerving to work with outside trainers – especially if you haven’t met or seen the person in action. Leann made sure to take the time to discuss the number of people, the format, and other details. We quickly settled on how the session would run and what would be needed for the attendees. She was easy to contact and followed up as appropriate.
Two days before MRC training, Leann and I found out that General Mills Federal Credit Union would begin offering GAP Plus to our members. We both did some juggling and decided to combine the [MRC and GAP] training. As luck would have it, Leann had a business trip the day before the training and computer problems to boot. She arrived a few minutes before the training (not what we had envisioned or planned) and trained the material beautifully. She was positive and upbeat. Not many people would stay that cool.
Our training group had no idea that she had arrived just minutes before. The training was interactive and thorough. Her knowledge was impressive. Our staff really enjoyed the training and learned about the products.
Leann is the epitome of professionalism and a gem to work with. It isn’t often that you meet someone who is consistently positive regardless of the situation. It’s quite obvious that Leann loves what she does.
Missy Anderson Mound
Training Manager
General Mills Federal Credit Union
Minnetonka, Minn.
E-mail addressed to
Jim Vosberg
Senior Claims Adjuster
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wis.
I called [your office] and spoke with [Customer Response Specialist] Marcy Theis about a business liability claim. She was extremely helpful and jumped right in to get answers to my questions.
I wanted you to know that you guys are just great! Of all our companies, I like CUNA Mutual the best. You are all so helpful and easy to work with. Thanks!
Mary Lib Perry
Vice President
Life & Health Insurance Services
State Employees Credit Union
Raleigh, North Carolina
Letter addressed to
Paul Fahey
Vice President-Sales
CUNA Mutual Group
Bloomington, Minn.
On behalf of the board, staff, and membership of Dupaco Community Credit Union, we would like to thank you for honoring our credit union with the prestigious Bergengren Award as part of your Discovery Conference.
The example provided by pioneers such as [Roy] Bergengren, coupled with a member-focused board and staff, and caring partners such as CUNA Mutual, have truly inspired us to aggressively exemplify the credit union philosophy of “people helping people.” Looking at the list of past recipients of this award, we are extremely proud to join this esteemed group and have worked hard to mirror their success.
We would also like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank a few key members of your North Central Marketing Division who work closely with us in the delivery of CUNA Mutual products to our members. Special thanks to Paul Fahey, Bob Blakesley, Matt Davies, Randy King, Rachel Miller, Tammy Walker, and Connie Turley.
Both Paul Fahey and Bob Blakesley were outstanding hosts throughout the conference. We appreciate their friendship, hospitality, and generosity. We would also like to recognize Bruce Bennett, Neil Bartlett, and their team for the fantastic video, as well as Steve Goldberg for his fine job as master of ceremonies for the award luncheon.
In closing, thank you for your cooperation in a movement which means so much to the many members we are privileged to serve. We also enjoyed getting a chance to meet you and look forward to a continued mutually beneficial long-term relationship.
Bob Hoefer
President and CEO
Randy Skemp
Chairman of the Board
Dupaco Community Credit Union
Dubuque, Iowa
Names and Titles of CUNA Mutual Staff Members:
Bob Blakesley, Account Vice President-Corporate Services
Matt Davies, Account Vice President-Member Services
Paul Fahey, Vice President-Sales
Randy King, Division Vice President-Credit Union Services
Rachel Miller, Division Manager-Marketing
Connie Turley, CU Learning & Sales Performance Consultant
Tammy Walker, Lending Protection Manager
Bruce Bennett, Audio Visual Production Manager
Neil Bartlett, Staff Writer/Editor, Editorial Department
Steve Goldberg, Executive Director, CUNA Mutual Group Foundation
Letter addressed to
Robin Kolvek
Division Vice President-Relationship Management
CUNA Mutual Group
Duluth, Georgia
This letter is to acknowledge the exemplary service in the management of our credit union’s account with CUNA Mutual. Such recognition is completely attributed to the “over and above” attention given to our individual needs by Account Manager Gay Murray. Gay has done much more than just “manage our account.” She fully “manages the relationship,” and that is so much more than I have seen in my 30-plus years of credit union management.
Gay visited me recently concerned about the relationship between Jax Metro Credit Union and CUNA Mutual Group. We discussed my disappointment with CUNA Mutual’s decision to cut the marketing initiative for small credit unions. I completely understood the need make unpopular business decisions. However, I could not figure out where CUNA Mutual was, exactly, showing their support for small credit unions. The marketing program was sold to our board on the concept that CUNA Mutual believes in the industry and wants to be of assistance to small credit unions.
At this point, Gay worked hard to remind me of the value that CUNA Mutual has brought to this credit union. I had very obviously taken some of this for granted. Make no mistake: As she talked, I well understood that value to be in Gay’s hard work.
She consistently provides value such as information and resources that insure our success when needed. Many times, our needs are not services provided by CUNA Mutual. However, Gay still works to provide contacts and assistance. She has been a facilitator at one of our annual planning sessions, and this year we will invite her to be a participant, as we consider her to be a partner – not just a vendor. Gay has taken the time to get to know and understand our credit union. That is very important to Jax Metro Credit Union.
I want to be sure that CUNA Mutual Group is made aware of this “over and above” service. As a small credit union, we struggle to compete; yet we are fully aware that it is the relationship that counts, and that relationships are nurtured by people and employees – our most important asset.
It is my desire with this letter that CUNA Mutual uses this information to recognize Gay and to understand what it takes to maintain client relationships, even when things do not always go the way planned. Above all, Gay understands. We are most appreciative for her service to Jax Metro Credit Union.
Sheree L. Eddie
President
Jax Metro Credit Union
Jacksonville, Florida
E-mail addressed to
Marcia Ring
Flexible Spending Account Manager
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wis.
I would like to pass along a compliment to you regarding the outstanding service that our credit union consistently receives from [Flexible Spending Account Coordinator] Lynn Robertson in administering our FSA program.
We started using CUNA Mutual as our FSA administrator last February when we introduced them as a new employee benefit to our management team. Since then, Lynn has been the representative who I have worked with to get the plan started and to administer it from there on.
FSAs are new to us, so I’ve had a lot of questions. Lynn has been wonderful about answering them in a timely and friendly manner. She is extremely knowledgeable and can answer just about any question immediately. When she needs to follow up on a question or issue, she does it in a timely manner and gets back to me quickly.
This level of service is exceptional. My guess is that you already know what a wonderful job Lynn does in servicing your credit unions. Service like that does not go unnoticed, but I wanted to be sure that you heard from me what a great job your employee does on a consistent basis.
CUNA Mutual is lucky to have such a professional representative like Lynn working with credit unions. She makes CUNA Mutual shine!
Sandy Selewski
Assistant Vice President-Human Resource
Co-op Services Credit Union
Livonia, Mich.
Letter addressed to
CUNA Mutual Group
Northeast Marketing Division
Latham, New York
As I retire after spending 37 years in the credit union movement, I must acknowledge those who have provided me valuable support during my career. On the top of that list must be CUNA Mutual.
A CEO makes many decisions, but one of the best that I made was selecting CUNA Mutual as our business partner, Using CUNA Mutual almost as an extension of my own management team, we worked together to strengthen not only the credit union, but our members as well, through increased efficiencies, stronger protection, and enhanced services.
In 1980, we changed our coverage to CUNA Mutual, mainly due to their open-end lending forms, which changed the face of our lending operations. Our partnership continued to grow as a result of their innovative products, which continued to meet our increasing needs. They not only supplied the products or services, they provided on-site training for our staff—not just the initial training, but refresher training, as often as requested.
For several years, I had the privilege of serving as New York’s representative on CUNA Mutual’s Owners Advisory Council, where I was able to participate in open and honest discussions with their upper management team. That experience served to underscore CUNA Mutual’s commitment to the credit union movement as they listened closely to our needs, ideas, and concerns. The information they gleaned from those sessions were incorporated into their future direction to help credit unions thrive in the face of increased competition.
I especially want to thank [CUNA Mutual’s] Northeast Marketing Division—in my opinion, the best of the best, in large part due to the decisive leadership of [Vice President of Sales] Gary Young. Their excellent team provided so much assistance to our credit union.
My utmost respect goes to [Division Vice President] Irv Hilts, who has always been there with straight answers; a marketing dynamo, [Senior Marketing Consultant] Wendy Seibert; and most especially, [Account Manager] Bill Ganzenmuller. Bill, truly an asset to our operation, never failed to provide timely information and assistance. He studied our operation and business plans, and shared his ideas and suggestions without ever trying to deliver a “hard sell.” Together, they provided first class service!
Thank you, CUNA Mutual, for all you have done for CCSD Federal Credit Union and the entire credit union movement!
Ruth Zardezed
CEO (retired)
CCSD Federal Credit Union
Elmira Heights, New York
Letter addressed to
Troy Mooney
Division Vice President-Relationship Management
Southwest Marketing Division
CUNA Mutual Group
Houston, Texas
Nearly one month ago [Sept. 24, 2005], Southwest Louisiana was ravaged by Hurricane Rita. This powerful storm destroyed many homes, businesses, and in places, entire communities. Two days before the storm made landfall on the Texas and Louisiana border, our community was issued a mandatory evacuation, causing thousands of people to flee the area. Fleeing an approaching hurricane is a very frightening and extremely unpleasant experience.
This evacuation was unlike any previous evacuation. Many of those left homeless by Hurricane Katrina already had booked up all the motels and hotels well before Hurricane Rita even formed in the Atlantic Ocean. Because the eye was suppose to make landfall in the Houston/Galveston area, millions of Texans began fleeing the state several days before Rita turned toward Louisiana.
Consequently, finding a motel was nearly impossible. Fortunately, my family found a small motel in northern Louisiana that we thought would be safe. We were not aware of the nightmare we were about to experience.
We left our home in Lake Charles at 3:15 p.m., on Thursday, September 22. We managed to travel 25 miles from home in a little over five-and-a-half hours. At 8:45 p.m., we were at a dead stop on a two-lane highway, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, with approximately 150 miles to go. We were burning gasoline at a rapid pace, with no place to refill. We encountered swarming mosquitoes, cars traveling northbound in southbound lanes, cars passing on the shoulder without lights on, and my 22-month-old daughter screaming her lungs out. We quickly reached the conclusion that if we didn’t turn around and head east toward Baton Rouge, we would never safely reach northern Louisiana before the storm hit. The only problem was that we had nowhere to go.
As we sat scared to death on the dark highway, I tried to think of someone I knew in Baton Rouge who might know where my family could safely ride out the storm. I thought of Account Manager Jim Phillips. Upon calling Jim, he informed us that there were no vacancies anywhere in Baton Rouge. Without hesitation, he offered us his home. Even when I informed him that there were nine of us and a dog, Jim insisted that we come to his house.
We arrived at Jim and Sheila’s home at 1:30 a.m. Friday morning, after being on the road for more than 10 straight hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Jim met us at the door and immediately opened up his house to my family, my parents, my sister, and her family … and my sister’s dog. Jim made us feel right at home and began pulling out food for us to eat. The next morning, Jim fixed us breakfast. The hospitality went on nonstop until we were safely able to leave Sunday afternoon.
Jim and his family changed their entire schedules to accommodate my family during our desperate time of need. Jim’s two daughters even moved out of their bedrooms so my family could move in.
I am sharing this story because I want you to know the type of employee you have in Jim Phillips. He is not only a respectable and knowledgeable CUNA Mutual professional; he is a wonderful person with a HUGE heart.
Hurricane Rita kept us away from our home for 16 days. However, with all of the bad things that the storm caused, several good things actually surfaced. One was having the opportunity to get to know Jim and his family on a personal basis. How many people would open up their own home to a business associate, eight total strangers, and a dog for three days? Jim did that without hesitation. My entire family is forever grateful to Jim and his family for giving us a safe shelter during the wrath of Hurricane Rita.
I hope my family’s story shows the type of person Jim Phillips truly is. It’s obvious that Jim totally believes in the credit union phrase of “People Helping People.”
Ron Cobb
Manager/CEO
McNeese Federal Credit Union
Lake Charles, La.
Letter addressed to
Jamie Letcher
Regional Vice President-Lending
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wisconsin
I wanted to sing the praises of [Field Solution Consultant] Gerry Gebke. Although Gerry is no longer our account manager, he took time out on a weekend to be a part of our volunteer staff for a benefit that we held for one of our members. With our philosophy of “Family Helping Family,” we felt compelled as a credit union to assist this member with overcoming many financial challenges in his life.
Gerry not only provided gifts and giveaway items, he was one of our auctioneers for the benefit. His humor and professionalism provided an outstanding atmosphere for the buyers.
He is a tremendous asset to CUNA Mutual and the credit union industry. I wanted you to know how much we appreciate his efforts.
Linda Miller
Vice President-Marketing and Member Services
ISU Credit Union
Normal, Illinois
Letter addressed to
Jeff Post
Chief Executive Officer
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wis.
You may already be aware that you have a very efficient, courteous, and professional employee working for the CUNA Mutual Group named [Bondability Specialist] Lisa Wedekind.
On two separate occasions I had the opportunity to work closely with Lisa to resolve issues of bondability. She was very knowledgeable on policies and procedures to protect the assets of our credit union and reacted with thorough follow-up. Whenever research was required on her part, she responded with accurate information on the date she promised.
Seldom do I encounter a dedicated employee willing to assist with such concern. When I do, I do not hesitate to compliment the person and notify their executive management.
Lisa has earned my respect and deserves a complimentary letter recognizing her outstanding work ethics.
John J. Wohadlo
President/CEO
Advance Financial Federal Credit Union
East Chicago, Ind.
Letter addressed to
Mark Kleinlein
Assistant Vice President-CU Protection Operations
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wis.
Thank you for providing us and all credit unions, with an invaluable resource—Ann Davidson.
We had the opportunity to have [CU Protection Product Expert] Ann meet with our plastic card staff to discuss card fraud, prevention, and best practices. She was fantastic. Not only does she fully understand how the payment systems operate, but her depth of knowledge and expertise is incredible.
The plastic card “world,” as Ann puts it, is complicated and can be overwhelming. We learned so much more in Ann’s session because she was able to discuss it at our level. We now have a better understanding of what we must do when our members’ cards are compromised.
Again, thank you and CUNA Mutual, first for investing in your employee to gain the knowledge and training to become an expert, and second, for offering her to us to share in her expertise. We truly appreciated Ann’s time with us.
Stewart Ramsey
President/CEO
Blackhawk Community Credit Union
Janesville, Wis.
Letter addressed to
Paul Fahey
Vice President-Sales
CUNA Mutual Group
Bloomington, Minn.
Just a note to let you know what a great job [Pension Specialist] Chad Bice did for us, introducing the 401(k) plan to our employees. Chad made our employees very comfortable and enthusiastic about it. We anticipate a significant enrollment.
Both [Senior Vice President] Denny Currin and I are looking forward to rolling over our existing 401(k) deposits to this plan. Thanks for your attention.
Richard T. Valois
President
First Community Credit Union
Columbia Heights, Minn.
Letter addressed to
Patrick McElhenie
Business Development Sales Manager
CUNA Mutual Group
Madison, Wis.
We went live with The LoanLink Center and loanliner.com, and we’re looking forward to a long, productive relationship. There are a few things we’re tweaking, but overall it looks like the implementation and conversion went very well.
I want you to know how much we appreciate the concerned and professional assistance we received from [Technical Consultant] Dave Thompson. Dave helped me with many questions and facilitated our agreements.
Once we started implementation, he was terrific to work with and was extremely helpful to our staff. His expertise and his ability to work with people made it one of our smoothest conversions/implementations for any product or process.
Thanks to you and your whole team!
Greg Anderson
Executive Vice President
University of Illinois Employees Credit Union
Champaign, Ill.
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