May 7. 2009
HALIFAX - Credit Union Central of Canada presented its annual National Credit Union Awards for outstanding achievement during a ceremony Wednesday that wrapped up its annual conference.
The National Credit Union Award for Community Economic Development was won by Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Vancity) of Vancouver for its microfinance program that has helped many of its own members and provided micro-loans to people in more than a dozen other countries.
The National Credit Union Innovation Award was won by Servus Credit Union Ltd. of Edmonton for its Young & Free Alberta program that was developed by Common Wealth Credit Union, which last November merged with Community Credit Union and Servus Credit Union.
The program took an innovative approach to reaching younger members by developing an online presence using blogs and videos posted on YouTube.com. It engaged younger members in an interactive discussion about their financial needs and led to dramatic growth in new accounts by members in the 17 to 25 age group.
Five young credit union managers were recognized with the National Young Leaders Awards:
- Corey Bowes, Chief Operating Officer, OMISTA Credit Union, Moncton, NB
- Sherri Fogwill, Director, Marketing, Newfoundland & Labrador Credit Union, St. John's, NL
- Shawn Good, Manager Branch Operations, Mennonite Savings & Credit Union, Kitchener, ON
- Darren Hinkel, Branch Manager, Servus Credit Union, Lloydminster, AB
- Steve Till-Rogers, Vice President, Systems & Technology, Servus Credit Union, Lloydminster, AB
Shawn Good 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.
Two former leaders of the system were inducted into the Credit Union Hall of Fame - Howard Bogach, former president and chief executive officer of Credit Union Central of Ontario, and Jim Scopick, former president and chief executive officer of Credit Union Central of Alberta.
Bogach was a strong voice in the system for more than 20 years. He worked with the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Alberta, then spent two years with Capital City Savings and Credit, now Servus Credit Union, in Edmonton. In 1994, he became president of Metro Credit Union (now Alterna Savings) in Toronto. In June 2004 he joined Credit Union Central of Ontario as president and CEO, a position he held until spring 2008, just before Ontario Central merged with Credit Union Central of B.C. to create Central 1 Credit Union.
Scopick joined Alberta Central in 1985 as chief financial officer and became its CEO in 1987, a position he held until he retired at the end of 2007. He served on several national committees and boards, including Ethical Funds and Credential. Scopick led Alberta Central in an active role in facilitating growth for credit unions. He also reduced its net costs to the system and focused on areas of core competency so it could generate outside sources of income.
About the credit union system:
There are 440 credit unions affiliated with Credit Union Central of Canada. They have more than five million members and assets of more than $113 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 and regional Centrals that 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
For more information contact:
Art Chamberlain
Manager, Media Relations
416 540-0869
chamberlaina@cucentral.com