BUSINESS NAME

Volume 2, Issue 12 December 2009

LONESTAR GLOBE

TEXAS CREDIT UNION LEAGUE

Volume 2, Issue 12 December 2009

Security Service FCU Helps Students with Donation Drive

Security Service FCU (San Antonio) helped Clark High School stu-dents in the Banking and Financial Systems class head up a collection drive for personal care items. The more than 400 items collected were donated to Communities in Schools (CIS), a non-profit organi-zation created to help kids stay in school.

Donations will be used to assist refugee students

and their families relo-cated from their homes in Africa to San Antonio. Security Service FCU also donated $300 to as-sist the program with other needed supplies and support.

Pictured at the right are Clark High School stu-dents, faculty and Secu-rity Service FCU staffers with collection boxes and a check for CIS.

Texans CU Donates to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Texans CU (Richardson) raised more than $50,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes. The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes drew over 15,000 walk-ers in three locations and has raised $1.5 mil-lion to date! Pictured left are some of the vol-unteers, credit union staffers and participants

that made this achieve-ment possible.

Texans raised money through employees ask-ing for donations, selling vendor logo space on the Texans team t-shirt, selling jeans days and offering raffle prizes of Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks tickets, a meet-and-greet with Mike Modano and a week of vacation.

DATCU Named Finalist for Best Companies to Work for in Texas

DATCU (Denton) was recently named as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2010. The awards program was created in 2006 and is a project of “TEXAS MONTHLY,” the Texas

Association of Business (TAB), the Texas State Council of the Society for Human Resource Man-agement (TSC-SHRM) and Best Companies Group.

The Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2010 list is made up of 85 companies. The win-ners are selected from company culture and employee responses. DATCU was named the

14th best company in 2006, fourth in 2008, and second in 2009. The final 2010 rankings will be announced in January followed by an awards ceremony later in the month.

Page 2 LONESTAR GLOBE

Big Spring Community FCU Shows the Best of ‘Worst Dressed’

The employees of Big Spring Community FCU hosted a "Worst Dressed Contest" on Oct. 29 and 30 to benefit the Children's Miracle Network (CMN). The goal of the contest was to see who of the “Worst Dressed” fundrais-ers could raise the most money for CMN by having credit union members vote through the placing of do-nations into the corre-sponding pumpkin of their choice. While more than $670 was raised for CMN by the credit union across several activities, the

“Worst Dressed Contest” pulled in an impressive $407.96 from all voters and participants!

The ladies pictured, from left to right, include: Whitney Lewis, Cynthia Islas, Leonor Rios and Cindy Carlisle. Lewis and Carlisle took home the top honors in the contest by raising $105.71 and $105.05, respectively. To promote the credit union difference and the activ-ity, several of the ladies even went around town to various places dressed in their contest costumes!

Shell’s FCU Team Partners with Habitat for Humanity Again

Members of the Fur-thering Community Unity (FCU) Team powered by Shell FCU (Deer Park) attended the dedi-cation ceremony of the second house com-pleted since the FCU Team partnered with the Pasadena Habitat for Humanity. The Calvin Street residence was officially presented on Nov.15 to Laura and Joel Guerrero, a deserv-ing young couple and their two children (pictured left).

Shell FCU partnered with Gallery Furniture to present the new home-owners with a $3,000 house warming gift certifi-cate to help make their house a home. This is the second home warming gift in 2009 Shell FCU has presented to the home owners at the home dedication cere-mony. In attendance were representatives from Habitat for Human-ity, FCU Team members in their “red shirts” and family and friends of the homeowners.

Julirey Velasquez Named to New HR Position

Houston Texas Fire Fighters FCU Names HR Assistant Vice President

Clint Hartmann, president and CEO of Houston Texas Fire Fighters FCU, is pleased to announce the appointment of Julirey Velasquez (pictured) as assistant vice president of HR.

Julirey has been with the credit union for nine years and previously held positions in administration and accounting. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce Degree with a major in Accounting from St. Theresa’s College in the Philippines.

Page 3 DECEMBER 2009

UNITED SA FCU Opens Seventh Office in Boerne

UNITED SA FCU (San Antonio) is pleased to announce the open-ing of its seventh office located at 1440 South Main in Boerne. Pic-tured to the left are the celebratory moments of the official ribbon cutting marking the opening of the doors to the credit union’s latest branch as staffers and volunteers look on.

This newest branch offers three teller win-dows, three member service stations, three

drive-through lanes, an Internet café, a drive-up ATM, a conference room for community meetings and Saturday drive-through hours for the convenience of the membership.

“We are pleased to have this convenient branch available to our members in this area to conduct their financial business,” said Steve Coomes, president and CEO of UNITED SA FCU.

Members Choice CU Donates to Susan G. Komen For the Cure

Members Choice CU (Houston) is pleased to announce a donation of $2,550 to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foun-dation.

Members Choice CU had two different fund-raising efforts. First, $0.50 was donated for every member account update. This included members updating their address, telephone number and e-mail address. Almost 4,000 account updates were performed in Octo-ber. Second, employees

donated $5 to wear jeans on specific days. This effort raised $550.

Steve Gilman, presi-dent and CEO of Mem-bers Choice CU stated, “We are very proud of our employees and members for helping with this cause. It’s always impor-tant to have up-to-date contact information on our members and to combine that with a fund-raiser was even better. In addi-tion, employees gladly donated funds to wear jeans. Thanks to all.”

Steve Gilman, Members Choice CU CEO (center), dis-plays the donation check with credit union employees.

‘DuGood by Giving’ Benefits Members and Community this Season

DuPont Goodrich FCU (Nederland) recently announced a unique campaign focused on giving back to members and local charities. “DuGood By Giving” allows members who finance a qualifying loan with the credit union to receive $250 cash back. Plus, the credit union will donate an additional $250 to a local charity of the member’s choice.

Members can choose from the Julie Roger’s Gift of Life Program, the Southeast Texas Food Bank, The Humane So-ciety, Some Other Place, the Hope Center, The ARC of Greater Beaumont, and more.

The campaign started the first day of November and the credit union has already given over $15,000 to its members and the community. This campaign hopes to help many people this holiday season.

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Security Service FCU Volunteer Corps Members ‘Light the Night’

Red, white and gold bal-loons lit up the San Anto-nio sky thanks to some 35 Security Service FCU Vol-

unteer Corps members. The group helped the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society prepare for its

annual “Light the Night” walk by filling nearly 5,000 illuminated bal-loons for event atten-dees to carry to com-memorate and honor survivors and others affected by blood can-cers.

“We are pleased to provide continued sup-port for worthy efforts like this that make a positive difference in our community,” said Mike Martinez, Security Ser-vice FCU senior vice president and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society board member. “It’s an honor to be part of this great cause and to see the support and gener-osity of our employees and community mem-bers in helping us fight blood cancers.”

In addition to assisting with event preparation, Security Service FCU employees participated

in a variety of fundrais-ing efforts over a period of three months and raised $47,000 to bene-fit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and blood cancer research. Some 400 credit union employees participated in the walk to show sup-port for the cause.

“Our employees ex-emplify Security Ser-vice’s dedication to com-munity service,” Marti-nez added. “They care, and it shows.”

Security Service FCU is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s top corporate team in San Antonio, contributing more than $300,000 over the last six years. In addition to this ac-complishment, Security Service FCU is the sixth largest contributor to “Light the Night” out of 250 walks in the nation.

Tarrant County CU’s ‘Livin’ Large’ Campaign Makes Donation

Tarrant County CU’s (Fort Worth) “Livin’ Large” campaign was an initiative to increase checking ac-count penetration, while drawing attention to the needs of a local animal rescue organiza-tion. With member dona-tions that were matched by Tarrant County CU, C.L.A.S.P. (Cowtown Loves Animal Shelter Pets) received a check in the amount of $1,550.

Pictured, from left to right, are Greg Fox, C.L.A.S.P. member, An-drea Powell, Tarrant County CU marketing coordinator, Karen West-moreland, president of C.L.A.S.P., and Kathy Malone, treasurer of C.L.A.S.P. with the result-ing check from an impres-sive donation campaign from credit union staffers and members.

Security Service FCU employees show their support at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night” walk. Back row: (L-R) Laura Dowsland, Mike Martinez, Security Service FCU senior vice president and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society board member, Oneida Espinoza, Kristin Popowich, and Sandra Sanchez. Front row: (L-R) Crystal Zamarripa, Cris Maldonado, Gracie Luna and Bar-bara Bautista.

Page 5 DECEMBER 2009

Texell FCU Announces Classroom Makeover Contest Winners

Texell FCU (Temple) is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Classroom Makeover Con-test. The winners received makeover packages val-ued at $1,000 to support and create an ideal envi-ronment for learning. The three winners are:

Amy Lynn Bramlett, art

teacher at Tyler and Southwest Elementary Schools in Belton (pictured at the right);

Frankie Evans, second

grade teacher at Scott Elementary School in Temple; and

Diana Shive, third grade teacher at Thornton Elementary School in Temple.

To qualify for the Class-

room Makeover Contest, entrants were required to submit photos of their classroom and a brief essay explaining why they felt their classrooms needed a makeover, de-tailing how their students would benefit. After a diffi-cult selection process, the three announced winners received checks valued at $1,000 to assist them in their educational efforts.

Smart Financial CU Offers Instant Issue Debit Cards to Members

Smart Financial CU (Houston) recently launched an instant issue debit card program to bet-ter serve its members. The new program allows mem-bers the convenience of opening a checking ac-count and receiving their personalized instant issue debit card within minutes -- ready to use at ATM ma-chines, stores and busi-nesses.

Traditionally, when members open a check-ing account, it may take up to 15 days to receive the debit card and per-sonal identification num-ber in the mail. Smart Financial’s new instant issue debit card offers members immediate ac-cess to their funds, elimi-nates unnecessary wait time for standard mail and the need for temporary

checks, and is safer by putting the debit card directly into the mem-ber’s hands. The instant card also provides a much quicker turn-around in the event that a member’s debit card is lost or stolen.

"Improving conven-ience and service for our membership at every access channel is very important for our credit

union,” says Mike War-rell, senior vice presi-dent of member ser-vice. “The instant issue of debit cards allows new and existing mem-bers access to their money through a secure debit card immediately upon opening an ac-count. This is just one of the many freedoms that membership at Smart Financial CU offers."

DATCU Announces New Vice President of Business Development

Pat Sherman (pictured left) has been named vice president of business development at DATCU.

Previously the director of business development, she joined DATCU in No-vember, 2005. She has a Bachelor of Science de-gree from Texas Tech University and graduated

from Leadership Denton in 2007. Pat serves as president-elect of Denton Community Theatre and chair of DISD Adopt-a-School Advisory Board. She is actively involved in other community organiza-tions including Denton Benefit League’s Grant

Allocation Committee, Denton Chamber of Commerce Ambassa-dor, United Way Leader-On-Loan Co-Chair, Ar-gyle Chamber of Com-merce, DISD Volunteer Advisory Board, and was co-chair of the 2009 Denton Community Prayer Breakfast.

“We were very im-pressed with all the makeover entries”, stated Tony Hale, Texell FCU’s CEO. “These three teachers stood out

and we are pleased to help provide the re-sources they need to create a stronger learn-ing environment for their students.”

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El Paso Employees FCU’s CEO, Ray Ponteri, Retiring

Ray Ponteri, president and CEO of El Paso Em-ployees FCU will be retir-ing on Jan. 4, 2010. Ray has been president for over 22 years and has served the credit union as both a volunteer and em-ployee since 1982. During his tenure, the credit union has grown from 20 million in assets to over $275 mil-lion with 48,000 members, and eight branch offices.

Mr. Ponteri’s involve-ment in the credit union movement is extensive. He served ten years as a director for the Texas Credit Union League (TCUL) and the TCUL-affiliated Credit Union Re-sources Inc.(CUR), serv-ing in various positions

and committees. He also served on the 2000 Credit Union National Associa-tion (CUNA) Renaissance Commission and in vari-ous local community or-ganizations.

When asked what he would miss the most he responded, “That’s easy – the people. Over the years I have made many friends with members, volunteers and employ-ees. It’s hard to walk away from those relation-ships. Working at the credit union has been a truly great experience.”

He will be missed not only by all the credit union employees but by mem-bers, vendors and friends.

River City FCU Announces Impressive Duo of New Promotions

River City FCU (San An-tonio) has announced two recent promotions.

Sean Fisher has been promoted to vice president of consumer lending, with the primary responsibility for River City FCU’s entire con-sumer lending department.

“Sean has been a key part of our management team, and we are de-lighted to promote him to this important position,” said Kim Heinze, presi-dent and CEO of River City FCU.

Formerly branch man-ager of the Jackson Kel-ler office, Fisher has been with the credit un-ion since 2004. He was previously with Penta-gon FCU.

Fisher received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Incarnate Word University and is cur-rently working on coursework at the Southwest CUNA Man-agement School.

Additionally, Janie Cortez, who started her career at River City FCU in 2001, has been pro-moted to the position of branch manager of the Jackson Keller office.

The promotion was announced by Heinze. According to Heinze, Cortez was most re-cently assistant branch manager of the Bitters office. Heinze expressed pride in Cortez’ accom-plishments as a profes-sional member of the credit union’s manage-ment team.

Cortez received her degree in 2006 from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Busi-ness Administration. She has held several positions during her ca-reer at River City FCU and is known for her strong commitment to the credit union and its members.

Ray Ponteri (pictured) plans on staying in El Paso and will hopefully still be involved with the credit union in some capacity upon realizing his upcoming retirement. “I also hope to play a lot of golf,” he added.

Sean Fisher Janie Cortez

Page 7 DECEMBER 2009

Shell FCU Recognizes and Honors Veterans through Projects

Shell FCU proudly hon-ored veterans in Novem-ber by creating a “thanks to the troops” video, dis-playing a Wall of Honor of veteran photos and col-lecting old cell phones to be converted into phone cards so troops could reach out to family. A huge thank you goes to every-one who participated in these projects!

With several recording sessions set up at different branch locations, Shell FCU employees and com-munity members shared their personal messages to the troops. From those short video clips, a seven-minute video was created and proudly played in the

branch lobbies during the week of Veterans Day.

For the Wall of Honor, Shell FCU asked for pho-tos of services men and women, either currently serving or those who had past service in the U.S. Armed Forces. The pho-tos received were dis-played on a Wall of Honor at each branch and the credit union encouraged visitors to stop by and view the Walls.

Also during the month of November, Shell FCU branches served as drop off locations to collect old cell phones and accesso-ries in a “Cell Phone for Soldiers” drive. Commu-

nity participation was greatly appreciated and served a dual purpose - to collect recyclable equipment which would generate funds to pur-chase calling cards for soldiers serving our country overseas and to save the environment from dangerous toxins the phone equipment, plastic materials and batteries produce when thrown into landfills. Re-sults were outstanding with 150 devices being donated. It is estimated that 150 $25 calling cards will be sent to our brave soldiers, thanks to those donations.

Shell FCU wishes to thank all participants for making this drive a suc-cess!

The credit union’s FCU Team has partici-pated in many spon-sored events. Events such as walks, runs, mobile mammograms, blood drives, food drives, and Habitat for Humanity – a team fa-vorite - have allowed the team to log in 1,126 hours as volunteers in 2009 and the team ef-forts have raised $8,669 in donations! Holiday events already sched-uled will certainly add to those totals.

Sean Elliott, Security Service FCU Collect for Families in Need

Former San Antonio Spur and two-time NBA All-Star Sean Elliott and his wife, Claudia Zapata, joined with Security Ser-vice FCU in November to collect Thanksgiving turkeys to put on the plates of hungry families in Southwest Texas.

In addition to calling for support from the community, the couple themselves donated 50 turkeys to the cause.

Helping them load up at the grocery store were Security Service FCU volunteers Donald Pogue and Denise Bry-ant, two of some 75 Se-curity Service volunteers who worked 12 hours on the Saturday before Thanksgiving to gather

up more than 500 gob-blers at four service cen-ters around San Anto-nio.

“This is the seventh consecutive year we’ve held the drive to benefit the San Antonio Food Bank,” said John Wor-thington, senior vice president for the credit union. “We aim to make a positive difference in the communities we serve, and this is one more way we can assist those in need for the holidays.”

Pictured, from left to right, are Sean Elliott, his wife Claudia Zapata, and Security Service FCU volunteers Donald Pogue and Denise Bry-ant.

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Primeway FCU Announces Four New Appointments, Promotions

Primeway FCU (Houston) has completed the appointment and pro-motion of four employees. The employee updates include the following:

Mr. T. Scott Kreinbring has become the new ex-ecutive vice presi-dent. Kreinbring received a Bachelor of Science de-gree in Accounting at Oak-land University in Roches-ter, Michigan. He has been working with credit unions his entire professional ca-reer. In 1987, he was hired by the Michigan Credit Union League’s audit division. He joined the CPA firm Cindrich, Mahalak & Co. in 1990, where he earned his CPA license and served as an audit manager. For the last seven years, Krein-bring has served as the CEO of Parkside CU in Michigan.

Ms. Linda Figueroa has joined the credit union as their new floating man-ager. Figueroa began her credit union career nine years ago as a part-time teller for C-E FCU in Hous-ton, where she later worked in the areas of

marketing, lending, ac-counting and operations, eventually achieving the position of branch man-ager. Figueroa joins the credit union with a recent business degree from the University of Houston-Downtown.

Mr. David Baldwin joins the team as the new retail services manager for their Blackhawk branch in Southwest Houston. With over 35 years of financial experience, Baldwin be-gan his career in Califor-nia before relocating to Texas in 1986. As a branch manager with ex-perience in sales, coach-ing, business develop-ment, lending and opera-tions, Baldwin’s extensive experience in customer service and financial ex-perience will be an asset for the credit union.

Ms. Crystal Knight has become the new branch manager for The Method-ist Hospital location of the credit union. Knight is a graduate of Bauer Col-lege of Business at the University of Hous-ton. After receiving her undergraduate degree in

Business Administration and Marketing, she went to work for the Memorial Hermann Hospital Sys-tem as a marketing rep-resentative. She began to explore a career in the financial industry in 2006 as a manager at Woodforest National Bank, joining PrimeWay

FCU in 2008 as a busi-ness partner specialist and has worked very closely with the ambas-sadors and employees of the credit union’s Se-lect Employer Groups. Knight brings experi-ence in operations and marketing to her new role.

T. Scott Kreinbring Linda Figueroa

David Baldwin Crystal Knight

DATCU Opens New Branch

Flower Mound Branch Open for Business

DATCU’s newest branch location in Flower Mound held a grand opening ceremony on Nov.17. The new branch is located at 2935 Long Prairie Rd and now houses drive-thru lanes! The festivities included speakers from the DATCU management team, DATCU board of directors, DATCU Flower Mound staff and the Flower Mound Chamber. The ribbon cutting included members from the Flower Mound and Lewisville Chamber of Commerce (pictured left). Refreshments and door prizes wrapped up the ceremony’s activities.

Page 9 DECEMBER 2009

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio Contest Winners Announced

On Nov. 13, the win-ners of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio 2009 Holiday Card Con-test were announced at a reception at the East-side Branch. Molly Daniels, vice president of human resources at Security Service FCU presented gift baskets to the winners and a dona-tion of $1,000 to Jim Watson, executive direc-tor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio.

Holiday card design winners were:

Kahill West, age

14; and

Carlos Sifuentes,

age six.

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio officials narrowed the nearly 200 entries down to the top 20 card designs created by Boys & Girls Clubs members in two age categories: ages six-12 and ages 13-18. A team of celebrity judges then selected one winning design from each cate-gory. The winning de-signs will be used as the official Security Service FCU holiday cards for the season.

The team of celebrity judges for the contest consisted of:

Keith Sultemeier,

executive vice president and chief financial officer, Security Service FCU;

Mark Barnes,

Boys & Girls Clubs of San An-tonio volunteer;

Bridget Smith,

host, “Great Day SA,” KENS;

Monica Taylor,

anchor, “Fox News First,” KABB; and

Shaun Stevens,

meteorologist, “Fox News First,” KABB.

Pictured top left: Molly Daniels (right) presents the winning holiday card design created by Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio member Kahill West (left).

Pictured bottom left: Carlos Sifuentes, age six (center), receives his gift basket for producing one of two winning holi-day card designs in the holiday card art contest.

Security Service FCU Sponsors Holiday Card Contest, Makes Charitable Donations

Stories to send? Pictures to post? Send them to TCUL writer, Alex Schitter, at aschitter@tcul.coop .