Newsletter 012011 Revamped - Leading Edge Credit Union

Volume 1, Issue 1
January 2011
Leading Edge Credit Union
Quarterly Newsletter
Letter from the Corporate Secretary
Dear Fellow Members,
The process to elect four
members who will serve for
the next three years on the
Board of Directors of our
credit union starts now.
Give careful consideration
to the role you will play in
this process, as the members
you elect now plan the
future of our credit union.
As you think about your role
in the process, you may be
wondering what kind of
person makes an effective
Board member.
The
following points will help
answer that question.
The by-laws of our credit
union require that the term
of office of four of our
representatives on the Board
of Directors ends each year.
This gives us the
opportunity to have direct
input into the future of our
credit union. We can make
our contribution in three
ways. We can permit our
name to stand for election to
the Board.
We can
nominate another member
whom we think will make a
positive contribution to the
work of the Board. We can The person must:
participate in the election 1. Qualify for bonding, not
process.
have failed to repay a loan,
not be in arrears in the
payment of any loan and not
Inside this issue:
be an undischarged
Scholarship Winner
2
bankruptcy;
2. Strongly support the aim
Tax Season
2
of our credit union – to
provide to all members high
RRSP News
2
quality financial services at
a competitive price;
Statement Changes
3
3. Prepare to take the
courses necessary to become
Changes to CU Act
3
a fully qualified credit union
director;
Best Wishes
3
4. Gain an understanding
of our governance model,
Recent Developments 4
by-laws, policies and current
conditions;
Coming Soon
4
Election Process Dates
•
February 8th, 2011
Notification of Election
Process; nomination
forms will be available
online and in branch.
•
March 14th, 2011
Orientation of all
nominees.
•
April
1st,
2011
Biographies of all
nominees will be
available to members
via our website.
5. C o m m i t
to
full
participation in meetings;
and
6. Have the ability and
eagerness to deal with
values, vision and long-term
planning.
th
Between now and the 28 of
February, 2011, I invite you
to nominate a member
whom you think, based on
•
April
4th,
2011
the above attributes, could
Voting will be open to all
further the work of the
eligible members.
Board of your credit union.
You may do this by picking
•
April 22nd, 2011
up the appropriate form at
Voting will be complete
and ballots counted.
your local branch or
downloading it from our
•
May
2nd,
2011
website and completing it
Results will be provided
according to the instructions
at the Annual General
on it.
In February all
Meeting held in Corner
Brook.
nominees must participate in
an orientation session and
Visit the website for updates
provide biographical
and more details closer to
information for circulation
the dates.
to all members. Voting to
select the members of the
Board for 2011-2014 will
take place in April at each get us there. Please do your
branch location or through part by participating in our
the internet.
democratic process.
Your credit union is eager to Co-operatively yours,
provide the kinds of services
and products we all need. A Harry Coates,
committed, strong, and Corporate Secretary
future-oriented Board can
Quarterly Newsletter
A.F. Walker Scholarship
It is with great pleasure
that Leading Edge Credit
Union would like to
congratulate Gerard Gale,
from Millville, Codroy
Valley, on being the
recipient of the 2010 A.F.
Walker Scholarship valued
at $1000.
This
scholarship
commemorates the unique
contribution made by A.F.
(Gus) Walker in the
creation of Brook Street
Credit Union. Gus Walker
was a firm believer in the
role that the cooperative
movement could play in
helping people become
self reliant. During the
more than forty years he
worked at the Corner
Brook Mill, he held every
executive position,
including president of the
Paper Makers Union. For
ten years he was president
of the Bowaters Employee
Benefit and Welfare
Association
which
imported and sold coal to
i t s me mber s at a
significant savings.
Through
careful
management
the
association accumulated a
surplus of $80,000.
When oil replaced coal as
the preferred heat source,
the coal yard had to go out
of business and its two
employees faced loss of
their jobs. Gus Walker
had the idea to use the
surplus to start a credit
union.
Under his
leadership, members were
signed up.
The staff,
Walter Simms, and James
Dingwell, were trained in
credit union management
at St. Francis Xavier
University in Nova Scotia
and on November 21,
1963, the Brook Street
Credit Union became a
reality.
In July 2009, Brook Street
Credit Union amalgamated
with Codroy Valley Credit
Union to form Leading
Edge Credit Union. It was
with great pleasure that the
Doyles Branch Manager Geneva
Taylor presents Gerard Gale with
the $1000 Scholarship.
contact
for
this
scholarship, Mr. Michael
Walker, extended the
scholarship to all members
of Leading Edge Credit
Union’s six branches on
the Southwest Coast.
For details please email
lecuinfo@lecu.creditu.net.
Tax Season Approaching
RRSP Season
Tax Season will be here
before you know it. Are
you aware of how to do
your own taxes? Do you
know how to get the best
possible return? If not,
don’t fear.
This person will be there
to help answer any
questions you may have,
prepare and file your
income tax return all for a
reasonable rate and in a
timely manner.
help their customers with
any investing questions
they may have.
Leading Edge Credit
Union employs a tax
associate at each of their
six branches to help you
during the tax season.
Make sure that you ask
about Leading Edge Credit
Union’s Quick Cash
option when discussing
your taxes with our
associate.
Leading Edge Credit
Union is pleased to
announce that the
promotional rate for this
years RRSP season is 3%
for 3 years! This rate is
guaranteed until the end of
February so don’t wait to
invest.
Lorne Robinson, Financial
Planner with Credential
Financial Strategies Inc, is
employed by LECU to
For a free consultation,
please call Lorne at
(709) 634-0405.
Page 2
Mr. Robinson is based out
of Corner Brook office but
travels to all six locations
mont hl y to ser vice
LECU’s members.
Volume 1, Issue 1
Statement Option Changes
Leading Edge Credit
Union continuously pays
particular attention to its
areas of environmental and
fiscal responsibility.
During a recent process
review, Leading Edge
Credit Union recognized
some important aspects
with respect to paper
statements that are sent out
to customer-owners.
From an environmental
perspective we have a
moral and ethical
responsibility to decrease
the number of paper
statements printed. We use
approximately 1224
pounds of paper annually,
as well as thousands of
gallons of waste water
used in paper production.
We feel any reduction
would add value to our
environment, as well as the
future of generations to
come.
Postage, envelopes, and
paper costs have risen
dramatically over the last
five years, thereby
increasing the operating
costs of your credit union.
These
costs
are
unnecessary in our
environment today where
statements can be offered
in a more environmentally
responsible way.
Many customer-owners
simply throw out their
statement, which contains
numerous amounts of
personal information, in
the garbage. Fraudsters
will go to any length to
access
personal
information; we need to
mitigate the amount of
information that can
become available.
While we will respect the
wishes of our customerowners who want to
continue to receive
statements by mail, we ask
that you consider an
alternative to this process.
What do you need to do?
There are several options
that we ask you to
consider:
1. Y o u r e l e c t r o n i c
statement is available
on our web site which
is free of charge. This
is our preferred
choice, visit online 24
hours a day to get
your up to date
banking transactions.
2. Visit your local branch
to receive a printed
statement at a fee of
$2.00. Receive a
Changes to the Credit Union Act
Best Wishes
The Credit Union Act
(NL) of 2009 repealed the
old 1995 Credit Union Act,
including the provision of
Section 46 which provided
for the Nomination of
Beneficiary Card.
on their regular bank
accounts such as savings,
chequing, term deposits
etc. should contact their
local branch for more
information.
The staff and Board of
Directors at Leading Edge
Credit Union would like to
take this opportunity to
offer Greg Comeau all the
best in his retirement.
This does not apply to
registered products such as
RRSPs, RRIFs and
TFSAs.
Mr. Comeau was General
Manager with Brook Street
Credit Union before the
inception of Leading Edge
Credit Union in July 2009;
he then become Manager,
Lending Services.
The new Act does not
“grandfather”
the
provisions of Section 46 of
the old Act and
Nomination of Beneficiary
Cards are now obsolete.
Members that currently
have Beneficiaries listed
paper statement at
your convenience for a
minimum cost and
assist us in reducing
our demand on paper.
3. Continue to receive
your statement by mail
at a fee of $2.00.
Best wishes in your future
endeavors and thank you
If you currently do not
receive a statement on
your chequing account,
then no action is required.
If you no longer want to
receive a statement by
mail, all you need to do is
notify your local branch or
email
lecuinfo@lecu.creditu.net
by February 15th, 2011,
otherwise you will
continue to receive your
statement by mail and you
will be charged a $2.00
monthly fee.
for your dedication to the
credit union system Greg!
Page 3
Leading Edge Credit Union
Corporate Office
27 Grand Bay Road
(709) 695-7065
Corner Brook Branch
2 Herald Avenue
(709) 634-4632
Doyles Branch
Route 406, Off TCH
(709) 955-2402
Jeffrey’s Branch
616 Main Road
(709) 645-2512
Pasadena Branch
1-3 First Ave
(709) 686-5404
Port aux Basques Branch
27 Grand Bay Road
(709) 695-7000
St. George’s Branch
2-10 Steel Mountain Rd.
(709) 647-2000
The Board of Directors would like to thank all their members for a
successful year in 2010 and look forward to serving you in 2011.
www.lecu.ca
Recent Developments
Leading Edge Credit Union has
recently developed and implemented
some new ways to service you, our
customers.
Interactive Blog
Cory Munden, Chief Executive Officer,
has started a blog about LECU, allowing
you to access financial information, tips
and more while getting to know himself a
little bit better. This blog is accessible on
our website or by visiting the site itself at
http://leadingedgecu.blogspot.com/.
Online Banking
Members of LECU can now have access
to their accounts from virtually anywhere.
Just by entering www.lecu.ca/m on their
blackberries, smartphones, or any other
mobile device that is connected to the
internet.
Fee Change
A fee structure review was completed
in 2010. Please refer to the website or
your local branch for details. Changes
will come into effect March 1st, 2011.
Coming Soon
Leading Edge Credit Union is
continuously looking for ways to better
serve their customers. There are a few
ideas that are on the horizon expected to
be rolled out in 2011.
statements, LECU is hoping to send out
future newsletters by email. We are also
looking at sending out important news,
dates and promotions in the future via
email as well.
Email Marketing
Coinciding with the cutting back on paper
Please contact your local branch or email
lecuinfo@lecu.creditu.net to provide your
email address or indicate that you do
not want to be contacted via emails in
the future.