First-responder Credit Union Newsroom

Houston Texas Fire Fighters Federal Credit Union located in Houston, Texas has just announced a search for a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the incumbent who will retire in early 2016. With over $245M in assets , 3 branches and a strong financial position HTFFFCU offers an outstanding opportunity for an exceptional financial services executive. The board is seeking a strong leader with a commitment to both member service and a controlled growth strategy. Successful candidates will exhibit exceptional communication skills and management capabilities, have experience with strategy development and balance sheet management, and have a strong commitment to employee development. Preferred candidates will have at least 5 years of senior management experience in a credit union and a bachelor’s degree with an advanced degree a plus. Apply by June 30, 2015 to Houston Texas Fire Fighters FCU, c/o Julirey Velasquez, PO Box 70009, Houston TX 77270-0009 or hr@htfffcu.org

  A Memorial Day Observance Speech Randomly Selected by Johnny Q. Gogue III 2007 An excellent history of Memorial Day http://www.usmemorialday.org/memorialday4.pdf Memorial Day – For most it is a three-day weekend, filled with bar-b-que’s and picnics . . . A time to get away from the normal humdrum of the week. For other’s it’s the beginning of summer, a time to look towards the long lazy days and a time to plan your summer get-a-ways. Though for some, Memorial Day holds a special significance. On May 5, 1868, an order issued by General John Logan established a day of remembrance for those soldiers who died during the Civil War. May 30, 1868, was the day designated for this observance and flowers were placed on the graves of the fallen soldiers of both the Union and Confederate Armies. New York was the first state to officially recognize this observance in 1873 and in 1971 with the passage of the National Holiday Act; Memorial Day was designated as the last Monday of May. Now f...

The Board of Directors of Houston Texas Fire Fighters FCU has announced that Clint Hartmann is retiring in March 2016 as President/CEO after 12 years of distinguished service. After graduating with his MBA and working several years in finance and accounting, Hartmann began his credit union career at Tropical Telco FCU (now Tropical Financial CU) in 1983 as Assistant Controller. Over the next 25 years, Hartmann served as President and CEO of credit unions with the Martin Marietta and the University of South Florida, where he learned to respect and appreciate the membership aspect of the credit union philosophy. He was named President and CEO of HTFFFCU in 2004. Hartmann cites that his biggest challenge as CEO was navigating through the recent recession and collapse of the corporate credit union network, a challenge that hurt many credit unions throughout the country. “I am proud that we managed to work through these challenges while maintaining positive earnings and capital growth. We a...

"Our Face-to-face interaction is the platform where collaboration begins, relationships are forged, and ideas are generated.” Michael Tobler Chairman October 7-10, 2015 Nashville TN. Tim Harrington "Touch, Inspire, Motivate" If video fails to start,  CLICK HERE Register NOW http://www.ncofcu.org/2015-Attendee-Registration

I posted this a year ago and thought I would bring it back to see if any of his predictions came true. Take a look and tell us what you think. Grant Sheehan CEO Cheer Up and Change: The Demographic Mandate At a conference I recently attended Monday morning started off with a great session by demographer and futurist Ken Gronbach, who laid out his predictions on where we’re going and what we can expect as demographics change. I was pleasantly surprised that the future isn’t sounding as bleak as the news might have you believe. Gronbach offered lots of predictions for where our society and our world is headed. His predictions were given with a purpose: To help associations build their vision and plan for the future. As Gronbach stressed,  "Wait and see is not a plan." I’ve decided to arrange this recap into a list of my takeaways rather than a narrative recap. I hope you get as much out of this information as I did! Things to Expect: Big Changes in Retail : Gronbach ...

  Brookside Golf Club will turn into an evening of Vintage Mexico High Stakes poker tournament and bingo for the 2nd Annual Fire Family Foundation’s Fire Boot Classic on Saturday, May 16, 2015. The evening consists of a high stakes poker classic, bingo, cigars, tequila tasting, silent auction, food/drink, and a fun photo booth by the students of Room 13 of Eliot Middle School in Pasadena. Adding to this is the equally fun-loving celebrity master of ceremonies Tim Conway Jr. Host of Tim Conway Jr. Show (KFI 640 AM, Actor Roger Mosley calling bingo alongside Pasadena Firefighters. Proceeds benefit the Fire Family Foundation, the charitable hand of Firefighters First Credit Union. Recent Ways Fire Family Foundation Has Helped: • Suddenly on Thanksgiving morning, the Fire Captain did not wake up; he left behind 4 devastated kids and a wife to face a changed world; Their December mortgage was paid by the Foundation • Help with a down-payment for a newer car for a young family wi...

Jim Nussle Posted: Monday, May 11, 2015, 1:13 AM Credit unions are thriving. More than 100 million Americans are members - an all-time high. Credit unions are making more loans and holding more savings than ever before. And by competing aggressively with banks, credit unions are saving consumers $10 billion a year on fees, interest rates, and the like. That may not be the case for much longer. Regulations aimed at reining in Wall Street are instead walloping credit unions. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the rules prescribed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law have yet to be finalized. So the regulatory choke hold on credit unions will only grow tighter. Federal officials must ensure that their efforts to ward off another financial crisis do not prevent credit unions from fulfilling their mission of providing affordable financing to Main Street businesses and middle-class families. Credit unions differ from Wall Street banks because they are member-owned and not-for-profit. Thei...

By Roy Urrico CU Times May 06, 2015 Apple announced 24 new participating Apple Pay issuers, including 22 credit unions. More than 155 credit unions out of less than 250 issuers offer the service. Among the new credit union issuers are the $415 million Bellwether Community Credit Union in Manchester, N.H.; the $243 million Benchmark Federal Credit Union, in West Chester, Penn; the $15 million Blackhawk Community Credit Union in Beaver Falls, Penn.; the $2 billion CommunityAmerica CU in Kansas City, Mo.; the $2 billion Community First CU in Appleton, Wis.; the $143 million Connections CU in Pocatello, Idaho, the $164 million cPort CU in Portland, Maine; the $140 million Denver Fire Department FCU ; the $148 million Electro Savings CU in St. Louis; the $1.1 billion Elements Financial FCU in Indianapolis; the $448 million First Financial CU in Albuquerque, N.M.; the $541 million Greater Nevada CU in Carson City, Nev.; the $485 million Harvard University Employees CU in Cambridge, Mass...

  Myra Toeppe  NCUA Director, Region 3 As Regional Director, Ms. Toeppe is responsible for oversight of the chartering program for federal credit unions and the examination and supervision programs for all federally insured credit unions in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee and the Virgin Islands. Ms. Toeppe joined NCUA in April 2011 as an Associate Regional Director, Operations after an almost 25 year banking regulatory career at the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and its predecessor agency. Ms. Toeppe began her financial institution regulatory career in 1986 as an examiner with the FHLB–Atlanta and later became an examiner/commercial loan specialist for OTS. In 2005, Ms. Toeppe was promoted to Field Manager responsible for the examination of thrift institutions primarily located in Georgia and Alabama. In 2008, Ms. Toeppe was promoted to Assistant Regional Director for ...