By Rachel Dahl –
Fallon’s own Churchill County Federal Credit Union was recognized for the 4th quarter of 2018 as the number one highest scoring credit union in the nation.
In a report announced by the Glatt Consulting Group in the Digital Journal, the Credit Union Industry “HealthScore” rated CCFCU number one based on 17 different ratios, each on a ten-point scale. The ratios are based on asset growth, member growth, loan growth, charge offs, and borrowers per member, among other metrics.
Valerie Johnston is the CEO and Treasurer of CCFCU, and runs the organization with a staff of four; Linda Harris, Carrie Green-Hines, Cassie Deras, and an all-volunteer board of directors.
CCFCU was recognized as number one over every credit union in the country. Comparatively, the Navy Federal Credit union is the largest in the country with over $77 billion in assets. CCFCU manages $50 million in assets, and the credit union that Johnston ran in Reno before coming to Fallon held $10 million in assets.
Johnson said she is very proud of her team, “it is a lot of hard work, and we are a very small staff,” she said. “Volunteers are the life-blood of this credit union — it can’t be done without them to operate with transparency and with cooperation for this community.”
The credit union is governed by a board of directors, supervisory Committee, and a credit committee. Board members are Bill Lawry, President; Robert Erquiaga, Vice-President; Julie Richards, Secretary; Johnston serves as Treasurer; and Charlie Knittle.
With 2,600 members, Johnston says their scores were helped by the number of loans, the low number of delinquencies, and efficiencies in running the organization. Other important metrics in the scoring are net worth and equity.
“An important measure of overall health is our long-term savings,” said Johnston, “when we hit a rough spot like the downturn in 2008, if we’re in net loss situation we look at what do long term savings look like.”
By law, credit unions are required to hold 7% equity no matter what size they are, but CCFCU holds 20% equity. “We are incredibly healthy, our members’ shares are safe, and insured, and we can assure our members their money is safe.”
Johnston credits the good management practices of former boards and directors with the health of credit union now. “We keep our operating expenses very low with a small staff, but we also own the building and the land where this office is,” she said. “The people who ran this credit union before me made really good decisions.”
She mentioned Don and Donna Johnson who founded the credit union and ran it out of their house for a number of years. “The legacy of the people before me is amazing,” said Johnston.
CCFCU is currently paying the highest dividends on savings accounts in Northern Nevada, and Johnston said they are looking forward to adding new electronic services in the near future.
“As we look to these new technologies, we are being very careful,” she said. “We are the stewards of this community’s money and it’s our number one job, and obviously that’s what we’re good at so we have to choose electronic solutions wisely.”
For information on membership qualifications or to check the latest interest rates, check the CCFCU website at http://www.myccfcu.org.
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