Tag: columbia county

Happy 50th Birthday to Us

“Wauna Credit Union will be the financial institution that members choose first, use the most, and grow with throughout their lives.” Our vision means a lot to us. It’s how we plan for the future and make sure we are serving our members. It’s with that lens that our 50th birthday today means so much for us.

Fifty years-ago today on March 16, 1967, seven employees of the Crown Zellerbach Paper Company located at the Wauna Mill got together to form a financial corporative for mill employees. Crown Zellerbach eventually became Georgia Pacific, and the financial corporative eventually became Wauna Credit Union, a member-owned, local first financial corporative offering personal banking, business banking, credit cards, home loans, auto loans, personal loans and so much more to residents who live, work, or worship in Columbia County, Clatsop County, Western Washington County (Oregon) and Pacific County (Washington). What started out as seven members became over 23,000 members (and growing), and the first employee Eileen Cheuvront (who eventually became CEO) turned into 100 current employees, all of whom we are proud to call members, and part of the Wauna Credit Union family.

A blog about all our accomplishments isn’t really our style, and would never capture the contributions of our current and past employees, nor the ways our members and the community we serve have helped us become the organization we are.

We’re celebrating today with cupcakes in each of our branches, and would love it if you could stop by and join us. It’s no small feat, but what we’re really excited about is not the last 50 years, but the next 50 (and hopefully beyond). We’re constantly looking for ways to improve our services both in person and making sure we offer the most up-to-date online services to keep meeting member needs for years and years to come.

Meet Danea Passmore Senior Vice President of Strategic Implementations

Wauna has many talented and amazing people who work for us, including Danea Passmore who recently was promoted to the Senior Vice President of Strategic Implementations. The Wonderful World of Wauna caught up with Danea to talk about her time here, and find out more about what she does, and what motivates her.

How long have you been at Wauna? I have been employed at Wauna for 11 ½ wonderful years!

What is your new position at WCU? My current position is SVP, Strategic Implementations. My vision is to lead and build a strategic team that improves our products & services; implements innovative technology, and ensures that members hear about all the ways we can help them achieve their financial opportunities.

What do you like most about your new job? I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and figuring out what we can do to help our borrowers in Clatsop, Columbia, Washington and Pacific Counties. While banks worry about products that make money, we get to think about ways to help people. The credit union believes in Integrity Coaching and The Member Advantage (TMA), which help us communicate effectively with members, and really listen to them.  For the past two years, I was certified in Integrity Coaching and TMA and provided training to all staff.   Through the strategic implementation process, I hope to lead with integrity, collaboration, cooperation, and build team synergy.

What do you think makes WCU special? Wauna Credit Union is special because of our people. We are people that have vision, passion, and purpose. We are proud of the fact that we make a difference every day when we show up with purpose. Another thing that is so special about Wauna is that we truly care about

Danea with Rex Johnson at the University of Lending

our employees, community and our members. Each day, we seek to provide opportunities to take members from where they are to where they want to be. We are people helping people!

What is your favorite memory or testimonial of working with a member?

One of my favorite examples of this was during my time as the Operations Manager in the Clatskanie branch. We had a member that was overseas having trouble purchasing train tickets.  His train was getting ready to leave without him…….We were literally running up and down the stairs trying to sort out the issue with Visa, keeping the member on the phone until finally the charge was approved.  He made the train by minutes. We’ll never quit on a member and will do everything we can to help because we care.

Since I’ve done so much with The Member Advantage, I get to work with our internal members (i.e. employees) too! I recently had somebody that put me to

You can often find Danea out on the river.

tears unexpectedly during a TMA homework call.  Validate Yourself, Your Credit Union, and Your Products and Services a key section of the process.  This person gave a list of positive traits about her teammates on the call.  She had only met these people once and so the words she chose were even more special:   kind-hearted, true problem-solver, caring, takes charge, responsible for well-being,

charismatic, well organized, researcher, serve our members, understands the needs, validating spirit, understands why we do what we do, making members feel secure, dedication, great insight, building trust, problems are followed up on and fixed, patient, reassuring, listens, and loves the Wauna family really hit me. Putting me to tears is difficult, but sometimes every once in a while, someone touches your heart and you react.

Board of Directors Voting Open

Whenever we talk about Wauna Credit Union and what we do it comes back to the members. Anybody who has an account, loan or credit card at Wauna CU is a member and a shareholder, and gets a say in what we do. Nowhere is that more tangible than with the voting for our board of directors. Today through February 26, 2017 all members age 18 or older who are in good standing are eligible to cast a ballot, either online, by mail or on Facebook.

Unlike for profit banks, where maximizing dividends for stockholders is most important, a credit union’s board sets policies to make sure decisions are in the best interests of you, the member-owners. Wauna Credit Union’s board consists of dedicated volunteers who represent the interests of the member-owners by meeting regularly with credit union management. This year we are electing three people, each of whom will serve a 3-year term.

As an added incentive 10 random voters will win $50 as a thanks from us for helping make sure our board reflects the wants and aspirations of all our members.

To learn more about the elections, as well as our annual meeting where we will announce the new board, visit our annual election page (waunafcu.org/about/annual-elections). Each of the candidates has provided a few words on why they want to serve on the voting page (cuballot.com/waunafcu).

There are three ways to vote.

To vote by electronic ballot:

  • Go to the Wauna CU website (waunafcu.org)
  • Click the link for the 2017 Board of Directors Elections
  • Select the Vote Now button and follow the instructions now

To vote by mail:

  • Call 877-597-9507
  • Select the option to vote by paper ballot
  • All ballots must be received by February 26

To vote on Facebook:

We hope everybody gets a chance to vote. The more members vote, the more opportunity to have a board that fully represents the membership, and the better Wauna Credit Union is able to meet the needs of our diverse community.

Columbia County! Auto Sale June 23-25 at 2 locations

SummerautosaleVVadJoin Wauna Credit Union for the Summer Auto Sale!

3 Days: June 23-24-25!
2 Great Locations: MAPS Auto Center & St Helens Auto Center

* Each Auto Dealer will be offering Amazing Sale Prices!
* Wauna Credit Union is offering 60 Days No Payments!
* On the Spot Financing & Drive Away The Same Day!
* All qualified Buyers will receive a $30 VISA Gift Card!
* Plus, Raffles, Prizes & Snacks!

Find Your New Car and Make Your Summer Grand!

MAPS Auto Center
http://mapsautocenter.com/
51801 S Columbia River Hwy
Scappoose, OR 97056
503-987-1250

St Helens Auto Center
http://www.sthelensautocenter.com/
St. Helens Auto Center
57895 S Columbia River Hwy
Warren, OR 97053
(800) 246-5454

Here’s the link to the Facebook event too: https://business.facebook.com/events/1743505432560596/

An open letter to those affected by the recent storms – Wauna CU is here to help:

Dear Community,

Our communities have been hit with some very bad, and even deadly rains recently. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has declared both Columbia and Clatsop Counties a state of emergency, and we have not yet even crossed into winter!

In an effort to help our friends and neighbors who have been affected, or may be affected in the near future, Wauna Credit Union has rushed to create a variety of special programs to help. These programs also include our Pacific County Community, your weather is our weather!

While our Credit Union and staff are of course donating and volunteering wherever we can, we wanted to do more!

We are offering a Skip-A-Pay for secured and unsecured consumer loans, including credit cards – Just tell us you have been impacted by these storms and we will skip your payment next month. We don’t need proof, we believe you – we live here too. We just want to make at least one thing a little easier right now for everyone!

We also know that even those who were not flooded may have missed work or had other setbacks, so this Skip-A-Pay includes you as well.

If you have experienced damage to your home or car or business, we are also offering a discounted interest rate on loans to repair or replace what you’ve lost.

Come to any branch, call or apply online. Let us know what you need, and we will do our best to secure a loan for you at a considerably lower interest rate.

As this winter progresses, we will do all we can to assist our communities, especially if this dangerous weather continues. Wauna Credit Union was born here on the lower Columbia Pacific Region, this is our home, and our members, neighbors, and communities mean the world to us! Please do not hesitate to contact us at 800-773-3236 or at waunafcu.org for help.

We wish everyone a safe holiday season and better weather in the New Year!

 

Sincerely,

All of us at Wauna Credit Union

 

995251-sandi-and-malcolm-nock-039-s-flooded-living-room