New Location

As you can see by the date in between posts, this blog is no longer active. We have incorporated a new one directly into our website. To view, visit https://www.gcefcu.org/community/money-talks/

Welcome New Teachers and Thanks to All Teachers

As the state's budget was finalized including the $4 billion cut to education funding, the credit union has begun to see the effects first hand. This is new teacher time, a time for our team to show the new teachers that come to our districts that we remain an organization dedicated to serving the financial needs of teachers. We understand teachers because many of us at the credit union are married to teachers or have children that teach and let's not forget our volunteer board of directors who have all worked for our local school districts. Well, new teacher time has certainly changed.

The number of new teacher events we will be participating in has dropped dramatically. The number of new teachers we will honor at these events has dropped even more dramatically. For example, the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce 45th Annual New Teacher Luncheon will host about 150 new teachers which is half the normal number and includes hiring for a new grade level and the newest high school. At that same luncheon we will be honoring teachers who have taught in CCISD for over 25 years. We get to welcome the new and honor and thank the experienced and dedicated teachers at the same time.

It may not feel like it all the time and this may be a strange and unprecedented time in education in this state but as an organization we would like to welcome those few new teachers and thank all teachers for what they do for our community and students. We really do get it.

In Education it's Raining

As news of cuts and possible layoffs increase in our local school districts, we encourage  everyone to contact their state representatives and let them know that in education, it's raining. Let them know that you you expect them to make education a priority and take the appropriate steps to maintain a bright future for our kids.

If you don't know who your representatives are, or for those not on the list, please visit http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

State Senator:
Mike Jackson
http://www.jackson.senate.state.tx.us/#Form

State Representatives:
Ken Legler
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=144&session=82

Wayne Smith
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=128&session=82

Larry Taylor
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=128&session=82

John Davis
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=129&session=82

Remember, if you don't contact your representatives to make your voice heard, they will assume that you agree with their actions.

Education not like Business

We've seen a lot of rhetoric about how the business community has had to tighten its belt and make cuts and education needs to do the same. Many districts have been very proactive when it comes to evaluating where cuts can be made. The news is full of stories of school districts already making cuts and evaluating each and every staff position.

The problem is that education isn't like a business at all. In most cases, a business has to make cuts due to lower demand. Lower demand = Less sales = Less revenue = Need for cuts. The demand for education in our region and Texas in general is growing, not slacking. If education were a like a business, we would expect that in order to meet increased demand, we would actually need to invest greater amounts in staffing and capital.

The current budget crisis has serious implications for education in the state of Texas. Cuts will need to be made but we must urge our legislators to minimize the effects of the budget cuts on education. After all, the demand is increasing and we must look at education as an important investment we can make for our future.

Promising to be trusted source of information

One of our seven service promises is be a trusted source for financial information. We live this out in a number of ways and we have made education a big priority as highlighted by some of the following:

• One obvious way is our financial education webinar series. Visit https://www.gcefcu.org/webinars.php for a complete list. 
• Another is our commitment to provide BALANCE to our members at no charge. This program offers free, confidential financial counseling, budgeting tools, online member education and so much more.
• We require our employees to complete product certification and other online education modules from credit union university on a yearly basis. 
• We belong to trade associations, review industry journals and attend educational meetings on a regular basis. 

There are other ways that we that we try to be a trusted source of information that doesn't necessarily have to do directly with financial matters. We are an education credit union as such, we try to stay informed on issues that could affect our school district partners.  School funding is certainly one of those issues. Several of the management staff will be going to Austin as part of different affiliations we have and we will share our message and concern over school funding.

We will chronicle one such trip to Austin on our facebook page on February 16th. We'd also invite our members to get involved this year as the legislature meets at this critical time.

We promise to be a trusted and accurate source for financial information

One of the ways we plan on living up to this promise this new year is through a series of webinars about financial topics that can benefit our members. Our first in this series is about the wise use of credit cards and credit in general. We want our members to be informed and have all of the tools they need to be better consumers of financial products and services.

Topics that will be covered in the coming months:

• College Financing 101
• Identity Theft
• Personal Finances for College Students
• Psychology of Spending
• Solving the Mystery of Credit Reports

In addition to these, we are considering a monthly webinar about our online banking and billpay to keep members informed about all of the features and new options.

A part of living up to this service promise is making sure that we are providing the types of information our members need. That's where you come in. Please let us know if you have any questions or want more information about a specific topic. If enough people ask, we may just be able to present a webinar on that topic.

Taking Ownership

I can think of no better example of one of our employees taking ownership than the following account:

One of our loan officer refinanced a vehicle for a member that was originally financed through Ally Bank (formerly GMAC - the financing arm of GM). He was able to payoff the loan and save the member money on interest. After the vehicle was paid off by the credit union he followed up to obtain the title. He was told that he was on his own in obtaining that because Ally did not have it. I suppose he took it personally and decided to take complete ownership. He took time on his lunch hour to drive into Houston to get a duplicate title. In order to complete this on the member's behalf, he first had to have them sign some paperwork. In order to make it easy on the member he dropped by their house on the way to do the title work.

Examples of employees taking ownership happen every day at the credit union. After all, it is one of our service promises. This example, however, shows how far some will go to take ownership of your request. Let us know if you come across an example of one of our employees taking ownership of your request. We'd love to recognize them for their efforts.