Great article about the new Vashon Credit Union and Move Your Money

[eridani]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-vashon-credit-union-20120504,0,4418565,full.story

It would be hard to imagine a place further removed from the brash intensity of Occupy Wall Street. This secluded island of fir forests and rolling lavender fields — home to 23 organic farms, a tofu factory and a monastery that markets its own gourmet coffee — has always been a counterculture retreat for those who bike to the sound of different drummers.

Yet a continent away — a whole world away, really — from New York, this small island of 11,000 residents has become one of the darlings of the Move your Money campaign, an Occupy effort to hit corporate banking where it hurts: the ledgers.

The movement has spurred thousands of Americans to move their accounts out of mega-banks, but many have had to resort instead to big regional credit unions. Here, a group of hard-core Vashon activists, already seasoned in anticorporate campaigns, hit on the idea of merging with a small credit union to create a new branch on the island.

That office has managed, in its first year of operation, to enroll an astonishing 16% of the population and collect local deposits of almost $20 million.

[eridani]

1. Credit union annual meeting in Bellevue 1/24

PSCCU's annual membership meeting is January 24. Last month, PSCCU was notified by a firm that tracks credit union performance that PSCCU ranked 3rd in the nation for membership growth, and 5th in the nation for loan expansion. Many of Backbone's Vashon members are also now members of the credit union. The addition of the Vashon branch has been a transformative opportunity for PSCCU, and has included significant challenges to which the executive staff, branch employees, and board have faced with skill and grace. The membership meeting will be an opportunity to express your support, gratitude, and suggestions for the coming years.

PSCCU's annual membership meeting is 5:15 PM, January 24 at the PSE Auditorium ( MAP) in Bellevue, WA.