Arizona State Credit Union, Phoenix, was recognized by the Public Relations Society of America during its Copper Anvil Awards for its excellence in public relations. The credit union received this award for its HelpingAZ.com campaign, which was entered in the “Corporate Social Responsibility: Government, Associations and Non-Profits” category. Arizona State Credit Union created the HelpingAZ.com website to bring together Arizona State employees and university employees who had been affected by the poor economy, layoffs and furloughs and offer them a place where they could voice their thoughts, opinions and helpful tips. The Copper Anvil Awards identify public relations campaigns that incorporate effective research, planning, execution and evaluation.

California Credit Union League, Sacramento, Calif., presented its 2010 Community Outreach Awards in September to Episcopal Community Federal Credit Union CEO Urla Abrigo, Travis Credit Union and Mission SF Federal Credit Union.

Abrigo, who heads the Los Angeles, Calif.-based Episcopal Community Federal Credit Union, was the recipient in the individual category. Travis Credit Union in Vacaville, Calif. won in the category for credit unions with assets exceeding $100 million, while Mission SF Federal Credit Union in San Francisco, Calif. won in the category for credit unions with assets less than $100 million. The awards are presented to those who demonstrate an understanding of the importance of credit union membership and financial education, and an awareness of the diverse and underserved groups within their community.

The Credit Union Executives Society, Madison, Wis., announced the winners of its Golden Mirror Awards for marketing excellence. The Rookie of the Year award went to the marketing department of FirstOntario Credit Union in Hamilton, Ontario; Lisa Fawcett of Co-op Services Credit Union in Livonia, Mich., took the Best of Show award; and the Golden Shoestring award went to Alabama Telco Credit Union of Birmingham, Ala., for developing a highly successful marketing strategy within the constraints of a shoestring budget. An award in the outdoor category for credit unions of all sizes was given to 1st Financial Federal Credit Union.

CUES itself also received awards last month, in the 2010 Awards for Publication Excellence competition, sponsored by the editors of Writing That Works. Its Credit Union Management magazine won in the Best Redesign category; its CUESeVote service was recognized in the Special Purpose Design and Illustration category and the 2010 CUES Marketing Planner received an award in the Media Kit category.

Crescent Credit Union, Brockton, Mass., received a five-star rating from BauerFinancial Inc., a rating service for financial institutions that has been analyzing and reporting on the financial condition of the nation's banking industry since 1983. The star ratings classify each credit union based upon a complex formula that factors in relevant data such as capital, historical trends, loan delinquencies, differences in the book and market values of the investment portfolio, profitability, repossessed assets, reserves, charge-offs, regulatory compliance and asset quality. The rating reflects that Crescent is a safe, financially sound credit union, operating well above its regulatory capital requirements.

CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union, Alexandria, Va., was awarded second place in its asset size at the state level for the 2010 Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Recognition Program. The Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Program promotes social responsibility among credit unions and formally recognizes those credit unions' social achievements within their communities. Some of the projects the credit union was involved with included Alexandria City Public Schools, City of Alexandria Hispanic Community, Rebuilding Together Alexandria, Walk to Fight Breast Cancer, Spring for Alexandria, and CommonWealth One's Community Shred Day.

CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wis., was named to this year's InformationWeek 500, an exclusive annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. The 2010 list was announced Sept. 15 at the InformationWeek 500 Conference in Dana Point, Calif. The organization ranked number 208, and has now made the list for a total of eight years. The group notes that their application for the award featured new enhancements to the software for loanliner.com, their Internet lending tool.

GFA Federal Credit Union, Gardner, Mass., announced that one of its members, Steven Dubzinski, won a national contest offered by CULookup.com, which asked credit union members to submit short written or video essays explaining why their credit union is great. Dubzinski, one of approximately 1000 contest entrants-78 of which were from GFA FCU-won $500 for his poem describing a typical lifelong GFA membership.

Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, Harrisburg, Penn., was recently chosen as a 2010 Family Favorite by Central Penn Parent Magazine. Readers of this popular publication voted for the credit union because they felt PSECU was a great value for financial products and services.

SELCO Community Credit Union, Eugene, Ore., was honored in late August by the Lane Workforce Partnership for its investment in the local workforce. The award recognizes the credit union's competitive compensation package that includes a 401K plan, the opportunity to participate in a wellness program, employee assistance and life balance programs. In addition, SELCO offers in-house training to help employees further their careers and reimbursement for business and finance certifications. Lane Workforce also recognized SELCO's internship programs for local youth, including one that allows for school credits.

Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union, Aberdeen, Md., announced that its chairman David H. Gilbert was honored with the National Association of Credit Union Chairmen's 2010 Eugene Ball Award during the 34th Annual Chairmen's Roundtable Forum in Baltimore. A longtime member of The Chairmen's Group, Gilbert received the award in front of a group of his credit union peers from across the country. The plaque's inscription honors Gilbert for his “commitment to country, credit unions and The Chairmen's Group.”

Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Peoria, Ill., announce that Jay Flanagan, an insurance agent with CEFCU Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the credit union, was among a select group of insurance professionals of local, independent insurance agencies to be recognized as a High Achiever by Travelers Personal Insurance. The Travelers High Achiever award is designed to recognize insurance agency employees who display superior levels of customer service, demonstrate leadership skills, encourage teamwork among their peers and contribute to the overall success of their agencies.

The Credit Union League of Connecticut, Meriden, Conn., announced that its Financial Reality Fair program won the national Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award for Leagues for the 2009-2010 school year. The fair is an educational experience for high school students, who research their career choice and starting salary prior to the fair date. They are provided with a budget worksheet identifying their career choice and then must live within the starting salary for the month while living on their own during the fair. The Financial Reality Fair was created as part of REAL Solutions, a national credit union program focused on creating opportunities for those of limited means.

CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wis., recognized three credit unions for their lending prowess at the CUNA Lending Council's 16th annual conference in Las Vegas. Oregon Community Credit Union of Eugene, Ore. and Erie Federal Credit Union of Erie, Penn. won awards in the category for credit unions with more than $250 million in assets, while NorthCountry Federal Credit Union of South Burlington, Vt. won in the category for credit unions of low or modest means. CUNA Mutual established the Excellence in Lending Awards in 2000 to recognize credit unions that have implemented outstanding lending programs while demonstrating sound financial performance.

CUNA Technology Council, Madison, Wis., announced the winners of its 2010 Best Practices Award at the Council's 15th Annual Conference, which took place Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Las Vegas. The award recognizes outstanding approaches to technological challenges with potential for universal application across the credit union movement. In the information security/privacy category, the award went to Affinity Plus FCU in Saint Paul, Minn. In the member service/convenience category, the winner was Travis CU in Vacaville, Calif. Two additional awards of miscellaneous category were given to Envision CU in Tallahassee, Fla. and to Affinity Plus FCU.

Oregon State University Federal Credit Union, Corvallis, Ore., was awarded high honors for its outreach efforts at the annual Credit Union Association of Oregon awards banquet on Oct. 6 in Portland. OSU Federal was honored as the best in the large credit union category for both the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award and the Alphonse Desjardins Youth Financial Award categories.

San Antonio Credit Union, San Antonio, announced that Charles D. Lutz, IV, a registered representative affiliated with broker-dealer and Registered Investment Adviser CUSO Financial Services, LP was a recipient of CFS's 2009 Gold Pacesetter Award at the CFS “Break On Through 2010″ annual conference, held in San Diego. Lutz is credited with generating significant revenue while providing high quality financial and retirement planning services to SACU members. He has served the credit union membership as a registered representative through the SACU Investment Center for six years.

State Employees' Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C., was among six financial institutions named as 2010 Go Direct Champions by the US Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service. The recognition came for the credit union's role in encouraging direct deposit among federal benefit check recipients. Financial institutions with a minimum of 100 branches were eligible to participate in the program, and 19 organizations representing more than 25,000 branches nationwide joined in the campaign. Programs were tracked for increases in social security and supplemental security income ACH payments over an eight-month period.

Virginia Educators Credit Union, Newport News, Va., has won a first-place state-level award in the Desjardins Youth Financial Education Awards for credit unions for the third year in a row. The Desjardins Award, sponsored by the Virginia Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association, honors credit unions for their commitment to teaching personal finance basics to young people. The credit union was recognized for giving the highest number of presentations of any credit union in the state of Virginia, totaling 166 to over 3,000 students.