Press
Houston Credit Union takes young professionals initiative by storm
HOUSTON, TX (April 13, 2015) — United Community, a credit union located in the Houston area, is the driving force in a young professional’s movement much larger than the community it serves. Since the inception of “YPvested,” an internal young professionals group, the credit union’s youngest staff members have become highly involved in both the credit union movement, and the strategic growth of their own financial institution.
Senior Management at United Community has charged their young staffers with the responsibility of investing in the future of their organization by creating opportunities for professional and personal growth. This movement has paid dividends since its start, with United Community’s young staffers earning spots in the coveted “Crash the GAC” program, as well as earning an Advisory Director position on Cornerstone Credit Union League’s board of directors.
The “Crash the GAC” program is an initiative led by CUNA, which selects highly qualified young credit union staffers to attend the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, DC. These young professionals work directly with political leaders and ultimately affect change regarding economic issues. Members of United Community’s YPvested group have been selected for this program for the past two consecutive years.
In addition to both regional and national accomplishments made by United Community’s young professionals, these individuals also have an impact on their local community. Having accumulated over 150 volunteer hours during the initiative’s first year, both members and non-members of the credit union anticipate seeing these friendly and familiar faces at all financial literacy seminars, career days and local school district events. “The community that we serve is our biggest motivation,” said Josh Atkinson, United Community Risk Specialist and Cornerstone Credit Union League’s newest Young Professional Associate Director. “Securing the future of credit unions is not only vital to the growth of our business, but it’s also the right thing to do.”
United Community understands the importance of helping young professionals become involved with the credit union movement as a whole as well. With this knowledge, senior management makes a point to include young professionals on committees that help with strategic planning, staff training and business development. “It is the responsibility of every credit union to get their young professionals both engaged and involved,” said United Community CFO Malcolm Rene. “They are the future of credit unions and it’s important for them to be a part of the decision-making process and for them to understand the principles that guide this movement.”
As a result of this new workplace program, as well as their increased visibility in the community, United Community was awarded “Best Places to Work” in 2014 by the Houston Business Journal. They were also awarded “Business of the Year” by their local chamber of commerce.
United Community Credit Union is a full-service financial institution founded in 1950 to serve the employees of the Galena Park Independent School District. Today the credit union serves over 10,000 member-owners and has over $89 million in assets. For more information, visit www.unitedccu.com.