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13th Annual TVFCU Golf Tournament Benefiting STARS
You're invited to participate in the 12th Annual TVFCU Golf Tournament Benefiting STARS (Students Taking A Right Stand) Monday, August 31 at Black Creek.
STARS is the official Safe and Drug-free Schools program of the Hamilton County Department of Education and works daily in area schools to help students refrain from using drugs and violence. STARS programming is also available in Marion and Bradley Counties.
Click Here for Sponsorship Levels
TVFCU and Partners Announce Plans for Riverbend Beach
Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union is teaming up with Riverbend, WDEF News 12, and The Doubletree Hotel to present Riverbend Beach, the festival's newest attraction. "Coming to Riverbend and going to the beach are favorite summer traditions for many families. Now you can enjoy them both at Riverbend Beach," says W. Blake Strickland, TVFCU's President & CEO.
Located right on Riverfront Parkway at the Walnut Street Bridge, Riverbend Beach will feature a 100-ton sand sculpture created by Team Sandtastic of Sarasota, Florida during the first six days of the festival. The sculpture will be a creative representation of the sights and sounds of Riverbend. "We're excited to work with our partners to bring this new experience to our community," added Strickland. To see pictures of Team Sandtastic's creations go to www.teamsandtastic.com.
Riverbend Beach visitors can view the sculpture up close from the TVFCU's deck or step inside their air-conditioned Mobile Experience and register to win a five-night, six-day vacation at the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront Hotel, provided by Doubletree Hotel, Chattanooga. WDEF News 12 will be broadcasting the nightly news live from Riverbend Beach and offering free souvenir beach photos that can be emailed to family and friends. Kids will enjoy the Creative Discovery Museum's sandbox, where they can try their hand at sand sculpting or paint their own beach visor. The Team Sandtastic sculptors will also be there each night at 5:00 p.m. to offer free sand sculpting lessons.
In the movie, "Pay It Forward", a young boy is challenged by his teacher to do something that will change the world. He decides that instead of repaying kind deeds, he will pay them forward by doing something nice for someone else. When beginning work on this project, TVFCU contacted Monteagle Sand and Gravel whose owner, Bill Ramsey, immediately caught the vision of "Riverbend Beach" and offered to donate the sand. TVFCU contacted Carlock Construction, who volunteered to remove the sand, free of charge and deliver it to the City of Chickamauga's recreational ball fields, allowing hundreds of children and youth to benefit from "Riverbend Beach" once the festival is over. "This is another great example of local companies working together to benefit the community and it illustrates our credit union philosophy of People Helping People," added Strickland.
This year's Riverbend Festival is June 5-13.
73rd Annual Meeting
Creative Communities...Build Opportunities
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
The Hunters Museum of Art
Free Museum Tour at 6 pm
Business Meeting at 7:30 pm
FRee valet parking | Free refreshments | Don't miss it!
Abusive Member Policy
The Board of Directors adopted this policy in order to protect the employees, patrons, and members of Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU) from members or other persons that disrupt TVFCU's operations or engage in harassing, offensive or abusive conduct.
Authority to Place Limits and Restrictions on Service to Abusive Members:
A. The Board of Directors authorizes Management (upon prior review with the Board) to limit, restrict or deny any or all services to a member (other than the right to maintain a share account and the right to vote at annual meetings and at special meetings) that engages or participates in harassing, offensive, or abusive conduct or otherwise disrupts TVFCU's operations. Such harassing, offensive or abusive conduct includes, without limitation, the following acts or omissions:
- any hostile, abusive or threatening conduct or other action presenting a threat to the safety of TVFCU employees, volunteers, or other members;
- any illegal or otherwise unlawful conduct or activity on any property maintained by TVFCU or otherwise relating to TVFCU's operations;
- any use of deposit accounts, services, or facilities for any illegal purpose;
- any failure to observe or to comply with the terms of any contracts or agreements with TVFCU and applicable policies;
- any act or omission which causes, directly or indirectly, any harm, injury or loss to TVFCU or its employees;
- any harassment, including age, sexual, ethnic, religious or racial harassment, and
- any racial, sexual, ethnic or other offensive statements directed to or at TVFCU's members or employees;
B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, TVFCU reserves the right to expel a member consistent with its bylaws and the Federal Credit Union Act and accompanying regulations upon two-thirds vote of the members present at a special meeting called for the purpose of expelling such member. Additionally, in order to preserve and protect the safety of its employees and its members, TVFCU reserves any and all rights and remedies, whether at law or in equity, it may have against any abusive members, including, without limitation, the right to seek in a court of competent jurisdiction injunctive relief prohibiting any member from engaging in abusive, offensive or harassing conduct.
Management is further authorized, in connection with the denial of service to an abusive member, to prohibit the abusive member from any contact, direct or indirect, with any TVFCU employees or volunteers and from any access to any premises, property or branch maintained by TVFCU.
A Message From Your CEO
In these challenging economic times I wanted to let you know that your Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU) continues to post outstanding financial results and we are stronger than ever.
First of all unlike a number of other financial institutions who engaged in sub-prime Real Estate lending your TVFCU continued to follow our proven underwriting criteria that allowed us to meet the borrowing needs of our members without unneeded risk.
In addition here are a few things you should know about the safety of your deposits at TVFCU.
All deposits are federally insured to at least $100,000 (increased to $250,000 on 10/7/08) by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Dollar for dollar, the NCUA is the strongest federal insurance agency in the country. Not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a member of a federally insured credit union. http://www.ncua.gov/Publications/brochures/insured funds/funds.pdf
It's also important to note that TVFCU money market accounts are very different from the money market funds sold through investment banks. Ours are backed by the capital and financial health of TVFCU and do not hold investments in any corporations.
As for our growth, with assets up by more than 10% this year, 2008 will rank as one of the strongest in our seventy-one year history. And at a healthy 13.50%, TVFCU's capital ratio is significantly higher than that of most commercial banks.
Because we are a consumer cooperative, TVFCU is focused on you, our member/owners, not stockholders. Earnings are returned to you in the form of lower rates on loans, higher rates on savings, and lower fees. (Credit Unions Are Safe and Sound)
Despite what you may hear about the situations of other financial institutions, TVFCU is in a strong financial position and well prepared for the future. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to give us a call at 423-634-3600 locally or toll-free at 1-800-634-3600. Thanks for your continued support.
Sincerely,
W. Blake Strickland
President & CEO
Credit Unions Are Safe and Sound
Presented by Credit Union National Assn. (CUNA), Washington, DC/July, 2008
Credit unions as a whole are healthy, with strong balance sheets.
Credit unions are well capitalized. Their overall capital-to-asset ratio stands at a very solid 11.1% (compared to 10% for banks). In dollars, that's a capital cushion of $90 billion. (TVFCU capital-to-asset ratio stands at 13.70%)
Credit union mortgage delinquencies at the end of the first quarter stood at only 0.7%. First mortgage charge-offs were a miniscule 0.06%. (TVFCU mortgage delinquency and charge-offs are basically non-existent!)
More broadly, credit union loan delinquencies have edged up, but still are at a very low 1.0%. (TVFCU's is even lower at .06%!)
Credit unions have steered clear of the subprime mess. We're still lending responsibly.
In the first four months of 2008, mortgages at credit unions grew faster than all other loans. This at a time when mortgage losses have forced other lenders to scale back or close their doors entirely.
Why? For one thing, credit unions operate more conservatively and tend to hold more of their mortgage loans (about 70% in fact) in portfolio rather than sell them to Fannie and Freddie on the secondary market.
Secondly, credit unions are member-owned and not-for-profit cooperatives. We exist to serve our members, not profit from them. Unlike the banks and brokers, we're not out to force loans on our members just to make a quick buck.
Today 56% of credit unions offer first mortgages, and 90% of the nation's 90 million credit union members belong to one of the credit unions that offer first mortgage loans.
To the extent credit unions have been impacted by the subprime debacle, it's primarily as "collateral damage"- members having trouble making payments on other loans because of subprime mortgage they've gotten elsewhere, or because some members are losing their jobs in today's down economy.
But credit unions went into this with very strong balance sheets, and will still be in very strong shape when it's over.
Credit unions are a safe harbor for consumer savings.
Savings at credit unions so far this year have grown nearly 7%. In today's economy, consumers are increasing their savings in response to concerns about their economic future. (TVFCU deposits have grown 12.02% so far this year)
More people seeking to put their money in a stable source offering good rates are turning to credit unions.
As not for profit cooperatives, credit unions typically offer higher savings rates than banks. For a daily rate comparison, go to this link: http://www.creditunion.coop/ratedex.php
Consumers saved $10.9 billion last year by using credit unions rather than banks. The savings come in the form of lower fees, higher savings rates and lower loan rates. That works out to about $126 per credit union member or $239 per household.
Federal insurance covers credit unions, too.
All credit unions in this state are federally insured by a fund that, like the FDIC, is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
As the FDIC does for banks, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) insures a person's savings up to at least $100,000 (increased to $250,000 on 10/7/08) -- with higher total coverage available if the member has a combination of individual, joint, trust, payable-on-death and other types of accounts; there is also separate insurance coverage of up to $250,000 for individual retirement accounts.
The NCUSIF is administered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an agency of the federal government. To determine insurance coverage, see the NCUA's insurance estimator at: http:// webapps.ncua.gov/ins/
The NCUA recently reported that the NCUSIF at mid-year remained strong, with an equity-to-insured deposits ratio estimated at 1.24% as of June 30 and projected to rise to 1.28% by year end.
For more information on federal share insurance, see the NCUA brochure "Your Insured Funds," available at the link here: http://www.ncua.gov/Publications/brochures/insured_funds/funds.pdf