Saturday, August 29, 2015

NCOFCU Annual Meeting & Election

Notification of Annual Meeting & Election

Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the members and Election results of NCOFCU will be held Saturday October 10th, 2015, 10:00 AM at NCOFCU’s Annual Meeting & Educational Conference in Nashville, TN.

Directors Election

The Board of Directors Election will be held by electronic ballot and the results will be announced at the Annual Meeting.

  • Nominations for the 3 recurring positions up for re-election are required to be either a staff member or volunteer of a paid member credit union.
  • Apply through the Nominating Committee by completing the Directors application on-line at; Directors Application   no later than 9/11/2015 11:59 p.m.

Protecting and preserving the vision and purpose of firefighter credit unions is paramount to the continued success of the firefighter credit union movement. The National Coalition of Firefighter's Credit Unions Inc. (NCOFCU), a 501 c 3 not for profit, is the only organization exclusively representing firefighters and their credit unions.  The coalition meets once a year at their annual conference and continues their established relationships through NCOFCU's Website, Newsroom, Facebook and Twitter This exclusive networking leads to the continued discussions of best business practices, products and services which cannot be found anywhere else.

Membership in NCOFCU is a great opportunity for your credit union to protect and preserve the vision and purpose of Firefighters and their Credit Unions by joining the coalition. Membership Application

Sincerely,

Grant Sheehan Executive Director/CEO
National Coalition of Firefighters Credit Unions Inc.
305-951-3306
grant@ncofcu.org

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Minutes Show Fed Believes Economy ‘Approaching The Point’ Of A Rate Increase

 

SlideWASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials believe the economy is “approaching the point” where “policy firming” will be needed—in other words, the point at which it will see a need to raise short-term interest rates.

The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its July meeting yesterday with its members indicating they are still waiting on more evidence the economy has returned to solid footing before they will move on rates.

“Most judged that the conditions for policy firming had not yet been achieved, but they noted that conditions were approaching that point,” the released minutes state, adding nearly all of the FOMC committee members said “they would need to see more evidence that economic growth was sufficiently strong.”

Short-term interest rates have been near zero since the financial crisis, and regulators and other analysts have been cautioning credit unions for more than a year to prepare for a rate increase that has yet to materialize. Analysts continue to say they believe the Fed will move before year-end to raise short-term rates.

“Many members thought that labor market underutilization would be largely eliminated in the near term if economic activity evolved as they expected,” the minutes said.

The Federal Reserve has said it anticipates inflation will increase in the months ahead. Prices, excluding energy and food, are up 1.8% this year over 2014.

The minutes show that most committee members, including Chairwoman Janet Yellen, say they do not see a need to wait for prices to continue to increase before they would favor raising rates.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Boston Fire Dept. Gets Cancer Awareness Program

www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

All,

The Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN) announced today it is providing occupational cancer awareness and prevention training to the Boston Fire Department (BFD). Since Commissioner Joe Finn  took the reigns, among numerous leadership changes, CANCER and his IAFF Local 718 Firefighters have become a major priority.

As you know, cancer is

the leading cause

of firefighter line-of-duty deaths in the United States. Cancer caused 60 percent of line-of-duty deaths for career firefighters between 2002-2014, according to International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) data. Naturally, volunteer and call Firefighters across North America even more so increase the overall numbers. DO YOU REALIZE:

Cancer has caused 67 (SIXTY SEVEN) percent of the Boston Fire Department's line-of-duty deaths for the same period....

"Boston firefighters develop cancer at a rate two-and-a-half times higher than other Boston residents," said BFD Commissioner Joseph Finn. "We have recognized cancer's effect on our firefighters, and FCSN's department-wide prevention training is an important part of our ongoing, comprehensive safety, health, and wellness program."

FCSN collaborated with Finn and leaders of IAFF Local 718 to bring its cancer-prevention training to Boston. "Since 1990, the Boston Fire Department has lost 160 members to cancer,"

said Richard Paris, president of IAFF Local 718. "It's a staggering number. We know that cancer is killing our members, and we're making a collaborative effort to save the lives of Boston firefighters. FCSN's training focuses on preventive measures the department and firefighters can take to reduce exposure to carcinogens and help avoid contracting this deadly disease."

FCSN President Bryan Frieders, a division chief with the San Gabriel (CA) Fire Department, praised Boston's collaborative, aggressive approach to reducing firefighters' occupational cancer risk. "Addressing the occupational cancer epidemic requires a cultural change for the fire service," Frieders said.

"Joe Finn and Richie Paris are leading from the front. Their work together with FCSN illustrates how effective labor-management relationships can be to enhance the safety and well-being of firefighters."

FCSN's training for the Boston Fire Department's 1,400 members began in July. Russell Osgood, a firefighter with the Portsmouth (NH) Fire Department and an FCSN state director, is FCSN's lead instructor for the Boston training. The Boston training is part of an FCSN pilot program funded by a FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety grant. FCSN's firefighter cancer prevention pilot combines FCSN's proven awareness and prevention training with a new train-the-trainer component. The train-the-trainer component will help FCSN ensure consistent, accurate education delivered with highly personal interaction by fellow firefighters and other qualified instructors. Please direct inquiries about FCSN's firefighter cancer prevention pilot to Tim Elliott

attelliott@fcsn.net.

FCSN's 2013 white paper, "Taking Action Against Cancer in the Fire Service," provides lifesaving details about recognizing and reducing firefighters' cancer risks. An excerpt with 11 immediate actions firefighters should take to protect themselves, their families, and their fellow firefighters is available as a free download from http://bit.ly/1HH4zVA. The full white paper is available as a free download HERE:

http://www.firefightercancersupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Taking-Action-against-Cancer-in-the-Fire-Service.pdf

Take Care. Be Careful. Pass it On.

BillyG

The Secret List 8-3-2015-1445 hours

www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=4162d8d3-c4f6-4310-b07e-bc631cc9fc2b&c=6a2ac1a0-cd33-11e3-b78e-d4ae527b79b7&ch=6b20e170-cd33-11e3-b7e0-d4ae527b79b7