Corporate History by Kruchak Creative

Strength Through Service Casera Credit Union 1951-2011

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Casera Credit Union was founded on the shoulders of 10 individuals who understood the value of cooperation and community. Their vision is our inspiration. Our success is their legacy.

Casera Credit Union

1951-2011

The Promise of Prosperity In the early months of 1951, a group of 10 tradesmen gathered one day at lunch in the boiler shop of the CNR Transcona Shops. What brought the men together was a shared notion of forming an employee-managed credit union, and they eagerly discussed the merits of investing $5 each for an opportunity to borrow and save money.

Transcona Credit Union was forged in the CNR Shops, which are a vital part of the community.

To the CNR employees who met that day — Walter Alam, Harry Brown, Charles Burkett, Robert Davison, Arthur Everton, Eric Hansen, Thomas Herling, Walter Keen, Peter Mathewson and Michael Tomkiw — a credit union promised a fresh financial start for young post-war families who often found it difficult to save money and acquire loans through banks. Through their own initiative, they were forging a cooperative organization that placed as much value on a person’s character as their collateral.

The Transcona Credit Union Society was incorporated on February 19, 1951, and its first meeting was held in March. Arthur Everton was elected president. By the end of the year, there were 317 members and the credit union’s assets were $5,168. Sixty years later, Casera Credit Union has a membership of 11,000 members and $244.5 million in assets. Despite this remarkable growth, the credit union remains focused on what was important to its founders — providing financial services that help enrich the lives of members and their communities.

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At the heart of our success Since 1951, Casera Credit Union has grown significantly and along the way we’ve earned our members’ trust by developing innovative financial solutions designed to meet their individual needs — walk-up tellers in 1970, drive-thru ATMs in 1995 and mobile banking in 2009.

Sixty Years of Executive Leadership

Arthur Everton, President from 1951-1953 & 1955

Jack Schmidt, President in 1954 & from 1956-1959

in 1960

Peter Mathewson, President from 1963-1965

Richard ‘Bud’ Carruthers, President from 1966-1977

from 1978-1994

As financial products, services and technology evolved over the decades, one part of our day-to-day operation has remained constant — face-to-face service. In our three branches, this personalized service continues to be a priority, as important today as it was when we first operated out of a small trailer on Bond Street, north of the CNR Shops’ main gate.

Harold Orchard, President

Ronald Ward, President from 1961-1962

Edward Boorsma, President

Dave Abel, President from 1995-present

Over the years, Casera has benefited from the wise stewardship of our boards of directors, men and women from our membership whose dedication to the principles of cooperative enterprise has ensured ongoing success. Their commitment is reflected in the leadership of our presidents, eight men whose vision and vitality has guided our credit union through six decades of challenge and change.

Casera Credit Union

1951-2011

Our Neighbourhoods are Important Whether it’s been supporting the Transcona Hi Neighbour Festival since its inception in 1965, participating in annual campaigns for United Way of Winnipeg, assisting Save Our Seine with the clean up of the Seine River in south St. Vital, helping develop Buhler Recreation Park in south Transcona, or championing people with developmental disabilities by sponsoring the Casera Walk With L’Arche, our goal has always been to help enhance the communities we do business in.

Supporting our youth is also a focus for our credit union. In 1972, we established a bursary program for deserving area high school students and in 1997, we helped set up Titan Credit Union, our award-winning youth branch at Transcona Collegiate Institute. In 2009, Casera joined forces with the Firefighters Burn Fund to sponsor a Grade 3 fire safety project in local schools.

Together with the Firefighters Burn Fund, Casera co-sponsors a fire safety program in area schools. Titan Credit Union teaches cooperative values and provides leadership opportunities to Transcona Collegiate students.

Since 2007, Casera has supported Save Our Seine in their efforts to protect, preserve and clean up Winnipeg’s Seine River.

Every year, Casera helps ensure the success of the Hi Neighbour Festival.

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A Commitment to Growth & Stability Sixty years ago, passbooks were issued to members to keep track of their finances and a typewriter was the only piece of office equipment the credit union required. A lot has changed at Casera Credit Union since then — we went from manually recording credits, debits and balances in the 1950s to being the first credit union in Manitoba to utilize an online network in 1984 to installing a leading edge computer banking system in 2009 — but we still cherish the one-to-one relationships we have with our members. Rooted in Transcona, Casera’s neighbourhood branches — first at 208 Bond Street, then 108 Bond Street, and now at 1300 Plessis Road and 630 Kildare Avenue East — have been vital businesses in a vibrant community. In 2006, we took advantage of an opportunity to grow our credit union outside its existing market and established a new branch in the Southglen neighbourhood of St. Vital. To reflect our expansion to a new market area, we changed our name from Transcona Credit Union to Casera Credit Union. Our new slogan — Your Life. Your Future — became an affirmation of our ongoing commitment to growth and stability. 1300 Plessis Road – Casera’s main branch since 1977.

8-630 Kildare Avenue East – our second branch opened in 1994.

720 St. Anne’s Road – in 2006, we expanded to south St. Vital.

Casera Credit Union

1951-2011

We’re Inspired to Succeed In its first year of operation, our fledgling credit union served 317 CNR workers and their families. By the end of 1951, the credit union’s assets totaled $5,168, an amount that signaled not only a successful start but a hopeful future as well. Our credit union’s prospects grew even more when membership became available to all residents of Transcona in 1954, and then again when the bond of association was opened to everyone in 1963.

Casera is dedicated to exceptional member service and solid financial growth.

By 1964 we had achieved $1 million in assets, thanks to 13 years of steady membership increases and corresponding financial growth. Thirty years later, in 1994, our solid financial position allowed us to offer a member equity plan that allocated a portion of the credit union’s profits to members in the form of surplus shares. Since then, Casera’s member equity plan has returned over $3 million to members. Today, our membership stands at 11,000 and our assets total $244.5 million. Sixty years after its unassuming launch, Casera Credit Union remains inspired by the seeds of prosperity that were planted by its 10 charter members.

Members

Assets

1951 317 ....................................................... $5,168 1961 1,584 ................................................... $667,891 1971 3,049 .............................................. $2,620,865 1981 4,669 ............................................. $12,795,017 1991 4,441 ............................................. $38,672,451 2001 8,526 .............................................. $71,183,614 2011 11,000 .......................................... $244,545,029

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Courtesy of Tra nscona Histo

Timeline 1951-1963

rical Museum

The CNR Shop