CU*SOUTH is proud to announce its third conversion for 2015, $105 million ANECA FCU in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1939, the credit union’s underlying mission has been to serve its members’ financial needs and, in turn, bolster their quality of life. Initially, ANECA provided services to select employee groups like AT&T and CenterPoint Energy. Seventy-five years later, ANECA successfully extended its mission to offer membership to a community charter embracing Bossier, Caddo or DeSoto Parishes in northwest Louisiana.

ANECA’s CEO Stephanie Sievers is not new to the CU*BASE^® platform. As former CEO of St. Joseph’s Broadmoor FCU—also in Shreveport—Sievers oversaw that credit union’s transition to CU*SOUTH.

“CU*SOUTH was inspired by the passion and energy that Stephanie brought to her credit union, so we offered St. Joseph’s Broadmoor FCU a Small CU Growth Scholarship program, the very first such scholarship we’ve ever done,” says CU*SOUTH CEO Leo Vaulin. “Our scholarship turned out to be a terrific investment in the future – of two credit unions!”

When it was time for ANECA to begin its core search, Sievers knew what mattered most to her credit union.

“We started with the question, ‘What can you do for our members?’” says Sievers. “A simple question, but nearly impossible for most of the vendors we evaluated to answer. We were not focused on improving the lives of our thirty employees, we were focused on improving the lives of our thousands of members. Leo and the CU*SOUTH team were the only ones to understand what we were trying to accomplish. I am overjoyed to be back in the CU*SOUTH family and we are all excited by what the future holds for us now.”

The credit union says its continued success is largely due to sound business decisions and an avoidance of risky loans and investments. Its achievements allow ANECA to solidify its place in its members’ lives, and it regularly participates in or holds community events like fall festivals, Facebook contests and attends young-professional networking opportunities.

“I look at the way credit unions like ANECA FCU are transforming their interactions with members, and I’m convinced that I’m looking at the future of our industry,” says Mr. Vaulin. “Their message to members is clear, this is not traditional banking where we set rules for you to follow. Tell us what you want to achieve, and we’ll work with you to get it done. It’s about serving a market of one—one member interaction at a time.”

CU*SOUTH looks forward to its continued partnership with Ms. Sievers, as well as reaching a whole new member sector through collaboration with her ANECA FCU employees.