Serving Only Firefighters and Their Families Since 1934 | |
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2025 Credit Union Annual Meeting & Dinner
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Spokane City Center
322 North Spokane Falls Court
February 1st - 6 PM
Tickets are on sale now and are only $20 for members and $40 for non-members. You won’t be able to have fun like this for twice the price! Seats are limited, so be sure to buy yours early by calling or visiting the credit union.
Spokane Firefighters Credit Union’s Annual Meeting and Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, February 1st. The party is once again hosted by the DoubleTree by Hilton in Downtown Spokane who has done such a great job for us in the past. This is our biggest member appreciation event of the year and we would love to see a packed house!
Cocktail hour is set for 6pm with the credit union business meeting to follow at 7 o’clock. Dinner will be served immediately after the meeting, followed by a few brief credit union announcements. No dinner ticket purchase is required to attend business meeting. The rest of the evening will be filled with music, dancing, and prizes!
The Spokane County Firefighter Pipes and Drums, who are truly integral to the firefighter community, will start things off with a stirring performance. Tommy Heckler will share displays and memorabilia from the Spokane Fire Department Museum, so please plan on spending a few minutes to enjoy the excellent collection of fire service history.
For every table of eight your fire station fills, you will be entered to win a $200 gift card for your Fire House! Make sure to inform CU staff that you are reserving as an entire station table.
There are a limited number of discounted rooms available, starting at $144/night + discounted event parking. Call the DoubleTree by Hilton at 509-455-9600 or use the button below to reserve your room early, as the discounted block rooms fill up quickly.
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Credit Union Elections
The second cooperative principle of credit unions states that credit unions are democratic organizations owned and controlled by their members, one member one vote, with equal opportunity for participation in setting policies and making decisions. It is once again election time at the credit union.
There are two Board positions and one Supervisory Committee position up for election in 2025.
Members seeking election are asked to fill out a volunteer application. Applicants must be willing to serve, be able to donate their time, be a member in good standing, and be age 18 or older. All applicants will be required to meet with the nominating/election committee for a brief interview and explanation of what the position involves including monthly board meetings, training requirements, events, phone calls and participation in e-mail discussions amongst the board.
Associate Board member opportunities may be available for credit union members that want to be involved but do not necessarily wish to run for a board position at this time.
Members wanting to run for a Board or Supervisory Committee position or to volunteer as an associate member, please email elections@firecu.net for instructions and more information.
Timeline for 2025 Credit Union Elections
January 2nd - 10th - Applications Accepted
January 13th - 17th - Interviews with Elections Committee
January 20th - 24th - Voting Online and Electronically in Branch
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1099-INT and 1098 Tax Forms
Your 1099-INT statements will be printed as part of your December credit union paper statement. If you receive e-statements in ItsMe247 online banking, you will find the 1099-INT form included in your December e-statement. There will not be a separate mailing for these forms so please check your statements for this important year-end tax info.
During the month of January, members with Spokane Firefighters Credit Union Mortgages will be mailed their 1098 tax forms showing mortgage interest paid for 2024.
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From Your CEO - Gayle Furness
2024 was another exciting and eventful year here at the Spokane Firefighters Credit Union. We started the year by celebrating our 90th Anniversary! Celebrating 90 years of service was a momentous occasion for us, signifying our commitment to our members and to the firefighter community. We are honored that our members have trusted us to serve their financial needs for the past 90 years.
Over the years, our objective has been to provide financial products and services that offer you both value and convenience. We are continually enhancing our product and service offerings to meet these objectives. In 2024, we implemented our Credit Card Rewards program where you can earn points for all your credit card purchases. We added the Savvy Money Financial Education Program to our online banking platform which provides easy access to your credit score and credit score monitoring. We ran our first 1-Click Loan promotion which provided easy online access to holiday loans. And we did some remodeling at the credit union to increase our office space and to make the building a safer place for our employees to serve you.
We faced many headwinds in 2024 with the presidential election and uncertainty around policies, continued high interest rates, relatively high inflation, escalated home prices, shortage of housing inventory, more prudent consumer spending and reduced borrowing demand. Through it all we remained focused on serving you and improving your quality of life by providing personalized services. We also remain focused on our strong capital position, and I assure you, your credit union remains financially strong and healthy.
We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in the new year and look forward to further supporting your financial journey while making a positive impact in our communities. As always, thank you to our volunteers for helping guide the credit union, to our staff for their commitment to providing exceptional service, and to our members for your loyalty and allowing us to serve you for another 90 years.
~Gayle
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What Makes Up My Credit Score?
40% Payment History - Essentially, what lenders want to know is whether or not you’re good about paying your loans on time.
23% Credit Usage - Credit usage, also known as credit utilization, is the ratio between the total balance you owe and your total credit limit on your revolving accounts. It is best to keep your credit usage below 30%.
21% Credit Age - The age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account, the average age of your accounts, and whether you’ve used an account recently are all factors related to the length of your 151600 credit history. In general, the longer your credit history the better.
11% Mix of Credit - Your score also takes into consideration how many total accounts you have and what types of credit you have. Your score will likely be higher if you have experience with different kinds of credit, like mortgages and installment student loans and revolving accounts like credit cards.
5% Recent Credit - Opening multiple credit accounts in a short period of time could represent a greater risk for lenders - those who see that you have multiple recent inquiries may worry that you are applying to so many places because you are unable to qualify for credit - or because you need money in a pinch.
(Details provided by Savvy Money)
Learn all about your CREDIT SCORE in online banking or the mobile app by enrolling in Savvy Money. It's free and it's just another way your credit union is committed to your financial health.
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Staff Profile - Controller
Brittney Freeman
Brittney Freeman came to the credit union as Controller in July of last year, bringing with her over a decade of strong credit union accounting experience. She started in credit unions with Numerica Credit Union in 2011 while attending Eastern Washington University at night to obtain her degree in Accounting and Management. In 2021, Brittney was promoted to Operational Accounting Manager, overseeing Accounting and Payroll at Numerica. Brittney then went fully remote in late 2023 as the Accounting Manager at Seattle Credit Union. Yearning to agabe a part of an in-person team, Brittney jumped at the opportunity to join Spokane Firefighters Credit Union and now oversees Accounting, along with many CU back-office functions, and is BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) officer for the credit union.
Having been a credit union member since high school, Brittney appreciates the credit union culture of always having the best interests of members and staff at heart. We are all owners and more than just a number or a sale.
Brittney has been married to her husband Tyler for 9 years, and they are parents to two beautiful young girls, Natalie and Claire. When not chasing after the kids, Brittney enjoys quilting, planning activities for her daughters, and spending time with family and friends.
Brittney can be found with Raychel Larsen and Samantha Miller in the newly added office space that was formerly our building’s garage.
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The Numbers Game...
Win $50!
This newsletter contains a member account number chosen at random and in the format of a member number followed by two zeros. If you find your account number listed somewhere within the articles of this newsletter, contact the Credit Union within 30 days to claim your prize. We will deposit the money directly into your credit union account!
Be sure to read every article in this newsletter and look for your member account number. You could be the lucky winner!
Good Luck!
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Help Combat Fraud with SFCU Debit and Credit Cards
According to www.security.org, 60% of U.S. credit card holders have fallen victim to card fraud, with unauthorized purchases exceeding $5 billion last year. Only an estimated 7% of fraudulent transactions were due to lost or stolen cards, with the rest being due to account information being accessed through other remote means, such as merchant breaches or cardholders unknowingly providing card information to fraudsters. There are several ways the credit union is helping you prevent fraud.
Card Controls – Temporarily block specific debit and credit card numbers and set up instant transaction notifications in online and mobile banking. Card Controls is a great self service option that allows you to manage your plastic cards on your own terms, while giving you the power to temporarily block cards at the slightest suspicion of fraud.
Digital Wallets – Through a process called tokenization, each transaction is given a unique identifier that takes the card number out of the equation, reducing the chance of card numbers falling into the wrong hands. By adding your credit union cards to and using your Apple Pay™, Google Pay™, or Samsung Pay™ wallets on your mobile device, you are making your transactions safer and helping to prevent card fraud.
FALCON – FALCON is a fraud detection and notification system that monitors and scores your transactions to create a pattern of your normal spending. When transactions are deemed to have a high likelihood of fraud, transactions may be blocked with notification being made to you, as well as the credit union. CU staff works the transaction and follows up with you to determine whether fraud has occurred.
If you suspect that you have been a victim of card fraud, immediately do one of the following: place a temporary block on the card in Card Controls in online or mobile banking; call the credit union at (509)-484-5650 during business hours to report fraud; or report fraud after hours at (888) 241-2510.
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Remembering Josh Rhoads
In October, we lost Josh Rhoads. Not only was Josh a tremendous husband and father, he was also a dedicated servant and man of great faith. Josh served the citizens of Spokane as a FEO on the Spokane Fire Department and the credit union on the Supervisory Committee. He came to the fire service with a substantial background in Finance, and not long after probation, we asked him if he was interested in serving as a volunteer to help ensure the safety and soundness of the credit union.
Even after both cancer diagnosis, Josh continued to serve the credit union, sharing his knowledge and experience. The credit union thanks Wylie, Cooper, Lauren, and Josh's family and friends for sharing him with us. Those who knew Josh, knew a man of high integrity with an outstanding work ethic. Josh will be greatly missed by all.
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Staff & Management
Gayle Furness - CEO
Will Logan - VP of Lending - NMLS# 771663
Brittney Freeman - Controller
Raychel Larsen - Project Manager
Samantha Miller - Accounting Clerk
Dawnell Abt - Branch Operations Mgr.
Christina Bacon - Operations Supervisor
Meredith Toves - Member Service Rep.
Mariah Wright - Teller
Chelsey Blair - Loan Officer - NMLS# 2222475
Katie Grimm - Loan Officer - NMLS# 854911
Board of Directors
Bill Gonzalez (Chairman)
Kenny Miller (Vice-Chairman)
Roger Libby
Mike Thompson
Kevin Smith
Scott Himelspach
Brian Chavez
Supervisory Committee
Garrett Camarota (Chairman)
Garin Andrews
Vacant
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January 1st (WED) - New Years Day
January 20th (MON) - Martin Luther King, Jr Day
February 17th (MON) - President's Day
May 26th (MON) - Memorial Day
June 19th (THUR) - Juneteenth Independence Day
July 4th (FRI) - Independence Day
September 1st (MON) - Labor Day
October 13th (MON) - Columbus Day
November 11th (TUE) - Veterans Day
November 27th & 28th (TH & FRI) - Thanksgiving and Day After
December 25th (THUR) - Christmas Day
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