Annual Meeting

View the 2021 Founders Annual Report

Minutes of the 2022 Annual Membership Meeting - VIRTUAL

The 2022 Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union was held virtually and made available to the membership on Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 10:00am. All Board members in attendance viewed the Annual Meeting in the Boardroom at Corporate Headquarters in Lancaster, South Carolina. After establishing that a quorum was present, Chairman Rainey called the meeting to order. Those attending were: Jay Rainey, Allen Blackmon, Bruce Brumfield, Amy Faulkenberry, Ron Gray, Roy Hunt, Charles Waddell, Marvin Waldrep and Don Worley. Guests of the Board attending were: Elizabeth Bagwell, Bob Bender, Michelle Bragg, Tony Gilreath, Larry Higgins, Joe McCain, Nicki Nash, Jennifer Parker, Keith Wilson, Wylie Wood and Robyn Small. Directors Harlean Carter and Joe Keenan were absent from the viewing of the Annual Meeting.

Director Amy Faulkenberry served as host for the Annual Meeting in the virtual format.

Mr. Jay Rainey, Board Chairman, opened the meeting, introduced the Board of Directors and established that a quorum was present. Chairman Rainey called the business session of the 2022 Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union to order and stated that all the required committee reports and financial reports were printed in the 2021 Annual Report and the minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting could be found on Founders’ website:  www.foundersfcu.com/annual-meeting. Following a motion and second, the minutes were unanimously approved. Chairman Rainey then referred everyone to the Board of Director’s Report. During 2021, the Board acted on various items of business to improve service to our members and better prepare our credit union for the future. Chairman Rainey expressed his appreciation for the contributions each director made during the past year.

Daryl Bowie, Senior Vice-President of Sales, Service and Operational Support, gave the Invocation.

Mr. Rainey stated the financial data of Founders and the audit conducted by the certified public accounting firm of Doeren Mayhew, along with other reports presented, supported the excellent year Founders experienced. A complete version of audited financials is available on Founders’ website or at any Founders branch location. Chairman Rainey then referred to the Supervisory Committee Report and introduced the members of the Committee.

There being no Old Business to come before the membership, Chairman Rainey presented New Business including The Nominating Committee’s report. The Committee proposed Mr. Roy Hunt, Mr. Marvin Waldrep and Mr. Allen Blackmon for re-election to serve as directors for three-year terms. Since there were no other nominations received, these nominations required no second. Following a motion, and a second, these nominations were unanimously approved to elect all those listed above by acclamation.

Director Faulkenberry then recognized Bruce Brumfield, President and CEO of Founders Federal Credit Union. President Brumfield welcomed the membership to the Credit Union’s virtual Annual Meeting. He stated 2021 was another year of incredible success for the credit union with a record net income of $52.3 million and total assets of $3.6 billion. President Brumfield stated while other organizations struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic, Founders stayed true to our roots and moved forward to make a difference in the lives of our members. In 2021 alone, Founders gave back over $5 million to our members through our Loyalty Select suite of products rewarding those who utilize more services with deposits in our highest earning savings account. Mr. Brumfield then reviewed new loan products introduced in 2021 as well as new branch locations in the Columbia market and Indian Land market. In 2021, over 127,000 active users on Founders Online logged in 44 million times. The Contact Center answered almost 578,000 calls during this busy year. Another major change was the decision to move the Visa debit and credit card program to Mastercard that will provide enhanced security and benefits for the membership.

President Brumfield concluded by thanking our Board of Directors and our management team who have made confident and solid leadership decisions on behalf of the credit union.

Chairman Rainey also stated the Board of Directors, management and staff have worked diligently this year to ensure the success of the credit union. He assured the membership that the Board, management and staff stand committed to keeping Founders safe, secure and financially strong.

There being no further business, the business session of the Annual Meeting adjourned.  

View the 2020 Annual Report

Minutes of the 2021 Annual Membership Meeting - VIRTUAL

The 2021 Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union was held virtually and made available to the membership on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 9:30 am. The following Board members viewed the Annual Meeting in the Boardroom at Corporate Headquarters in Lancaster, South Carolina. After establishing that a quorum was present, Chairman Rainey called the meeting to order. Those attending were: Jay Rainey, Bruce Brumfield, Harlean Carter, Amy Faulkenberry, Ron Gray, Roy Hunt, Joe Keenan, and Marvin Waldrep. Guests of the Board attending were: Elizabeth Bagwell, Bob Bender, Michelle Bragg, Tony Gilreath, Larry Higgins, Joe McCain, Nicki Nash, Geri Rucker, Wylie Wood and Robyn Small. Directors Charles Waddell and Don Worley were absent from the viewing of the Annual Meeting.

Director Amy Faulkenberry served as host for the Annual Meeting in the virtual format.

Mr. Jay Rainey, Board Chairman, opened the meeting, introduced the Board of Directors and established that a quorum was present. Chairman Rainey called the business session of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union to order and stated that all the required committee reports and financial reports were printed in the 2020 Annual Report and the minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting could be found on Founders’ website: www.foundersfcu.com/annual-meeting. Following a motion and second, the minutes were unanimously approved. Chairman Rainey then referred everyone to the Board of Director’s Report. During 2020, the Board acted on various items of business to improve service to our members and better prepare our credit union for the future. Chairman Rainey expressed his appreciation for the contributions each director made during the past year.

Daryl Bowie, Senior Vice-President of Sales, Service and Operational Support, gave the Invocation.

The financial data of Founders and the audit conducted by the certified public accounting firm of Doeren Mayhew, along with other reports presented, supported the excellent year Founders experienced. A complete version of audited financials is available on Founders’ website or at any Founders branch location. Chairman Rainey then referred to the Supervisory Committee Report and introduced the members of the Committee.

There being no Old Business to come before the membership, Chairman Rainey presented New Business including The Nominating Committee’s report. The Committee proposed Mrs. Harlean Carter, Mrs. Amy Faulkenberry, Mr. Joe Keenan and Mr. Charles Waddell for re-election to serve as directors for three-year terms. Since there were no other nominations received, these nominations required no second. Following a motion, and a second, these nominations were unanimously approved to elect all those listed above by acclamation.

Director Faulkenberry then recognized Bruce Brumfield, President and CEO of Founders Federal Credit Union. President Brumfield welcomed the membership to the Credit Union’s virtual Annual Meeting. He stated while 2020 was a year of incredible success for the credit union, it was an unusual year and nothing anyone could have anticipated. The magnitude, length, and devastation of the global pandemic was unprecedented. However, your credit union swiftly adapted to the new environment to serve the membership as efficiently as possible. We worked to protect the health and well-being of our employees and members. We quickly and securely moved hundreds of employees to remote operations in their homes.

We temporarily closed our lobbies with our employees continuing to offer exceptional member service through our drive thrus and other remote channels. In June of 2020, after only two months, we successfully reopened all our branches for a full member experience once again and brought our remote employees seamlessly back into our offices. The Board of Directors and management team at Founders – along with all employees - remained driven to put our members first and that is why 2020 was a year of significant advances for Founders. As Covid hit our communities, we immediately began waiving fees for our Skip a Pay program, saving our members almost $285,000 in fees alone. Our members also received over $3.8 million in total benefits through our Payment Protection Program.

We launched our Hospital Employee Choice Mortgage to celebrate and reward our front-line workers with special savings, which led to our First Responders Choice Mortgage launched earlier this year. Founders donated more than $3 million to our communities to improve the quality of life for all people. We also worked to set up assistance for our employees not just through the pandemic, but through any financial hardships or disasters they might face with our Employee Relief Fund. In 2020, our entire country engaged in many important conversations, and, at Founders, we engaged in them as well. We reiterated our commitment to embracing diversity and inclusion within our organization, our membership and our communities. We implemented diversity and equity training so we could be part of the solution and not just part of the conversation. We continued rewarding our most loyal members with our Loyalty Select program – with our Loyalty products: Edge Up, Dividend Amp and Cash In – being especially popular among our members. Member Loyalty and strong growth resulted in a net record income of $31.5 million. To better serve our members, we renovated many of our offices, upgraded technology and completed the replacement of all ATMs with the newest ATM models with touchscreen technology. Founders Online remains popular with our members and our Contact Center answered almost 705,000 calls assisting our members with questions, information and financial transactions. Despite all the challenges of 2020, the credit union experienced a year of record growth in 2020 with net loan growth of $110.8 million due in part to our excellent loan product offerings.

President Brumfield emphasized that our Cyber-Security team consistently enhanced and tested our security systems to ensure members’ identities are protected and defended against fraud and scams, Information Technology – along with a team from each area of the credit union – completed a successful core conversion. Founders also entered into an agreement to merge with ArrowPointe Federal Credit Union which will be voted on by their membership in just a couple of months. If approved, ArrowPointe will become a part of Founders, offering their membership greater service options with more locations.

President Brumfield concluded by thanking our Board of Directors and our management team who have made confident and solid leadership decisions especially during these unprecedented times.

Chairman Rainey also stated the Board of Directors, management and staff have worked diligently this year to ensure the success of the credit union. He assured the membership that the Board, management, and staff stand committed to keeping Founders safe, secure and financially strong.

There being no further business, the business session of the Annual Meeting adjourned.

Minutes of the 2020 Annual Membership Meeting - VIRTUAL

The Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union was held virtually and made available to the membership on Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 10:00 am. The following Board members viewed the meeting in the Boardroom at Corporate Headquarters: Bruce Brumfield, Ron Gray, Joe Keenan, Jay Rainey, Marvin Waldrep and Don Worley. Those attending virtually were: Harlean Carter, Amy Faulkenberry, Roy Hunt and Charles Waddell. Director Hall was absent. Also attending were: Elizabeth Bagwell, Bob Bender, Michelle Bragg, Tony Gilreath, Scott Garbett, Larry Higgins, Joe McCain, Nicki Nash, Jennifer Parker, Geri Rucker, Keith Wilson, Wylie Wood and Robyn Small.

Director Amy Faulkenberry served as host for the Annual Meeting in a new virtual format.

Ron Gray, Board Chairman, opened the meeting, introduced the Board of Directors and established that a quorum was present. Chairman Gray called the business session of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Founders Federal Credit Union to order and stated that all the required committee reports and financial reports were printed in the 2019 Annual Report and the minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting could be found on Founders’ website: www.foundersfcu.com/annual meeting. Following a motion and second, the minutes were unanimously approved. Chairman Gray then referred everyone to the Board of Director’s Report. During 2019, the Board acted on various items of business to improve service to our members and better prepare our credit union for the future. Chairman Gray expressed his appreciation for the contributions each director made during the past year.

Daryl Bowie, Senior Vice-President of Sales, Service and Operational Support, gave the Invocation.

The financial data of Founders and the audit conducted by the certified public accounting firm of Doeren Mayhew, along with other reports presented, supported the excellent year Founders experienced. A complete version of audited financials is available on Founders’ website or at any Founders branch location. Chairman Gray then referred to the Supervisory Committee Report and introduced the members of the Committee.

There being no Old Business to come before the membership, Chairman Gray presented New Business including The Nominating Committee’s report. The Committee proposed Mr. Jay C. Rainey, Mr. Don A. Worley and Dr. Ronald Gray for re-election to serve as directors for three-year terms. Since there were no other nominations received, these nominations required no second. Following a motion, and a second, these nominations were unanimously approved to elect all those listed above by acclamation.

Director Faulkenberry then recognized Bruce Brumfield, President and CEO of Founders Federal Credit Union. President Brumfield welcomed the membership to the Credit Union’s first virtual Annual Meeting and stated while 2019 was a year of incredible success for your credit union, he would first address Covid-19 and the impact a global pandemic has had on the overall operation of the credit union, employees and members. The Board of Directors and management team at Founders, along with every single employee, worked efficiently and swiftly to protect the health and well-being of our employees and members. We quickly and securely moved hundreds of employees to remote operations in their homes. While our lobbies temporarily closed, our branch employees continued to offer exceptional member service through our drive thrus and other remote channels. Our lobbies are now fully open again with health and safety measures in place including shields at our teller stations, masks, social distancing and continuous disinfecting throughout the day and into the evening. While we don’t know the full impact of this pandemic, we do know our members need us more than ever and we stand committed to serving you as we get through this together.

Members can relax knowing your credit union is in a solid financial condition experiencing a year of record growth in 2019. The Credit Union had a net loan growth of $250 million due in part to our excellent loan product offerings, including our First Time Homebuyer program relaunched last year, helping members with the exciting process of buying their first homes. We focused on rewarding our most loyal members with our Loyalty Select program – introducing Edge Up, Dividend Amp and Cash In – all ways our members can fund their Loyalty Select Account and take advantage of our highest deposit rate. Member Loyalty and strong growth resulted in a net record income of $28 million. To better serve our members, we renovated many of our offices, upgraded technology and installed over 20 ATMs. Founders Online remains popular with our members as they performed over 3 million online transactions – that is a transaction about every 10 seconds. Meanwhile, our Contact Center answered more than half a million calls assisting our members with questions, information and financial transactions.

At this time, President Brumfield thanked our Cyber Security team at Founders, our hardware and software systems are enhanced with the latest security innovations to ensure your financial information and accounts are protected and secure. At the beginning of 2020, we thought our major challenge was going to be preparing for a complete core system computer conversion, not a global pandemic. Still, for the past two years, our employees have been preparing and implementing processes so that this massive conversion would have little to no effect on the credit union and our members. This conversion was completed earlier this month and went as smoothly and seamlessly as it could have gone thanks to all of their efforts.

It is well known that at Founders, our employees are our most valued asset. They are dedicated to putting our members first and ensuring they receive an exceptional member experience every single time. Our employees go above and beyond no matter the member and no matter the circumstances. They are not only committed to Founders, but they are committed to the communities we serve, donating countless hours volunteering with hundreds of organizations and throughout our school systems. Giving back is a cornerstone of who Founders is and, in 2019 alone, we donated more than $4.15 million to our communities to improve the quality of life for all people.

Even in a global pandemic, our credit union is going strong with a commitment to doing the right thing and seeing our members through. President Brumfield expressed his gratitude for our Board of Directors and our management team who have made confident and solid leadership decisions especially during these unprecedented times.

Chairman Gray also stated the Board of Directors, management and staff have worked diligently this year to ensure the success of the credit union. He assured the membership that the Board, management and staff stand committed to keeping Founders safe, secure and financially strong.

There being no further business, the business session of the Annual Meeting adjourned.