Common Wealth Credit Union Looks To Give Banking a Fresh Twist
Sep 9, 2008 
Sherwood Park • Strathcona County News
An Alberta-based credit union is looking for a new spokesperson to represent its Young and Free Alberta banking plan before Oct. 1.
Common Wealth Credit Union (CWCU) launched the search for a new spokesperson last week and will be accepting video entries for the position, which includes a number of perks such as the use of a notebook computer, digital video camera, Chevrolet vehicle and Blackberry and a $36,000 salary.
According to Jere Stewart, Young and Free Alberta’s internal spokesperson, CWCU would ideally like to find a young man or woman between the ages of 19 and 25 to produce blogs, videos and polls for CWCU’s website, www.youngfreealberta.com.
“We want someone that is able to connect with young people through being outgoing and being able to talk to anyone,” Stewart said. “Basically, we’re looking for someone to connect with young people, get them engaged with Young and Free so that we at the credit union understand what young people want.”
The Young and Free Alberta banking plan began in 2007, offering a free financial management service package for young Albertans. Young and Free manager, Kim Crockett, said the program was designed to attract young people to a bank with an aging population.
“Like many credit unions, we recognized that our membership was aging and we needed to do something to attract the younger generation of members. We really wanted to do something differently, something absolutely different than anyone else.”
The CWCU opened just under 2,500 Young and Free Alberta accounts last year and collected more than 800 comments on the website. According to Crockett, the Young and Free spokesperson allows CWCU to better understand the interests and needs of young people through engaging younger generations on the Young and Free Alberta website.
“Bigger than the account itself, we wanted to provide young members with the tools they needed to manager their finances independently. We knew that we needed to have somebody going out and finding out what’s important to young people,” Crockett said. “I think a peer would do that better than just about anyone else strictly from a banking background. We really wanted to know what was important to the youth generation.”
Last year’s spokesperson, 19-year-old Larissa Walkiw, spoke at a number of events across Alberta and created upbeat blogs, videos and polls to attract young Albertans. Her term as the CWCU spokesperson finished up in August, but she said the experience was extremely rewarding.
“I had a blast and learned a lot in the process – and no doubt my successor will too,” Walkiw said.
CWCU will select the top three finalists from the videos entered by Oct. 1 and then the public will vote on the winner online. For more information, visit www.youngfreealberta.com.
