“Meritrust Credit Union Joins Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' AppOne ... - Forbes” plus 4 more

Meritrust Credit Union Joins Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' AppOne ... - Forbes
More Hoosiers feeling pain of poverty - Star-Press
68-year-old Utahn runs 90 marathons in 3 1/2 years - ksl.com
Take a trip on the 'green' bus - Worcester County Times
McINTOSH: Economic forecast: Overcast - North County Times

Meritrust Credit Union Joins Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' AppOne ... - Forbes

Posted: 05 Oct 2009 08:24 AM PDT

BusinessWire - Meritrust Credit Union, the largest Kansas-based credit union, is expanding its relationship with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services by joining the company's AppOne platform. AppOne automates the indirect lending, credit approval and compliance processes for lenders and the auto, RV and marine dealers they work with.

AppOne will help Meritrust better serve members who are in need of auto financing. Meritrust can connect with independent auto dealers and more easily determine the level of risk associated with each dealer relationship using AppOne's proprietary dealer underwriting and scoring system. AppOne also integrates Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Bankers Systems motor vehicle retail installment contracts to document the financing of auto loans.

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Together, the AppOne technology and Bankers Systems contracts help ensure compliance with industry regulations, while supporting Meritrust's growth in the auto lending space. Meritrust produced more auto loans than any other credit union in Kansas from May 2008-June 2009, according to AutoCount research.

AppOne's network of auto dealerships will also benefit from this relationship, as it offers the opportunity to connect with another strong lender in the credit union space.

"As credit unions look to increase their auto lending market share, a critical piece of managing that growth is making sure they are working with reputable and compliant dealerships," said Lee Domingue, CEO of Indirect Lending at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. "AppOne helps credit unions manage risk, while providing dealers with a finance source that they might not have had the opportunity to work with in the past."

"AppOne helps us connect with more independent auto dealers, which will ultimately help our members," said Keenan Bender, director of Consumer Lending at Meritrust. "Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' comprehensive set of solutions automate time-consuming processes and simplify compliance questions and challenges our staff faces daily."

In addition to integrating Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' auto finance solutions with its business, Meritrust also relies on the company's electronic forms to help maintain compliance with mortgage, individual retirement account (IRA) and deposit transactions.

About Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Wolters Kluwer Financial Services provides best-in-class compliance, content, and technology solutions and services that help financial organizations manage risk and improve efficiency and effectiveness across their enterprise. The organization's prominent brands include Bankers Systems, VMP(R) Mortgage Solutions, PCi, AppOne(R), GainsKeeper(R), Capital Changes, NILS, AuthenticWeb(TM) and Uniform Forms(TM). Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global information services and publishing company with annual revenues of (2008) EUR3.4 billion ($4.9 billion) and approximately 20,000 employees worldwide. Please visit our Web site for more information.

About Meritrust Credit Union Founded in 1936, Meritrust Credit Union, formerly known as Boeing Wichita Employees Credit Union, has 17 traditional branches in and around Wichita, Kan., including branches in Derby, Andover, Haysville, Lawrence and Junction City. Membership is open to the public. For more information, visit www.meritrustcu.org.

SOURCE: Wolters Kluwer Financial Services

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Jennifer Marso, 612-852-7912 Director, Corporate Communications jennifer.marso@wolterskluwer.com On Twitter: @JenniferMarso or Angela Peterson, 612-656-7745 Senior Public Relations Specialist angela.peterson@wolterskluwer.com On Twitter: @AngiePeterson

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More Hoosiers feeling pain of poverty - Star-Press

Posted: 05 Oct 2009 03:17 AM PDT

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Of 365 metropolitan areas nationwide, Kokomo and Elkhart have experienced the biggest decline in gross domestic product, according to a report issued last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Kokomo has been hit hard by the departure of auto manufacturing supplies; Elkhart's reliance on the RV manufacturing industry has left it with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

"Those are two areas that have been hit particularly hard," Kinghorn said, "and so that might be a reason why Indiana has stood out more than states like Ohio or Illinois, where the same general factors are hitting us all, but they haven't had the kind of real precise hits like we've had in Kokomo and Elkhart."

Despite the increase, Indiana's 13.1 percent of residents living below the poverty line is nearly identical to the national average of 13.2 percent.

But in addition to blacks and Hispanics, two other groups disproportionately continue to live in poverty: women and children.

By gender, 14.5 percent of women are in poverty, compared with 11.6 percent of men. That works out to 102,000 more Hoosier women living in poverty than men. And children, at 18.3 percent, well outpace adults ages 18-64 (11.9 percent) and seniors (8.3 percent).

Of the 101 metropolitan areas with a population of at least 500,000, Indianapolis ranked No. 59 for the highest percentage of people living below poverty. That's up from a ranking of No. 66 in 2007 and No. 64 in 2006.

For 2008, the percentage of people living in poverty in the Indianapolis-Carmel area was 11.5 percent.

The poverty data reflected in the survey match increases that state officials have seen in requests for food stamps.

For example, in June 2008, more than 639,000 Hoosiers were on food stamps, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.

Kinghorn and Frey said the poverty rate in Indiana likely will continue to increase. The most current food stamp numbers suggest that will be the case.

In June, more than 721,000 Hoosiers got food stamps, a 13 percent increase over last year and a 23 percent jump from 2007.

Horizon House, an Indianapolis center that works to find housing and employment for the homeless, also has seen an increase in need. As many as 200 individuals visit Horizon House daily, about a 5 percent increase since last year.

Connect 2 Help also has seen a steady increase in the number of calls to its 211 phone line, with callers seeking assistance with food, housing, health care and employment. The organization received more than 221,000 calls last year, a 42 percent increase over the year before.

"We've seen a steady uptick in the number of people needing help, and we haven't reached the top of that crest yet," said John Joanette, executive director of Horizon House.

"We're seeing more and more families come in who had a house foreclosed on, and they've been living in their vehicle."

68-year-old Utahn runs 90 marathons in 3 1/2 years - ksl.com

Posted: 05 Oct 2009 03:10 AM PDT

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SALT LAKE CITY -- Waldo Burnham is off and running, and there's no telling when he'll stop. The 68-year-old Utahn has run 90 marathons in just over three years.

The Granite High School graduate got hooked when he turned 50 years old.

"I was a long-haul truck driver and the closest I could park was exactly one mile away from my home. I had to get home in a hurry one night, so I ran," he said.

He's been running ever since. That one mile turned into two. Then Waldo entered a 5K race, followed by a 10K, and 14 months later he ran the St. George marathon.

He finished in 4 hours and 7 minutes. Four years later, he ran it in 3 hours and 17 minutes, earning a spot in the Boston marathon.

"A lot of people at the end of their first marathon, they'll say that's enough. I just wanted to prove to family and friends I could. I got hooked on it and was planning the next one," Waldo said.

For the past three and a half years, he's completed at least one marathon a month. In June, Waldo ran back-to-back marathons around Bear Lake. If his plans work out, his 100th will be the Salt Lake City Marathon next April.

"I like being active. I've always worked a hard physical job. I've always been competitive in sports," he said. "Another reason I like to run is I meet so many nice people, and then I like to be competitive with my own time. Since I'm getting older I'm getting slower, but I still do it," said Waldo.

Waldo retired a week ago, and he and his wife Joan have packed up the RV and are ready to roll.

"Excitement I can't even describe about being free of a 40-hour work schedule and doing what I want to do now," he said.

What he wants to do is run a marathon in every state, and become a member of the 50 States Marathon Club.

Though he's been diagnosed with osteoporosis, Waldo plans to make his goal in about three years. He's already run a marathon in 15 different states.

"We just want to travel, visit national parks, friends and family and run," he said.

Waldo and his wife have rented out their home and figure it will take three years to run a marathon in every state.

He's also an avid mountain climber -- climbing the high points in 11 western states.

E-mail: kaiken@ksl.com

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Take a trip on the 'green' bus - Worcester County Times

Posted: 05 Oct 2009 12:46 AM PDT

BERLIN -- When is a yellow school bus not yellow? When it's green.

Berlin residents Josh and Tina Koch are stripping a 1993 Blue Bird school bus and turning it into a personalized recreational vehicle powered by used cooking oil and solar panels. When it's finished, they'll take their three home-schooled children to the Grand Canyon.

Before the kids came along, Tina and Josh used to take long trips to the southwest states. She wanted to take the trip again, this time with the kids -- 10-year old Zoe, 7-year-old Zach and 4-year-old Zane -- but without the expense of an RV.

"I thought it would be a great experience for them to travel the country, and that it would be ironic if they did it in a school bus -- if we made it not a school bus, but a 'cool bus,' and they got their learning through experience, instead of regular school," said Tina, 39. "It's less expensive to buy a school bus and convert it rather than buy an RV big enough for five of us to travel comfortably."

"I don't know if it would be any cheaper, but it's more fun," said Josh, 40. "There's a coolness factor to it."

After buying their bus last month for $5,500 from Holloway Transit in Salisbury, the first thing they did was remove objects no longer essential to the bus in its new life -- brown vinyl seats, heavy linoleum mats, aluminum pieces, wiring, heating and cooling components.

"Pile after pile started coming out the back door," Josh said. "Basically, gut it down to nothing."

They also had to remove flashing lights and repaint it a different color. According to Maryland law, no other vehicle designed for carrying passengers can be "national school bus yellow."

Josh said Tina has her own scheme in mind. "She's going terra cotta with turquoise accent, kind of a southwest theme. Whatever she wants. I'm just building the bus," he said.

Josh owns the Berlin auto repair shop O.C. Imports, and Tina works their nearby used car lot. He said his experience of being around cars most of his life gives him the experience and tools for the job.

"You're a plumber, you're an electrician, you're a machinist, you're an interior repairman -- being a mechanic has so many specialties," he said.

Plans for the interior of the bus include a bedroom in back with a futon and flat-screen TV. Four bunk beds will line the middle, beside a toilet and shower. In true RV style, they'll also add a retractable awning to the side.

On a custom-made wooden dashboard, Josh will install a button where he can switch from diesel fuel to fryer grease. He expects that grease, which he says they'll be able to get for free from restaurants along the way, to get him 10 miles to the gallon.

"Free is definitely better than $3 a gallon," Josh said.

Tina said their maiden voyage will likely come this winter to visit friends in New Hampshire.

bshane@dmg.gannett.com 410-213-9442, ext. 14

McINTOSH: Economic forecast: Overcast - North County Times

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 11:56 PM PDT

Looking for a job is the toughest job there is. Just ask any of the approximately quarter-million "officially" jobless in the Inland Empire who have pushed the county unemployment rate to nearly 15 percent. I suspect the figure is higher because many self-employed workers don't qualify for unemployment insurance and so aren't counted in official statistics.

Clearly, the fallout from the real estate collapse has torn our local economy to shreds, far beyond the most optimistic predictions at the beginning of the fall from economic grace.

I look back with equal parts of shock and naivete at the piece ---- "The sky is settling, not falling" ---- that I wrote three years ago pooh-poohing the panic that was just starting to grip the real estate market; shock from the sheer magnitude of it all and naivete to the extent of mortgage fraud and industry malfeasance that fueled the onslaught.

And so my industry peers and betters found themselves bounced to the unemployment line. Real estate and mortgage industry professionals, contractors, builders, home improvement retailers, furniture retailers, all affected and many out of work. And the trickle-down effect of capitalism soon sent auto makers and dealers, RV dealers and upscale retailers to the unemployment line, too.

I joined them there in February, when I was laid off from my own real estate management job, a shock to be sure, but never unexpected in a world of disposable labor. And it was there, in the figurative unemployment line and very real job competition line, that I met my fellow sufferers. Alas, where once I sincerely prayed "There but for the grace of God go I," I now found myself ... "there."

There is much torment left to play out as our country seeks a new economic equilibrium. While Obama and the political experts fidget to plug a dike here, and spread some stimulus dollars there, the foreclosure market hums along, and regionally, county statistics for domestic violence and suicides climb.

Meanwhile, I see the faces of the unemployed turn from hopeful, to discouraged, to hopeless.

My own job search is over. But I would like to stick a fork into the clowns and scam artists who prey on the unemployed with all sorts of come-ons. From H.R. "professionals" who don't return phone calls or acknowledge resumes, to the bait-and-switch job offers, and to the phony executive search firms that sell job-searching "services" under the guise of job placement, know that you contribute to the pain that dogs the unemployed.

Riverside County has been one of the hardest hit in the nation in terms of job loss and home foreclosures. But again I say, the sky is not falling ---- but it is awfully overcast. Despite our collective pain, there remains hope when one remembers that grit and innovation built this great republic, and it will be backbone and ingenuity that will bring us out of this economic nightmare.

ANDY McINTOSH writes from Temecula. Contact him at socalmcintosh@aol.com.