102nd Annual Meeting Highlights

WE ARE POECU

On Wednesday, May 13, we presented our 102nd Annual Meeting, joined by 82 members and their guests. We reflected on the accomplishments of 2025 and some of the enhancements that have already begun in 2026. Board Chairman Sidney Parfait introduced Kellie Mele as the current CEO, before he began his report. Chairman Parfait shared that in 2025, we generated over $600,000 in net gains (profit). He also stressed the importance of our membership by reminding everyone you’re more than a member, you’re an owner in our credit union. As a member/owner, YOU are our passion and our purpose. As our processing and operating system underwent a conversion at the end of September he acknowledged that there were some technological challenges and everything did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. However, through the diligence of the staff, we worked as a team to fix issues as quickly as possible while maintaining continuous communication updates to the membership. Every single staff member stepped out of offices to sit down with members and walk them step by step through their online banking enrollment when the need arose. This strengthened our bonds with you as we worked together.

Our bonds also continued to strengthen with our community through sponsorships of local events like the St. Edward’s Cochon De Lait; St. Benilde Fall Fest; Jefferson Parsih Uncle Sam Jam & Family Gras. We collaborated with the St. Vincent De Paul Society to provide Thanksgiving meal kit gift cards to 43 local families and at Christmastime, we collaborated with local schools and churches to deliver meal kits to over 30 families. In another first for POECU, we increased the amount of our Guy L. Comes Scholarship from $1,000 to $1,500 to help our 2025 winner, Jamari Butler pursue her college ambitions!

Supervisory Committee Chairman, Charlie Chandilora, presented in his report that there were 2 audits (ACH Audit the Agreed Upon Procedures Audit) performed in 2025 and there were no significant findings to report. The Board of Director election was held with all 3 incumbents - Sidney Parfait (Chairman), Mike Shillington & Ernest Parfait retained their elected seats through acclamation. The Financials report was shared by Board Treasurer, Dennis Brouphy, which showed a 2024 net income of $637,659 and assets increased by $3 Million dollars since last year, brining our asset size to $53,097,200.

Our 2026 Scholarship was also presented during the meeting to Kaiden Word, an accomplished graduate of St. Mary’s Academy who will be pursuing kinesiology at University of Louisiana Lafayette.

Included in our Annual Report this year was a quote from each POECU staff member saying why we love our members! Also 3 large banners were on display celebrating our members. They were laid out so members could sign them and they are hanging in each of the 3 branches. We encourage you to look at them when visiting the branches.

A copy of the annual report can be viewed by scrolling all the down on this page.

Centennial year in review: video slideshow

Chairman Battaglia & CEO Michelle Duhe spotlighted our year-long Centennial Celebration and were quite pleased to see such an increase in member engagement and changes to our profile in the community created through our year-long events such as:

  • I Love POECU week

  • Shamrock Sweepstakes

  • Shred & Switch to eStatments Day

  • Frozen Treat Summer

  • Credit Union Fest

  • Pumpkin Prize Path

  • Free Photos with Santa

  • and many more!
    A slideshow reflecting all Centennial activities was shown before the meeting began. You can watch it here >>>>

2025 Meeting Photos

Raffle Prize Winners

Congratulations to Our Winners of $100 Each

  1. Jeanne Ruda

  2. Deanne Jones

  3. Nellie Dennis

  4. Johnthreesixteen Smith

  5. Nicholas J. Shambra Jr.

  6. Herbert Bellock

  7. Joe Lopinto

  8. Beatrice Haynes

  9. Joy Vullo

  10. Mary Parfait

  11. Parker Wegman

  12. Janice McGee

  13. Danielle Beamon

  14. Jesse Tauzier

  15. Greta Boudoin

Congratulations to our 50/50 Winners!
Want to know who split the cash pot?

 

  • Stacy Melton

  • Marie Michelle Duhe.

Michelle Duhe and Stacy Melton won the 50/50 and split the pot

Awards and Achievements

Scholarship Winner

 

We are very proud to announce Miss. Jamari Butler as the winner of our 2025 Guy L. Comes Memorial Scholarship!

Jamari is an exemplary scholar who graduated with a 3.8 GPA from Benjamin Franklin High School. While there, she served as President of the Slam Poetry Club and was devoted to many extracurriculars, including Talent Advanced Theatre, Black Girls United, Crochet for a Cause, and Choir. She also displayed athletic achievement on the Varsity Volleyball team.

We congratulate Jamari and wish her much success as she pursues a college degree in Psychology at Florida A&M University.

 

Employee of the Year

 

We were thrilled to name Jody Brooks, Director of Marketing & Business Development, our 2024 Employee of the Year!

Jody coordinated all aspects of our year-long 100th Anniversary Celebration, which included a Centennial video showcasing the legacy and future of POECU. She hosted events every month to bolster member engagement and visibility in the community. In her first year as Director of Marketing & Business Development, she brought fresh ideas, strong strategy and sincere passion that’s energized our organization! She also ushered in our first new SEG in years - the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.

 

Special Honors Bestowed on our Retiring Board Members

 

Joe Battaglia, Chairman of the Board, announced his retirement from the Board after 2 years of service as Chairman. After leading POECU through our Centennial, Joe felt it was a perfect time to pass the torch, knowing that POECU is in great hands to move into the 101st year and beyond.

Joe has spent over 35 years exhibiting passion and commitment to the entire Credit Union movement and has achieved many milestones in his storied career. In addition to serving as Board Chairman, he was also a member of the Supervisory Committee and was the former Executive Vice President of POECU. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Homeland FCU. Through it all, he often traveled to DC and Baton Rouge as an advocate for credit unions lobbying Congress to maintain credit union tax exemption status and to support pro-credit union legislation. Joe was proud to share stories of all the good things that credit unions do for our members and local communites . Thank you Joe, your hard work has been instrumental to the advancement of POECU and the entire Credit Union Movement!

 

Terry Kennard was unable to join us at this year’s meeting, where his retirement from our Board of Directors was also announced. Terry has served on the POECU Board of Directors since 1998. In his 28 years of dedicated service, he served on numerous sub-committees including: the Compensation Committee, the Insurance Committee & the Marketing Committee. All of his work has helped POECU to grow, evolve and remain relevant in the financial instution environment.

We are so appreciative of your decades of passion and commitment to the members of our POECU family!

 

Missed the Meeting?

Receive a printed copy of the Annual Report emailed to you by contacting the Credit Union at memberservices@poecu.org or call (504) 885-6871

If you prefer to view a digital version of the report, just click the photo to the left.
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