Name:    Sondra Koberstein	Profession:    Credit Union Chief Executive
Relationship:  Nebraska line	Country:     United States of America
Sondra Koberstein was awarded the 2001 Professional of the Year Award!  Sondra has been employed by Longs Peak Credit Union for 22 years. Twelve of those years she has served as the credit union President. She also served on the Longs Peak Chapter of Credit Unions' Board of Directors (1984-1990).   Sondra has lead the credit union through many changes and has proven to be an exceptional leader. We congratulate her on winning this prestigious award. 10/26/2003 Longs Peak celebrates 50 years By Kelly K. Serrano Reporter-Herald Staff Writer It was 1953, and 160 federal Bureau of Reclamation workers had descended on Loveland to operate and maintain the Colorado-Big Thompson water-diversion project. The workers had to cover their own moving expenses, work for two weeks and wait another two for their first paychecks. Banks would not lend them the small amounts of money — in the $50-$100 range — they needed to get by. “It was just a demand,” said Don Neuburger, one of seven Loveland residents who founded Longs Peak Credit Union to fill in the financial gap for those workers. Neuburger still serves as board treasurer for the credit union, which celebrates 50 years in business on Sunday. Verlin Ruckle, 78, a member since the credit union opened to U.S. Postal Service employees in 1960, confirmed Neuburger’s story. “It seemed like everybody was having quite a bit of trouble borrowing money,” he said. “If you had $2,000, they (banks) would loan you $1,000. But if you didn’t have it, forget it,” he said. So, having heard that Longs Peak would lend smaller amounts, Ruckle and some of his fellow employees applied for Longs Peak to change its charter so they could join, he said. And it worked. Home-based business At its board’s first annual meeting, Longs Peak had 52 members, $578.90 in saving accounts and $500 in outstanding loans. “I put the money in there so we could loan it out,” Neuburger said with a chuckle. “It took us 10 years to get to $250,000 in assets.” As of the end of September, the credit union had 6,879 members and $36.7 million in assets. It now has four locations in Loveland. “Boy, did we work,” said Neuburger’s wife, Cheryl, who worked for the credit union for 32 years and is chairwoman on its supervisor committee. In its infancy, Longs Peak was operated out of one of the charter members’ desk drawers, Neuburger said. It moved from desk to desk, bureau office to office, then from basement to basement until it finally settled for nine years in the basement of the Neuburgers’ home at 606 W. 11th St. Don and Cheryl Neuburger ran the credit union during that time, and the family usually provided refreshments at board meetings, though they didn’t receive a cent for that, Cheryl Neuburger said. Don Neuburger served as president — the organization’s chief executive officer — from 1964 to 1989. He has been board treasurer since 1964. Built to last In 1972, the credit union finally bought land and built a 1,000-square-foot building at 1661 N. Estrella Ave. Neuburger said he spent many sleepless nights because the credit union was spending $80,000 to build its first office — a large sum at the time. The credit union had $1 million in assets. Yet the Longs Peak board voted to add on to that building two times before 1989: The main floor now covers 3,400 square feet and the basement 2,800 square feet. The credit union had begun taking on small employee groups before, but with its own office, it was able to change its charter to accept bigger employee groups, such as city of Loveland employees, Neuburger said. Going ‘high tech’ And in 1984, the credit union faced its biggest change yet — going from hand postings of transactions to data processing. Up until then, credit union employees had calculated everything themselves, said Sondra Koberstein, Longs Peak president/chief executive officer and Neuburger’s daughter. “It was quite cumbersome,” she said. Neuburger said the credit union had about 1,600 members and $4 million in assets then, and every transaction had to be written down. With data processing, the credit union was able to expand its products and services to include checking accounts, individual retirement accounts, debit cards and more, Koberstein said. “It was a good decision,” she said. “It was the only decision we could make.” Don Neuburger retired from his full-time position in 1989, and the board — minus his vote — hired Koberstein to replace him. Expanding on all sides Then Longs Peak converted from a federal to a state charter in 1997, allowing it to open its membership to all Loveland residents. Up until then, “we were basically a government entity credit union,” Koberstein said. Longs Peak’s physical expansion began in 1998 with a “test” service center at 139 E. 37th St. “It immediately took off,” she said, and Longs Peak followed up by building a branch at 150 S.W. 14th St. in December 1999, and another at 2495 E. 13th St. in October 2002. “So we have our four facilities” to serve every quadrant of Loveland, Koberstein said. Eventually, Longs Peak will replace its service center in north Loveland with a branch like the other two, she said. Worthy investments Don Neuburger said it has been important for Longs Peak to invest in equipment, training, service and branches to remain competitive. “You have to have the technology to be able to provide the service for the membership,” Koberstein agreed. But getting the technology hasn’t always been easy, she said, recalling when she approached the board to buy a $250 fax machine in 1991. “‘What would you ever want a fax machine for?’” Koberstein said the board asked her. Ed Bigby, president and general manager of Norbel Credit Union, said he has watched Longs Peak grow since meeting Koberstein in 1984. “I watched them go from a small, plain-vanilla credit union to a full-service credit union with a wide variety of benefits for their membership,” he said. Throughout the years, Longs Peak has maintained its philosophy and continues to strive to do the best it can for its membership, Bigby said. Its leadership has made wise decisions, such as converting to a state charter and opening its membership to all Lovelanders, that have kept Longs Peak thriving, he said. Staying on course While Longs Peak has gotten bigger, it has only gotten better and managed to retain its service philosophy, longtime member Ruckle said. “The credit union’s not for profit; it’s for service and, boy, that’s what they do,” said Ruckle, a former board member who noted that board members are volunteers. He described Longs Peak’s employees and board members as “wonderful people” who “take pride in the fact they’re helping people.” “It’s personal contact,” said Darrell Koleber, of Longs Peak’s board, of why Longs Peak has survived the competition. “We just care,” Koberstein said. Bigby said Longs Peak’s leadership has contributed to the credit union’s success. “I have never met a more dedicated family than the Neuburgers and Kobersteins,” he said. “They worked very hard as a unit.”