New York Federal Credit Union, founded in 1937 as Schenectady Teachers Federal Credit Union, launched a blog last summer as one way to reach out to younger prospective members.

The nonprofit financial cooperative, with nearly 28,000 members and total assets of more than $180 million, has seven full-service branches in the region and two school branches, run by student volunteers, at Schenectady High School and Mohonasen High School.

First New York's prime blogger is Walter Everhardt, director of marketing, who responded to questions about the credit union's push to entice young members.

Q: What was behind the campaign to attract young investors?
A: First New York ... serves a wide range of age groups and has products and services that meet the needs of every age group. However, Generation Y, which ranges from teens to early 30s, comprises the largest generational age group since the baby boomers. This group is in need of financial products and services and First New York feels it is a perfect fit for meeting these needs. ...

Recent studies have shown that financial education is lacking and that young adults are not prepared for the challenges they are facing. Upon reaching adulthood, many consumers do not have basic understanding of how to save money, how to set up a budget, how to balance a checkbook and the principles of credit and how it affects them. Because of these factors, we have created an initiative to educate younger members in a variety of financial topics.

Q: How successful has the marketing strategy -- the blog, podcasts of educational programs -- been in appealing to young investors?
A. In 2007, we began changing the way we market to younger members. We began to market directly to the group by means of traditional media, as well as look at alternative ways to reach this age group. ...

The blog offers the credit union a way to provide information on topics of interest. So far, we have covered identity theft, knowing your credit score, smart online shopping, fraud prevention and auto buying tips. The posts are all educational and have been well received by members and non-members.

In addition, we have also produced podcasts on a variety of topics such as identity theft prevention, first-time home-buying tips, phishing and credit scoring. The podcasts are available anytime from our blog.

Q: Explain the popularity of brass, the Portland, Ore. magazine for young adults, and why the credit union Web site has a link to it.
A: Brass CU magazine and Web site was the idea of Bryan Sims. Bryan began Brass while he was a college student when he realized that information is not available for young adults.

Knowing what was needed, Bryan founded Brass, which is written for young adults, by young adults. Brass CU magazine and Web site contain information on topics that are important to young adults such as finding a job, starting your own business, saving for the future and much more.
We feel that since it is written for young adults, and that the content is geared toward young adults, we have provided a link from our homepage. We also send the magazine to our younger members as an added benefit.

Q: How successful are the high school branches? How do they work and what role do student volunteers play?
A: Our credit union was originally founded by educators in the Schenectady school district. Because of our roots in education, we are very excited about our involvement with Schenectady and Mohonasen high schools.

Our in-school branches are actual branch offices of the credit union where real transactions can occur. At the in-school branches, our volunteer student tellers and service representatives can open accounts; process deposits, withdrawals and loan payments; and cash checks. The branches are run by students with supervision by school and credit union personnel. ...

In addition to conducting transactions, the students assist in marketing the branch to fellow students and for creating promotions. We have conducted promotions for incoming freshmen, graduating seniors, saving for the prom, saving for a yearbook and a deposit reward program.

Q: How has your SMART financial resolutions gimmick -- aimed at all ages -- been accepted?
A: The SMART financial resolutions were offered at the start of the year as simple suggestions on how members can start the new year on the right track. We made several recommendations for each age group that were as simple as children saving change.

We mentioned that by saving your change daily, over the course of several weeks you will have a nice amount saved up.

We made other suggestions that were relevant to other age groups. We have heard that several members have taken our advice and are working at improving their financial position in the new year.

Q: Does First New York have open membership and what plans are there for future growth?
A: Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga, Rensselaer or Schoharie counties.

During 2007, we relocated our Saratoga Springs branch to 424 Maple Ave. (Route 9), which offers members a new building with convenient access and amenities. Also last year, we opened a new facility at 2 Wall St. in the town of Colonie.

This year, we will be focusing on promoting our branch locations ... Last year was a year of growth for First New York, and in 2008 we will be building on our growth.