In December 2011, the HCTA Federal Credit Union petitioned NCUA to expand our charter from a Single Common Bond Charter to a Multiple Common Bond Charter. This allows us to offer membership to other entities in Howard County who are in some way affiliated with schools. Our first new membership group was the High School Students of HCPSS, beginning January 2012.

Our name HCTA FCU which originally stood for Howard County Teachers Association Federal Credit Union, and more recently was referred to only as HCTA (standing for really nothing) had become outdated and confusing. We wanted the name of the CU to reflect our new membership opportunities and be easily recognizable. After looking at a number of options the Brand ID Committee chose Howard County Education Federal Credit Union. It was simple and to the point. It encompassed all of the groups that we are eligible to bring in without exclusions.

The logo design of the little Bee came from a contest that we had run to name our new Online banking product. The “Bee OnTime” was chosen and we designed a little bee with a clock, named Sheila Bee (after the contest winner) as our Bee OnTime logo. When we rolled out the Mobile Banking, we chose to use Sheila Bee again with a smart phone for the Bee Linked logo. Since we had already been using the Sheila Bee icon for two of our products it made sense to expand the process to include the honeycomb for the overall logo design. As the icon for the CU Sheila Bee is holding cash.

The Honeycomb design brings the theme together. The honeycomb signifies the place where riches (honey for bees, money for members) are stored and grow for the future. It signifies home, safety, security, protection and community. We felt that exemplified the concept of the credit union. The honeycomb design is also in the shape of an “E” to reflect the word Education in our name.

The colors we chose to use are gold and green. Gold: the color of honey and the color of gold coins; reflecting the words – savings, building the future and security. Green: the color of plants and the color of money; reflecting the words – future, growth and savings.

Field of Membership: Our field of membership includes all Howard County Public School System current and retired employees; MSEA employees; HC Head Start employees; current HCPSS high school students; Glenelg Country School employees; and Howard County Conservancy. As with all credit unions the immediate family of members are eligible to join. Once a member, always a member.