Flathead Business Newsmakers | Daily inter lake

FEC raffle grants for food banks

Representatives from the Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, West Shore, Libby and Veterans Food Banks gathered Friday, September 9 at the Flathead Electric Cooperative to celebrate the results of this year’s Ribeye Raffle.

The 2022 Ribeye Raffle, organized by the alliance to support local food banks, raised $22,725 in cash and approximately 1,000 pounds of meat to donate to the seven food banks.

As part of its commitment to the community members that own the cooperative, Flathead Electric annually buys 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) market sales at the Northwest Montana Fair. Most of the meat goes to food banks, except for the prime steak, which is sliced. This year, the co-op beefed with Clara Giffin and Tristen Cheff; Lambs from Cadance Jones and Wyatt Bernier; and pigs from Dylan Benson and Bentley Bratton.

The winners of the raffle are They were announced on August 23. Dana Brown and Susan Gudmunson, both of Columbia Falls, received 60 one-inch-thick premium Montana T-bone and ribeye steaks valued at more than $500 each.

Will Tutvet, Co-op’s Community Outreach Specialist and Ribeye Raffle organizer, was thrilled with the results of this year’s raffle, sharing, “It’s amazing—when we first started the Ribeye Raffle, we raised $1,000 every year. The pandemic forced us to take our sales online, and that turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to the Ribeye Raffle. Ticket sales topped $10,000 in their first year online and broke $20,000 for the first time this year. Our members are very generous, and as a partnership, we are happy to organize this effort and give to our community food banks in such a meaningful way.

Over the past seven years, the Ribeye Raffle has raised $52,386 in cash and donated approximately 6,000 pounds of meat to Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Bigfork, Lakeside, Libby and Veterans Food Banks. Ticket sales are closed for 2022 but will be available for purchase in the summer of 2023 online, at the Co-op’s Libby and Kalispell offices, and at the Co-op booth at the Northwest Montana Fair.

WCU announces the addition of the leadership team

Whitefish Credit Union has announced the following five additions to its leadership team.

• Jennifer Archer has been promoted to senior vice president of credit operations. Archer most recently served as Vice President of Credit Administration, supporting the loan portfolio. She joined Whitefish Credit Union in 2005 and held several roles at the credit union before overseeing lending operations. Archer serves on the board of directors for Seth Man Wine, a local nonprofit that highlights and mobilizes other nonprofits. She is a graduate of Flathead High School and currently attends the CUNA School of Management, Credit Union Executive Leadership Program.

• Corey Koopman has been promoted to senior vice president of IT and project management. Coopman joined the credit union in 2018 as vice president of IT and has more than two decades of extensive experience managing and developing information technology systems. Koopman graduated from Arizona State University with a business degree in computer information systems and is an active volunteer in the community, coaching youth sports.

• Cheryl Mintz recently joined Whitefish Credit Union as senior vice president of human resources. She holds an MBA and JD from Tulane University, with additional certifications in mediation and arbitration. Mintz is a licensed member of the Montana Bar Association and has extensive experience in a variety of industries. She has a private pilot’s license, a scuba license and a black belt in judo. In her free time, she supports many charities and is a member of the Glacier Symphony Chorale, Soprano II.

• Matt Venturini has been promoted to senior vice president of lending. Venturini started as a credit analyst with Whitefish Credit Union in 2011. After six years with Glacier Bank, he joined the credit union as vice president, real estate loan manager, before moving into a role overseeing all of Whitefish Credit Union’s lending. Venturini graduated from Flathead High School and earned a finance degree from Concordia College. He is the Board Chair of Flathead Valley Habitat for Humanity.

• Josh Wilson has been promoted to senior vice president of marketing. Wilson has been with Whitefish Credit Union since 2017, previously serving as Vice President of Marketing. He has over sixteen years of experience in financial services and is an adjunct instructor in the Information Marketing Communications and Digital Marketing Communications graduate programs at West Virginia University. Josh received his master’s degree from West Virginia University.

Riley acknowledged working with H&R Block

Selina M. Riley of Kalispell was named one of 25 in the nation to be recognized for H&R Block at the 2022 Henry Bloch Excellence in Customer Service Awards. Riley is courageous and always works to increase H&R Block’s presence in her community.

Each recipient was chosen to go above and beyond for customer care, and to reflect the characteristics and purpose of H&R Block: to provide assistance and inspire confidence in our customers and communities everywhere.

Mann earns rewards by connecting mortgage buyers with down payment assistance

Kalispell-based Mann Mortgage, a nonprofit organization that has served Montanans for nearly 30 years, received the HomeNow Top Lending Institution award.

Mann Mortgage received the award because its loan officers helped connect the highest number of Montana homebuyers with the MoFi HomeNow down payment assistance program by 2021. HomeNow helps increase access to homeownership among Montanans who have good incomes and credit, but need help with down payments. HomeNow has received the Man Mortgage award five years in a row since 2016, when down payment assistance was first introduced.

Headquartered in Kalispell, the company has branches in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula, Paulson, Stevensville and Whitefish.

“HomeNow down payment assistance has become an invaluable resource for Man Mortgage,” said Steve Paulson, branch manager of Man Mortgage in Kalispell. Many of our customers in the state of Montana would not have been able to realize their dreams of homeownership without the program, and we are privileged and proud to be named Mofai’s Lender of the Year for the fifth year in a row.

Buyers can get HomeNow down payment assistance through participating mortgage lenders. It comes in the form of a 0% interest deferred loan. Buyers can receive up to 5% of the total loan amount, and the help can go toward down payments and closing costs. The program is not limited to first time home buyers. Since the program began in late 2016, MoFi has helped nearly 600 Montanans become homeowners.