Northeast Community Credit Union donated $1,000 to Main Street Elizabethton’s downtown Triangle 
Project.
Main Street Elizabethton leaders have developed a plan to revitalize the small triangle median at the entrance to downtown near Dino’s Restaurant.
Pending Elizabethton City Council’s approval, Main Street will add a water fountain and new landscaping to the grassy area.
Northeast Community Credit Union is helping to support students as they prepare for a new school year 
by sponsoring both of Carter County’s backpack programs.
NCCU donated $1,000 to both the Elizabethton City School Back-to-School Bash and the Carter County/Harmony FWB Back-to-School Bash in the county. Both programs distribute thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies to students in the Carter County and Elizabethton City school systems each year.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the bashes will look a little different this year. The Elizabethton City Schools will be distributing the backpacks when students return to classes.
Harmony will host a drive-thru event this Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to noon at Hampton High School, Valley Forge Elementary, Hunter Elementary, Cloudland Elementary, and Little Milligan School (the five schools where summer lunches were served) and also at Harmony FWB Church in Hampton.
Certificates of deposit lock up your money for a set period. In return, you earn higher interest than what’s available on most savings accounts.
A traditional CD or certificate of deposit is a type of savings account. They can also be called time deposits, fixed deposits or term deposits.
Unlike a traditional savings account that lets you withdraw money from at any time, a CD has a fixed term and:
In other words, by opening the CD, you agree to leave your one-time deposit in the account for a fixed amount of time. In an emergency, you can withdraw funds early, but you will pay a penalty to do so. In exchange for agreeing to a set term length, you get a fixed interest rate, typically one higher than a traditional savings account. The longer the term length, the higher the interest rate you earn.
A traditional CD is essentially a time-bound deposit. A CD, also called a “share certificate” at credit unions, almost always earns more interest than a regular savings account. Banks and credit unions pay extra for the right to hold a lump sum for a period of months or years, known as the CD’s “term.”
The credit union rewards you by paying you a higher interest rate than it does for a savings account or money market account. You make a higher annual percentage yield (APR) on the money you deposit in the CD. Some CDs compound interest daily. The credit union pays more to you because you’re giving them money for a longer period of time. They then can use your money to earn more money. For example by extending other customers long-term like loans.
The National Credit Union Association insures your CD up to $250,000, just as with any deposit account. So the only risk to you is the penalty you’d have to pay if you withdrew the money before the CD term was up.
Some CDs allow you to choose to take the monthly interest earned out. Others require you cash out the CD only at the end of the term length.
When opening a CD, you choose how long you want to give our money to the bank, known as the term length. Common term lengths for traditional CDs include 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months and 3, 4, 5 and 6 years. Some banks and credit unions will also offer a custom term length.
As a rule, the longer the term, the higher the interest rate. Putting more money into your CD can also boost your annual percentage yield, the effective return on your deposit that comes from compounding the interest over the course of a year.
You’ll earn interest on the deposit until it matures, at which point you can collect the full amount. But if you need funds in a CD before the maturity date, there’s generally a penalty.
CDs work best for savers who have the financial breathing room to sock away money for years at a time. You’ll also need to be able to meet any minimum deposit requirements, typically $500 or $1,000.
But you might consider short-term CDs too, especially if you want to take advantage of high rates now.
When deciding on a deposit amount and a term length, consider your other financial commitments and your time horizon. Make sure you’ve already banked enough emergency savings — ideally three to six months’ worth of living expenses that you can access easily in time of need. By contrast, any money you put into a CD will be locked down until the end of the term; withdrawing it ahead of time means you’ll pay a penalty.
By now, you are probably thinking of opening a CD with the longest term possible. But having a very long-term may not be the best thing to do. For example, you may need your money before the time period is up and if you choose to remove your money before that happens, you can be penalized by the bank or credit union. Some don’t allow you to make partial withdrawals and require you withdraw the full account balance. When you do, you can put two or more months of interest.
Bottom line, before you invest in a CD, either make sure you’re confident that you won’t need the money before the maturity date or that you’re comfortable paying a penalty if you need the money earlier. If you’re not sure, consider choosing a savings account or money market instead.
When your CD reaches the end of its term, it matures. Toward the end of your term, your credit union will inform you about its impending maturity and present you with options, including taking your money and walking away or renewing for another term length.
CDs are as just as safe as the money you have in your savings or checking account with the bank, assuming none of those accounts—or the combination of accounts owned by you at the same bank—has more than the insured maximum of $250,000. With NCUA insurance, you’re guaranteed to get your money back—up to the insured maximum—if your credit union goes under for any reason.
CDs in themselves won’t help you build your credit history. However, some financial institutions offer a CD secured loan if you open a CD. This is a loan that uses your CD deposit as collateral. If you default on your loan payments, your CD will be taken to pay the loan. Making timely payments on the loan can help you build your credit, if your bank or credit union reports your payments to all three credit bureaus. Not all do, so if you chose this path as a way to build credit, ask your credit union. The CD itself won’t impact your credit one way or another.
URGENT ALERT: Do YOU want to pay back thousands of dollars somebody else stole? You may find yourself on the hook with law enforcement, FBI, or the IRS. Here’s how it typically happens:
FACT: Your new friend STOLE the money he/she sent to your account by hacking an innocent victim somewhere. The rightful owner will eventually contact the police, FBI, and perhaps the IRS when the money disappears. The paper trail will lead to YOU – after all, YOU gave him your account number and allowed the money to go into YOUR account. YOU pulled the money out & shipped most of it by cashier check, money order, or cash to where the hacker (your new ‘friend’) instructed you to. YOU withdrew the funds and YOU are now responsible – it doesn’t matter if you kept a little of it or none of it; you are now an accomplice to the crime and your name is on those withdrawals.
The rightful owner of the funds will proceed with legal action against both you and the hacker, who you mysteriously can no longer reach after the transactions are done…now you’re on the hook alone. Recently, one of our members, after being caught up in one of these scams and being investigated by law enforcement, provided FBI agents with his new ‘friend’s’ email address, photos, phone number, and copies of text messages. But the woman who had deposited money to his credit union account has seemingly disappeared. Our member is now on the hook for the $18,000 stolen from the real victim & sent to his credit union account electronically. He didn’t keep the money but is being considered by law enforcement as guilty of fraud.
This is sometimes known as a type of Sweetheart Scam. YOU are not considered the victim in this – you willingly gave someone your account information so he or she could deposit money, you willingly followed instructions to withdraw the money and mail or deliver it. You are no longer in possession of the money, yet you are liable for the theft of thousands of dollars. Is it worth being sued or facing jail time? Please – ASK yourself this before giving out your account number or trusting a sad story from a stranger.
If you have questions about this or other suspicious activity, please call the NCCU Fraud Department immediately at (423) 547-1232 at our main office on 980 Jason Witten Way, Elizabethton.
Northeast Community Credit Union staff brought tokens of appreciation and Thank You cards to Carter 
County and Elizabethton City law enforcement personnel and office staff.
Credit union President/CEO Teresa Arnold stated, “We are blessed in this area to have courageous and caring individuals looking out for the safety of our community. We appreciate them so much. They have difficult jobs, and our Credit Union Board and Staff want to thank them for all they do to protect the people served. Our heartfelt prayers are always with them.”
Northeast Community Credit Union helped to support other essential workers by providing face masks 
to Carter County government employees.
NCCU employees visited the Carter County Courthouse and the Carter County Courthouse Annex offices. NCCU offered county employees a reusable face mask plus newsletters with information about financial recovery. The newsletters are handy references for all individuals as our community bounces back to normal, and are 
free to the public. Call (423) 547-1200 for more information.
Northeast Community Credit Union awards the William L. Armstrong Scholarship annually to qualifying credit union members who are graduating from high school and will be attending college.
The scholarship was originally established to honor William L. Armstrong, one of the founding members of Northeast Community Credit Union who continues to serve on the Board of Directors. To qualify for the scholarship, students must be enrolled at local high schools approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, have a minimum 3.0 grade point average and plan to enter college for the following semester. As part of the selection process, students are required to submit a 500-word, typed essay on how one person can make a difference in the world.
This year the scholarships were awarded to Stevie Barnett of Cloudland High School; Brilee Culbert of Elizabethton High School; Ashley Woodby or Hampton High School; Claire Johnson of Happy Valley High School; and Sara Grubb of Unaka High School.
Students are recommended by teachers and leaders in the community. They have exemplified good citizenship in the classrooms and are active in volunteer work in the community.
Wendy Lyons, seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Hunter Elementary, is the latest Northeast 
Community Credit Union Helping Teacher’s Teach grant winner.
Lyons plans use to the Helping Teacher’s Teach grant to purchase a VEX Robotics program for Hunter Elementary students and to start a competition robotics team.
“This project introduces and enhances STEM basics for students in 7th and 8th grade,” Lyons said. “It teaches scientific approaches to the engineering design model while incorporating technology and math in complex problem-solving skills.”
Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment. Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union. Area teachers may become members at any NCCU location and can download the grant application on the credit union’s website: www.BeMyCU.org.
Bonnie Buckles, librarian at Central Elementary, is the latest Northeast Community Credit Union 
Helping Teacher’s Teach grant winner.
Buckles applied for the grant to create a Literary Makerspace for Central Elementary students. The activities are set up and designed to stimulate critical thinking skills and encourage educational playfulness to follow a story plot.
“A Makerspace will allow students to become problem solvers, while working both independently and creatively,” Buckles said. “The Makerspace activities are wonderful ways to inspire interactive and engaging learning experiences.”
Northeast Community Credit Union awards $300 every month to a classroom to be utilized for classroom needs, classroom activities, and academic enrichment. Helping Teachers Teach is open to teachers within Carter, Johnson, Unicoi, Sullivan and Washington counties who are members of Northeast Community Credit Union. Area teachers may become members at any NCCU location and can download the grant application on the credit union’s website: www.BeMyCU.org.
