1.3.2012: Van Ru Ends the Year by Spreading Some Holiday Cheer

January 3, 2012 - Employees in Van Ru Credit Corporation’s Florida branch held a fundraiser to bring some holiday cheer to several local families. Randall Mayes, Florida Branch General Manager, dressed as Santa and brought along some of his elves to hand deliver the gifts to the local families. The money raised to provide holiday presents to the five local families was directly through employee contributions. The team also provided a home cooked meal for residents of the Ronald McDonald House to help ease the burden during the holiday times.

Additionally, thanks to the suggestion of a Florida branch employee, all Van Ru locations are donating their December “casual day” employee contributions to Toys for Tots. Money is raised when employees “purchase” the option to dress casually for up to six days each month and an additional two weeks of casual days has been declared for this worthy charitable organization. Toys for Tots puts smiles on the faces of kids that would not normally have a “merry” holiday season.

2.14.2011: Van Ru Grants Two More Wishes

February 14, 2011 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is deeply committed to assisting charitable causes and organizations in the local community. In support of this commitment, Van Ru is proud to be a Bronze Corporate Partner with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois -- the national wish-granting organization dedicated to making wishes come true for children with serious illnesses.

Since 2001, Van Ru's employees have raised more than $140,000 in support of this organization. Money is raised when employees "purchase" the option to dress casually for up to six days each month. Once the monetary goal is achieved, a check is presented to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and another child's wish is granted.

Recently, Van Ru granted its 28th and 29th wishes. The 28th wish was for Robert, an outgoing eleven-year-old boy who lives in East St. Louis, Illinois with his dad and four older siblings. Before Robert was a year old, he was diagnosed with Beal syndrome, a genetic disease that can cause contractures of the joints, skeletal problems and aortic enlargement. Robert has had multiple surgeries to help straighten his legs, fingers, and toes. He is currently doing well and remains upbeat, enjoying life and making others laugh. Robert's wish was to go on a shopping spree, and Van Ru's donation allowed him to go on the shopping spree of a lifetime!

The 29th wish was for Yary, a playful five-year-old girl who loves sweets! She lives in Chicago with her parents and two-year-old brother. In February 2010, Yary was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and malignant soft tissue tumor. Yary is undergoing chemotherapy treatments and her family remains hopeful for a full recovery. When asked to wish BIG, Yary knew she wanted to go somewhere with a beautiful beach. Van Ru's donation will allow Yary and her family to travel to Hawaii this spring!

1.4.2011: Van Ru Hires ARM Industry Veterans to Lead Business Development Initiatives

January 4, 2011 - Van Ru Credit Corporation, a leading accounts receivable management company, operating in four locations in the United States and a Near Shore facility in San Jose, Costa Rica, today announced the addition of David Morton to the company's Business Development team. Mr. Morton will serve as Vice President of Business Development with primary responsibility for key client acquisitions. Mr. Morton has extensive ARM experience, both with credit issuers and agencies, and strong relationships in the financial services sector. He will lead Van Ru's Business Development initiatives designed to increase awareness of the company's nationwide accounts receivable and debt collection capabilities.

Additionally, Van Ru welcomed Stephen Stauffer to its Business Development team. Mr. Stauffer will serve as Director of Business Development and will be focused on developing and strengthening Van Ru's relationships within the Government and financial services industries. Mr. Stauffer has more than 20 years of sales and operations experience in the ARM industry. His experience will be valuable in building customer relationships and cultivating new business opportunities with banks, mortgage servicers and finance companies.

2.18.2010: Van Ru's Employees Raise Money for Haiti Relief

February 18, 2010 - On January 12, the earthquake in Haiti caused massive devastation, killing more than 200,000 people. Equally immense, however, was the response to those in need. Van Ru's employees immediately launched fundraising efforts to raise funds for those who were devastated and displaced by the earthquake, and through the generosity of our employees donations will send a check to the "Friends of the Children of Haiti" charity.

Helping others is important to the employees of Van Ru and this is just one of the many other charitable organizations we support. Van Ru and its employees are deeply committed to assisting charitable causes and organizations in the local communities on a regular basis.

11.6.2009: Van Ru Appoints Vice President/CFO

November 6, 2009 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Louis ("Skip") Spillone, Jr. to the company's Executive Team. Mr. Spillone will serve as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, leading Van Ru's in-house Accounting, Finance and Human Resources teams.

Skip brings more than 27 years of diverse financial, strategic and operational leadership to Van Ru, including roles at early-stage, entrepreneurial companies, privately-held, mid-size companies and publicly-held, fortune 500 companies. Most recently, he spent the last 7 years as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Brook Furniture Rental, Inc. in Lake Forest, IL. Skip has an established track record of helping companies grow both organically and through acquisition, and he is skilled at managing companies through changing economic cycles. His talent and leadership will help Van Ru to profitably grow its business while better serving its clients.

"I am pleased to add someone with Skip's experience and business acumen to our management team. With the addition of Skip, and Brion Henes as VP of Information Technology earlier this year, Van Ru has significantly improved the depth of our senior management team," said Albert Rubin, Van Ru's Chairman.

Mr. Spillone is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an Accounting degree from the University of Illinois and a Masters in Management from the prestigious Northwestern University J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Evanston, Illinois.

5.21.2009: Van Ru Appoints Vice President of Information Technology

May 21, 2009 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Brion Henes to the company's Executive Team. Mr. Henes will serve as Vice President of Information Technology, leading Van Ru's in-house Information Technology team.

Brion brings more than 28 years Information Technology experience to Van Ru; more than 26 years in the accounts receivable industry. Brion has an established track record of improving IT performance through efficiencies related to process improvement, technical innovation, team building and most importantly in creating a conduit between IT and the business to ensure IT is focused on the areas that will best support business growth. His talent and leadership will allow Van Ru to expand its business partnerships in the face of numerous, challenging implementations.

1.26.2009: Van Ru Takes the Lead with ED

January 26, 2009 - "We are extremely proud of our ED Team, not only for achieving first place for the quarter, but also for increasing to a third place rank in the 12 month long term measure and having the third highest rank average for the entire contract," said Albert Rubin, Van Ru's Chairman. Van Ru's contract performance for the U.S. Department of Education has earned a first place ranking for the CPCS period ending December 31, 2008. ED examines various aspects of collection agency performance through Competitive Performance Continuous Surveillance (CPCS) evaluations throughout the year. Based on our performance among the 12 vendors serving ED on their unrestricted contract, Van Ru maintained an overall first place ranking. Van Ru has provided ED with collection agency services since 1997 and was recently awarded its fourth consecutive contract with the Department.

1.8.2009: Van Ru Awarded Fourth Consecutive U.S. Department of Education Contract

January 8, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded contracts to 17 private collection agencies to provide collection services on delinquent student loans. In March of 2008, GSA-approved agencies with proven track records of performance in the collection of large scale defaulted student loan debt were invited to submit their qualifications. Many agencies responded to ED's pre-qualifying questionnaire, but only 26 were invited to bid. Van Ru was one of 17 large agencies awarded the new contract; the small business set-aside portion of the task order has yet to be awarded. This contract will be in place until 2011, and agencies are competitively ranked each month. For the current ED contract, Van Ru competes against 12 agencies and has ranked third contract-to-date.

9.21.2007: Van Ru's Skokie, Illinois Branch Moves to Des Plaines, Illinois

September 21, 2007 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is pleased to announce that its Skokie, Illinois collection and call center facility will complete the move of all operations to its new home in Des Plaines, Illinois by October 1.  The move effectively merges the Skokie office with Van Ru's Des Plaines Branch, both of which are conveniently located within the same building as the company's corporate headquarters.

This move allows all operations to continue in a more modern facility and capitalize on the expansion potential of over 300 more seats necessary to accommodate both current client growth and partnerships recently acquired.

All communications intended for the former Skokie facility should now be directed to 1350 East Touhy Avenue, Suite 100E, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018 and/or the branch's new toll-free number-(888) 593-5183. 

6.6.2007: Van Ru Exceeds $100,000 in Make-A-Wish Donations

June 6, 2007 - Since April of 2001 Van Ru has raised over $100,000 in partnership with the Make-A-Wish-Foundation of Illinois-a chapter of the national wish-granting organization dedicated to making wishes come true for children with serious illnesses. Thus far employees at Van Ru have sponsored 18 wishes and continue to show their enthusiasm for what has proved to be a highly beneficial and satisfying partnership.

With a suggested donation of $2/day or $5/week, Van Ru encourages employees to dress in casual attire during a particular week every month. All proceeds are then passed along to Make-A-Wish. The "Casual Week" program gives Van Ru a way to facilitate, rather than solicit, consistent contributions while creating a relaxed atmosphere at work. More importantly, hearing about the children, whose wishes have become realities, is a humbling experience that gives employees a genuine sense of fulfillment.

On June 7, Van Ru will present its latest donation check to the Foundation at its corporate headquarters, thereby ensuring the fulfillment of three more wishes and bringing the grand total to 21. Several wish families will be in attendance to share their feelings during the event.

5.15.2006: Van Ru Partners with Noble Systems for Collection Center Technology

One of America's largest privately-owned collection agencies replaces technology with the Noble Solution

Atlanta, GA - May 15, 2006:  Noble Systems Corporation, a global leader in contact center technology solutions, has been selected as a technology vendor for Van Ru, one of the nation's largest privately-owned collection agencies. Van Ru replaced its existing dialers with the unified NobleT platform for inbound and outbound call management.

Van Ru, a leader in the Account Receivable Management industry, selected the NobleT solution for installation at 1000 collector stations across five sites. Noble Systems gives Van Ru a single, integrated solution to manage blended inbound and outbound contacts with digital recording, skip tracing, contact management, as well as messaging, application monitoring, and more. The unified system also includes a built-in database, real-time reporting, and a custom collector desktop solution integrated with the agency's existing collections software application.

The Noble solution provides a range of benefits for Van Ru, helping them improve efficiencies and increase productivity. The system's built-in messaging features eliminate the need for a separate outsourced messaging service, resulting in a cost savings of $20,000 a month. Digital recording for quality assurance and the ability for clients to monitor their own programs through a real-time connection add value to the agency's business relationships. Since implementing Noble, Van Ru has experienced a productivity increase of 300% for attempts and 36% for contacts per hour versus its previous dialing solutions.

James K. Noble, Jr., President and CEO of Noble Systems, says, "Van Ru is a recognized leader in the accounts receivable industry. Their approach to business is similar to our own - determining each client's unique business needs, and customizing a solution to meet those requirements. Together, we have worked to provide Van Ru with a flexible, integrated Noble platform for managing blended inbound and outbound collections activities. We are excited to be Van Ru's technology partner, and look forward to being a part of their future success."

About Noble Systems
Noble Systems Corporation (NSC) is a global leader in contact center technology solutions, providing innovative products since 1989. Tens of thousands of agents at hundreds of client installations worldwide conduct business using the award-winning NobleT platform for inbound/outbound/blended communications. The scalable, integrated Noble solution includes advanced ACD and predictive dialing; unified contact processing for voice, email, and web; and integrated IVR, digital recording, messaging, quality control/monitoring systems, scripting, and real-time reporting and management tools. Based in Atlanta, GA, NSC is a part of the world's largest teleservices organization, with operations in over 30 countries. For more information on this item or the company, contact Lee Allum at 1.888.866.2538 x538 (lallum@noblesys.com), or visit www.noblesys.com.

Noble, Noble Suite, Noble Systems, and the N-logo are trademarks of Noble Systems Corporation.

4.24.2006: Van Ru's Wisconsin Branch Moves to Milwaukee

April 24, 2006 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is pleased to announce that its Brookfield, Wisconsin office moved all operations on March 17, 2006 to its new Milwaukee location.  The brand new facility accommodates close to 100 more full-time employees than the previous office. The new call center, located at 11745 W. Bradley Road, Milwaukee, WI 53224-2531, is completely operational and boasts a variety of improved features to enhance general operations, including increased security and multiple training rooms. The Milwaukee office retains the same toll-free number-(800) 723-1300-but does have a new fax number-(414) 359-9252.

10.27.2005: Van Ru Raises Money for Hurricane Victims

October 27, 2005 - On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the Gulf Coast, causing devastation on a massive scale. Equally immense, however, was the response to those in need. In keeping with this spirit of charitable contribution Van Ru and its employees launched fundraising efforts on August 31 to aid those devastated and displaced by the hurricanes. Through a combination of casual dress incentives, bake sales and individual donations Van Ru raised nearly $5,000 to aid in the relief of hurricane victims.

7.11.2005: Van Ru Grants 12th Wish

July 11, 2005 - Van Ru Credit Corporation is deeply committed to assisting charitable causes and organizations in the local community. In support of this commitment, Van Ru has been working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois since April of 2001 and became a Bronze Corporate Partner in 2004. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is the national wish-granting organization dedicated to making wishes come true for children with serious illnesses.

Since 2001, Van Ru's employees have raised nearly $51,000 in support of this organization. Money is raised when employees "purchase" the option to dress casually for up to six days each month. Once the monetary goal is achieved, a check is presented to the Make-A-Wish organization, and another child's wish is granted.

Recently, Van Ru granted its twelfth wish. The wish was for Dan, a thirteen-year-old boy from Bolingbrook. Dan has Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy which is a rapidly progressive form of Muscular Dystrophy which targets the lower body. An animal lover, Dan is especially interested in marine life. His wish was to go to Sea World, meet a marine biologist and swim with the dolphins which he was able to do with his family this spring. Van Ru is already busy collecting money toward the thirteenth wish.

6.30.2005: Van Ru Supports Special Olympics

Van Ru and its employees are dedicated to supporting charitable causes in the local community. In addition to its many other charitable contributions, Van Ru recently donated money to the local Special Olympics chapter. The donation level-Living a Dream-will help support Special Olympics in its mission to provide sports training and athletic competition to more than 1.7 million people with intellectual disabilities.

6.27.2005: Van Ru Announces Expansion

June 27, 2005 - Van Ru Credit Corporation today announced the opening of its new 250-seat call center in Des Plaines, Illinois. The new center is located on the first floor of Van Ru's corporate headquarters. This expansion allows Van Ru to significantly enlarge its operational capacity in both its Skokie and Des Plaines' centers by over 200 seats.

The new Des Plaines call center currently employs 130 full-time employees with the capacity to accommodate over 120 more seats. This center houses Van Ru's legal forwarding department which is managed by one of Van Ru's internal attorneys. This department is responsible for forwarding accounts to Van Ru's national network of attorneys and managing the legal process for Van Ru's clients. The new Des Plaines center has collection teams dedicated to healthcare, bankcard and telecommunication clients and is planning to expand into the energy and government industries in the coming months.

Albert Rubin, Van Ru's Chairman says, "I am excited about the new opportunities available to Van Ru due to this expansion. I know our team is capable of growing to meet our new business opportunities."

3.28.2005: Van Ru Supports Kids' Night Out

The Chicago Bulls hosted their first annual Kids' Night Out which rewarded hundreds of local disadvantaged children with the joy of attending a professional basketball game. The game took place on March 28th, 2005 at the United Center. Working in conjunction with Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois, Van Ru's donation helped make this a memorable event for 50 local children.

1.17.2005: Van Ru Opens First International Call Center

January 17, 2005 - Van Ru, one of the nation's largest independent receivables management companies, today announced the opening of its first international call center. The new facility will accommodate up to 200 employees and is located in a modern office park outside San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The Costa Rican operation (wholly-owned by Van Ru International) will utilize state-of-the-art technology and provide Van Ru customers with the same solutions available in its U.S. centers, including first party customer care, delinquency prevention and cure programs as well as third party bad debt collection programs.

Remarked company Chairman, Albert Rubin, "We have looked at a lot of international alternatives, from purchasing existing call centers to partnering, in a number of different countries around the world. Ultimately we decided that a Van Ru-owned center was the best way we could get the quality control our customers demand. We chose Costa Rica because it offers the best balance of language skills, infrastructure, political stability and cost...plus it's in a great time zone and you don't have to travel half way around the world to get there."

Van Ru's Costa Rican call center joins a well-established network of call centers in the Chicago, Milwaukee, Phoenix and Tampa metro areas. The Van Ru philosophy of combining a well trained, customer focused work force with state of the art technology has led to consistent organic growth over its fifty one (51) year history.

10.22.2004: Van Ru Awarded Third Consecutive United States Department of Education Contract

The United States Department of Education recently awarded contracts to 17 private collection agencies to provide collection services on delinquent student loans. Early in 2004, GSA-approved agencies with proven track records of performance in the collection of large scale defaulted student loan debt were invited to submit their qualifications. Out of the 38 invited agencies, Van Ru was one of 12 large agencies awarded the new contract; five additional agencies were selected under the small business set-aside portion of the task order. This contract will be in place until 2009, and agencies are competitively ranked each month. For the previous United States Department of Education contract, Van Ru competed against an average of 13 agencies and was consistently ranked as one of the top 3 agencies. In 2004 alone, private collection agencies accounted for over $1.2 billion in recoveries to the United States Department of Education.