The President's Perspective

​ND Pints & Politics wraps up for the season; SD has two more events coming up! Plus, this Thursday credit unions around the world celebrate ICU Day! 

Greetings and happy Monday! We are just three days away from International Credit Union Day (ICU Day). This year marks the 74th ICU Day, which is celebrated on the third Thursday of October and is a tradition that goes back to 1948. This year’s theme looks toward empowering your members and community to build a better financial future with your credit union.  

By recognizing ICU Day each year, we not only celebrate the credit union difference, but we also use the platform to raise awareness about the tremendous work that credit unions and other financial cooperatives are doing around the world. Be sure use #ICUDay on all your social media posts, and please share your ICU Day activities and celebrations by emailing to Shawn Brummer. ICU Day is supported by America's Credit Unions and World Council of Credit Unions.  

2,150 miles in 37 days
The question of the day: How many miles does it take to complete North Dakota credit unions’ chapter Pints & Politics? The answer is 2,150 miles! We certainly do have a lot of geography to cover in our two states, as those trips across North Dakota alone are nearly equal to a coast-to-coast trip across the United States, which is 2,803 miles as the crow flies. If I count other trips, credit union visits, staff presentations, and such, my mileage so far this fall is over 3,000.

Last week, we wrapped up our North Dakota Pints & Politics swing with two successful chapter events in Jamestown and Fargo. All told, we circumvented the state in 37 days, traveled over two thousand miles, and shared the credit union difference with 61 North Dakota legislators and candidates. These extraordinarily successful events are credit union specific and bring our advocacy and grassroots efforts to the chapter level. Our Pints & Politics program is designed to bring credit union professionals and advocates, legislative representatives, and candidates together for an informal evening of credit union education and advocacy awareness. More importantly, these types of events have achieved measurable results over the last 12 years, or 6 election cycles. I want to send a big shout out to the North Dakota chapters and credit union leaders that engaged with our legislators and candidates and participated in this year’s events.

Upcoming SD Pints & Politics
We are just 22 days away from the 2022 General Election. For the congressional races (US House and Senate) this is the mid-term election cycle that lands in between presidential elections. Absentee ballots are out, and early voting will be available across the Dakotas soon.

We have two “Pints & Politics” events left on the docket: SE605 Chapter, which is this Thursday, October 20, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Blue Rock Bar and Grill in Sioux Falls; and we’ll wrap up the season in the Rapid City area next Thursday, October 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Pour 54 Taphouse in Rapid City. Once again, we hope to have a strong turnout of credit union professionals to demonstrate to our legislators that we are engaged! Be sure to contact me or Jay Kruse if you have any questions.
 
Good news on the Credit Card Interchange front – for now.
As you probably know, there was a proposal on the table to include the troublesome interchange amendments in the draft of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2023 budget. The amendment sponsors, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., tried to attach the problematic amendments to legislation that funds our military. However, the Senate last week moved NDAA bill forward without the amendment attached.

Credit unions here in the Dakotas and across the country have been raising concerns with the proposed amendment for months. More importantly, service members deserve a clean military-focused funding bill without tacking on the interchange bill that hasn’t seen a single congressional hearing.

First CUNA GAC Keynote Speaker announced.
Former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2023 CUNA GAC conference in February. The country’s 66th Secretary of State will join Jim Nussle, CUNA President/CEO, for a conversation featuring stories and insights gleaned from her trailblazing career on the GAC stage opening day on February 28. If you are interested in attending this year’s GAC, be sure to visit our “One Stop GAC Shop” where you will find everything you need – from registration, to scholarships, to Crasher info and accommodations – conveniently organized for you on our DakCU website.

Credit Union Awareness recognized.
Congratulations to Credit Union Awareness for its 2022 dotCOMM Platinum Award for best financial website. YourMoneyFurther.com—the credit union movement’s only national consumer-facing website—was recognized for delivering high-quality financial services content. The site has garnered more than 23 million pageviews and more than 15 million consumer visits since the re-launch this year. Contact Linsey Hefta if you have any questions about our Dakota awareness efforts.

DakCU Awards open today!
I am excited to share that our “new and improved” DakCU Awards are now open! Be sure to check out the related article in today’s Memo where you will find some exciting and expanded award opportunities in the areas of Marketing & Communications. We have also updated our Social Impact Award (formerly CU Social Good Award) to include both credit unions and individuals. We know that there are many outstanding individuals and credit unions who deserve to be recognized – so please consider nominating them this year.
 
National CU Foundation announces new grants.
Last week, the National Credit Union Foundation announced two new grant opportunities to support credit unions’ financial coaching and to combat hunger. All credit unions are encouraged to apply. The Financial Empowerment Through Coaching grant will be awarded to ten credit unions to receive the Pathways to Financial Empowerment service to integrate financial coaching into their operations. The second grant opportunity will provide credit unions up to $10,000 to enhance or establish a financial well-being program focused on addressing the issue of hunger. More information and application instructions can be found here. 
 
Have a momentous week, and Happy International Credit Union Day this Thursday!

DakCU President/CEO