The President's Perspective

​Successful meetings in Bismarck with Jim Nussle and Senator Cramer! Plus, our charitable golf outing nets over $8,000 for our foundation, and our fall education season is officially underway! 

Greetings,
 
It was great to connect with many of you in Bismarck last week at the CU Professionals Forum and Town Hall luncheon with CUNA President/CEO, Jim Nussle.  We were also very pleased to welcome North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer who kicked off our fall in-district “Hike the Hill” season by attending our meeting and providing Dakota credit unions leaders with an update on important legislative issues and matters that are impacting our region, as well as our financial services industry.  Be sure to check out the full recap posted in Friday’s Memo story.  
 
*Photos compliments of Senator Cramer’s office.

I also want to thank everyone that supported the Dakota Credit Union Foundation’s 5th annual Golf Scramble fundraiser that took place at the Apple Creek Country Club on Thursday.  We managed to avoid being rained out, enjoyed a pleasant day on the golf course, and fun was had by all.  More importantly we raised more than $8,000 (after expenses) that will help fund our Foundation’s charitable mission! 
 
All told, we had 17 teams participate in our first-ever “Play Yellow” event for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.  With our designated donation, along with a Miracle Match from CO-OP Financial Services, we anticipate that we will be sending $6,000 to Sanford Children’s Hospital in Fargo!  Thank you once again for your continued support of our foundation’s events and activities.  Finally, congratulations to the First Community Credit Union team of Zach Dosch, Sean Rinkenberger, Steve Schmitz, and Lonny Nygren for posting the lowest score and locking in first place honors. 
 
Regulatory Hikes are Virtual and Open to DakCU Members
Don’t forget – we have switched to a virtual platform for our fall Regulatory Hike the Hill meetings on September 14 and 15 with the NCUA and CFPB.  This our opportunity to have an open dialogue and share issues that are impacting your credit union and your ability to serve your members.  Feel free to tune in to become more familiar with important regulatory matters impacting our operating environment and to see how we interact with our regulators.  We have individual meetings with NCUA Chairman Todd Harper, NCUA Board Member Rodney Hood, NCUA Vice Chair Kyle Hauptman, and representatives from the CFPB.  These meetings are open to CEOs, managers, compliance professionals, and volunteers.  There is no charge to attend – but we do ask you to register by noon on September 7th as we will provide the regulatory agencies with a list of attendees.  Click here for the full agenda and to register. 
 
CUAid to the Rescue
As parts of our Dakota region enjoyed some much-needed moisture over the weekend, our attention quickly turned to the folks in the Gulf Coast area who are dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Ida.  It was just 15 short years ago that Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans and other parts of Louisianna and Mississippi in late August.  Once again, here we are watching the catastrophic damage caused by this latest storm in the same region.  Our thoughts and prayers are with these good people as they begin to deal with the aftermath and recover from yet another tropical hit.
 
This leads me into an appropriate segue, “giving hope when disaster strikes.”  As our credit union family continues to navigate through the resurgent pandemic, many have also found themselves dealing with other natural disasters that impact families and their financial well-being.  As many of you know, the National Credit Union Foundation is positioned to help credit union employees and volunteers recover from these events through the CUAid Program.
 
CUAid has been around since 2005 and has provided over $9M in grants since its inception, with over $100K distributed over the past few weeks in response to wildfires, hurricanes and other such disasters.  We here in the Dakotas have been a benefactor of CUAid when our communities and credit union employees were impacted by flooding in 2010 and 2011.
 
When disaster strikes, whether its hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, or a global pandemic, credit unions across the country react and become the “financial first responders” in their communities – that is the credit union difference.  So, now is another one of those times when we need to put our mission to the test and consider making a personal contribution to the Foundation’s CUAid effort.  I made my contribution this morning, and I hope you will join me in doing the same.  That is my Monday challenge to you all.  Donate here – it’s fast and simple.
 
Awareness Campaign Making an Impact!
The nation-wide consumer consideration and brand perception research results are in!  Overall, consumer consideration for credit unions in the US has risen from 13% (2019) to 19% (Q2 2021).  As you know, the “Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union” campaign is designed to, over time, increase consumer consideration for credit unions in regions where the campaign is launched.  After two and a half years of running the campaign, we've gained even more insights about the impact.
 
We will be hosting our Dakota Q2 Awareness Update this Wednesday, September 1, at 3:00 p.m. CT.  During the webinar, we’ll get specific details on the campaign performance here in the Dakota region as well as in-depth updates on consumer consideration and credit union brand perception research for both North and South Dakota.  We’re succeeding in achieving the campaign’s objectives, and we need you to join us in continuing this momentum!  This webinar is exclusive to DakCU affiliates.  Register here.  
 
Fall Education Season Off and Running – Save These Dates
The Dakotas Sister Society has rescheduled their next meeting for Wednesday, September 1, at 2:00 p.m. CT.  Hosted by Nanci Wilson, University FCU and Jaymason Bramblee, Oahe FCU, this meeting will be focused on “Leadership Lessons.”  Guest speakers will be Angela Prestil, who will speak on the CU Difference, and Erica Clements, East River FCU who will talk about Lessons in Leadership.  Everyone is invited to join, to register send an email to [email protected]. 
 
Leaders at small credit unions in North and South Dakota are encouraged to attend our Small Credit Union Roundtable on Tuesday, September 21st at Buffalo Ridge Resort in Gary, SD.   Our speaker line-up includes Tom Sakash, CUNA’s Small Credit Union Initiatives Manager, as well as Jim Kasch, founder of Canidae Consulting.  I will also be providing updates from the association that are particularly relevant to our small credit unions. There is no charge for this event, you are only responsible for travel and lodging.  Click here to register and for lodging information.
 
Our New Ideas Conference is headed to the Black Hills and scheduled for October 4 – 6 in Deadwood, South Dakota.  As always, we have a terrific fall event planned.  I am thrilled to announce Lorraine Ranalli – famous storyteller, author, and public speaker will be our emcee and facilitator.  Check out her video invite here.  Fair warning: this event has limited capacity and does fill up fast, so we recommend that you make your plans now to attend and register early.  Registration opens tomorrow!  
 
We are also thrilled to announce today the Dakota Credit Union Association is partnering with six other Midwest leagues in a collaborative program to help credit unions handle pressing legal and compliance risks.  We are calling the legal series the Attorney’s Conference for Non-Attorneys.  These webinars are designated for CEOs and managers that must deal with legal issues and don’t have in-house counsel, and therefore do not have access to the type of information provided at events like CUNA’s Attorney Conference.  We believe that this information, along with risk mitigation strategies, will help protect credit unions from liability and from having outside legal expenses.  Get complete details here and be sure to register for each individual session. 
 
Have a great week. 

​President/CEO
​Dakota Credit Union Association