The President's Perspective

A very successful Summit in Fargo; Governor Burgum signs “Thank Your Bank or Credit Union proclamation; and interchange is back as a hot topic! 

Greetings and Happy Monday!

It was so nice to reconnect with many of you last week at our annual Summit meetings in Fargo.  Our turnout was terrific and close to pre-COVID numbers as 225 credit union professionals, volunteers, crashers, and business partners attended.  If you were one of the attendees, please look for the Summit survey in your email this morning.  We would like to get your feedback so we can continue to make these meetings valuable for our members.

As always, the Awards Banquet was a Summit highlight, and I would like to offer my congratulations to Faye Miller from Capital Credit Union who was honored as the Volunteer of the Year; to Travis Dengel, Railway Credit Union, who was recognized with the Emerging Leader award; and to Jane Duerre from Norstar FCU on being honored as Professional of the Year.

I also want to extend a heartfelt congratulations to Roger Heacock, retired CEO of Black Hills FCU, on his induction into the Dakota Credit Union Hall of Fame.  As you know, this career recognition goes to individuals who have shown exceptional dedication and given outstanding service to the credit union movement in the Dakotas. 
 
Roger’s induction was a special one for me personally, as I have had the opportunity to learn from his leadership and witness his influence on the movement not only here in the Dakotas, but also on a national level.  I think Dan Cumbee, retired CEO from Dakotaland (and 2020 HOF Inductee) put it best: “He did way more for the credit union movement than he thought he did.”
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As I was preparing for Roger’s induction, I thought about traditional leadership, which we commonly relate to strategy, goals, financial performance, and customer satisfaction.  Those are things we expect leaders to do.  The servant leader, on the other hand, is someone who builds better organizations, enriches the lives of others, and ultimately creates a just and caring culture.  Servant leaders understand how to build a workplace culture where work teams and community are valued.  That is exactly how I would describe Roger Heacock.

In his Laws of Leadership book, renowned author and speaker, John Maxell, writes about the “The Law of E.F. Hutton.”  This is a leadership trait that references the famous tagline, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen,” used by the brokerage firm quite successfully in the 1970s.  This promotion was touting that real leaders influence people, and I witnessed this the first time I ever met Roger at manager’s forum in Chamberlain, South Dakota, 13 years ago.
 
When Roger spoke, other credit union folks paid attention – not because he wanted to dominate the dialogue, but because his insight was that valuable to them.  Being around a servant leader will change you; I know it changed me.  I would like to share these links to the Hall of Fame tribute videos honoring Roger, and I hope you find them as aspiring as I do.
 
Roger Heacock HOF Tribute
Jim Nussle-Roger Heacock HOF
 
Governor Burgum Signs “Thank Your Bank or Credit Union” Proclamation
Recently, I had the privilege to witness North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum sign the “Thank Your Bank or Credit Union Month” proclamation in his Bismarck office.  As we previously announced in the Memo, this is a special PR initiative from the Bank of North Dakota.  As part of the celebration, your credit union has an opportunity to win $5,000 to be used to support an education-related activity in your community.  To qualify, at least one of your members must submit a comment about your credit union at bnd.nd.gov/mycommunity.  If their comment is selected in the random drawing, your credit union wins!  If you would like to receive a digital copy of the proclamation, contact Shawn Brummer.  For contest details click here.

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Interchange Déjà Vu
Last week, the North Dakota Retail Association and the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve to reduce the interchange fees paid to credit unions, financial institutions, and other card issuers each time a consumer swipes their debit card.  We have learned that Sen. Cramer (R-ND) is being targeted by these two groups to either introduce or co-sponsor interchange related legislation.  We understand that the Senator’s office has already heard from hundreds of retailers.  There are many reasons that another reduction in interchange fees would be detrimental to credit unions and our members, and we covered this extensively in Friday’s Memo article.

We are asking all our credit unions to respond and reach out to the Senator’s office to share our concerns.  Basically, what is at stake is the end of “free checking” for our members, putting us at a huge disadvantage with the largest banks as well as the new fintech payment services popping up. 

You can reach out and contact the Senator’s office through our Voter Voice platform.  You can also call his office directly and tell him not to support any effort that would revise the interchange structure as this would ultimately be harmful and add additional burden to consumers at a time when they are already suffering financially.  Senator Cramer’s contact numbers: Washington, DC (202) 224-2043; Bismarck (701) 258-4648; Fargo (701) 232-8030.
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Congratulations to Tiffanie Kouf!
I want to send a shout-out to Tiffanie Kouf, Marketing Coordinator at M-O Federal Credit Union (Huron, SD).  She was just awarded the 2020 Ambassador of the Year award from the Huron Chamber and Visitors Bureau.  She has served for 11 years as an Ambassador and currently serves as the President of the Huron Chamber Ambassadors committee.  She is also the President of the SD Central Chapter of Credit Unions.  Congratulations Tiffanie!
 
Have a great week! 

​President/CEO
Dakota Credit Union Association