The President's Perspective

Seasons greetings to all! Plus, our holiday schedule;
​a “border battle” between NDSU and MSU for the national championship; and more. 

Greetings and Happy Holidays!
 
As a reminder, Wednesday will be our last publication of The Memo newsletter for the year as our offices will be closed Friday, December 24th for Christmas Eve and December 31st for New Year’s Eve. The Memo will be back up and in your email inbox on January 3, 2022!
 
The Border Battle is on! Montana & Dakota Credit Union Leagues throw down the gauntlet!
Well, it may not be the border battle that we were hoping for, but we will have a border battle regardless! We are talking about the upcoming Collegiate (FCS) Football championship game between the North Dakota State Bison and the Montana State Bobcats, who will face off for the national championship and “border bragging rights” on January 8th in Frisco, TX.
 
In case you are wondering, a gauntlet is a type of glove, often worn by medieval swords people. When someone throws down their glove, it is universally known to be a challenge to a duel. Colloquially, it means that someone has thrown out a challenge and that is what we have done with our good friends and neighbors at the Montana Credit Union League.
 
Final details are in the works, but the challenge is on and at the end of the day a children’s charity will be the ultimate winners. The DakCU and the Montana Credit Union teams are working out the challenge details and we are encouraging our credit unions to get in on fray. I anticipate we will have it ironed out later today and we will reach out to you through our normal communications platforms.
 
The challenge will culminate with a check presentation at the MonDak meetings in Las Vegas, February 8-9 and one of the league CEOs wearing Green and Gold or Blue and Gold…  
 
The battle is on - Go Bison! Oh, BTW, the MSU Coach is a native of North Dakota – just saying…
 
We appreciate your support and engagement this past year.
I wanted to share a few thoughts with you in my year-end message as we close out 2021.
People join associations for many reasons. They want to be part of a community that speaks their language, cares about what they care about, and shows them a path toward becoming better leaders, better partners, or better stewards and supporters of their industry.
 
As we discover year in and year out, “membership matters.” Your active and engaged participation truly makes us a stronger and more powerful movement. This is important and necessary in efforts to remain relevant and to provide continued value to our Dakota credit unions and our credit union members.
 
As the only financial trade association that represents all credit unions in the Dakotas, our objective is simple: We are here to help our members succeed. We do that by providing 360-degree advocacy leadership, regulatory support, education, and trusted business solutions and resources to our affiliates. We focus on these priority pillars so that our credit unions can focus on serving their members.
 
Our three-tiered system that includes your credit union, the association, and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) really is the best model that provides support and the necessary resources and tools.
 
As an engaged member of our association, you are entitled to many dues-supported benefits, and we encourage you and your team to take full advantage of the partnerships and resources we have available on your behalf and explore the countless ways they can bring value to your organization and to your members.
 
The Credit Union National Association continues to have a strong brand at the national level. For the sixth year in a row, the CUNA-League system is the leading financial services association in the Beltway, representing the interests of its members and sharing the financial well-being for all story to Washington policymakers. Once again, CUNA and the league system rank first among all financial service associations and is one of the most effective and influential trade associations across ALL industries. What does that mean to you? It means CUNA and the league system is getting the job done, both at the state and national levels.
 
In addition, credit union messaging like the CUNA/League’s Advancing Communities platform continues to promote the credit union difference through the lens of community impact as well as our focus on the financial well-being of Dakota credit union members.
 
Looking ahead, meeting the evolving needs of our credit unions and our credit union members continues to be our primary focus moving forward. With your continued partnership, we can successfully promote credit unions as the best financial choice for families and communities across the Dakotas.
 
The Dakota Credit Union Association team is committed to protecting Dakota credit unions from harmful legislative or regulatory threats, creating credit union awareness, and securing industry sustainability. We continue to build on our dues-supported benefits for our members and we will once again host many exceptional educational conferences and opportunities in 2022. Some of these are coming up very soon – be sure to check out our events section at DakCU.org for details.
 
I invite all of you to investigate all that the Dakota Credit Union Association and the Credit Union National Association have to offer you in your service to your members. Your active and engaged “membership matters.” I hope you remain engaged and involved with us in 2022, and I thank you for your confidence, continued support, and consideration.
 
Great attendance at CEO Town Hall meeting!
Nearly 50 Dakota credit union CEOs and managers attended our virtual Town Hall meeting last week. Thank you for staying engaged as we prepare to wrap up a very successful year! In case you missed the meeting, or if you would like to review some of the highlights, you can find the recorded version here.
 
Holiday Raffle winners announced!
Last Wednesday, the CUPAC/CULAC Holiday Raffle ended as the winning names were drawn at the DakCU office in Bismarck. Congratulations to our winners, and if you still haven’t found out if you are one of them – be sure to check out the list posted here on our website. Once again, we appreciate everyone who participated in this great fundraiser that supports credit union friendly candidates in their bids for state and federal offices.
 
Membership survey coming tomorrow!
Be on the lookout for our annual DakCU membership survey coming via email tomorrow. Your answers are important to us as we evaluate our progress and areas for improvement, so please take a moment to complete the questionnaire – before the holiday break, if possible. We appreciate your time and have kept the survey brief; it should take less than five minutes to complete. Thank you in advance.
 
Start the New Year with the SD Credit Union Legislative Day!
January will be here before we know it, and we are excited to be heading back to the South Dakota State Capitol this year for our annual Legislative Social and CU Roundtable on January 26, 2022. Complete agenda along with hotel information and registration can be found here. This is a free event for DakCU members; however, we do want you to register so we can plan accordingly. I hope to see many of you there!
 
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year – God Bless!

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President/CEO
​Dakota Credit Union Association