The President’s Perspective

​In the Dakotas, one of three residents is a member of a credit union – and 42 percent of registered voters belong to a credit union! 

Happy Monday!
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Here in the Dakotas, one of three residents is a member of a credit union. According to a recent Credit Union National Association (CUNA) poll, 42 percent of registered voters belong to a credit union. It’s no surprise that credit union members here and across the country are actively engaged in the political process and consistently go to the polls each election cycle. Credit unions and their members understand that elections will impact their communities. The midterm election is just 15 days out, and we’ll have the privilege to vote and elect our federal, state, and community leaders that will have a role in your credit union’s future.

DakCU joins list of ND organizations in opposing Measure 1
Last week, after careful consideration, the North Dakota Governmental Affairs Committee joined a growing list of state organizations opposing Measure 1. This proposed constitutional change would add a new article to the state constitution imposing term limits to state legislators and the governor; specifically, it would limit legislators in the House and the Senate as well as the governor’s office to eight cumulative years. The initiative does not impact our Federal representatives in Washington, D.C., and this fact alone appears to be confusing for many voters. While we realize that many North Dakotans favor term limits, the ND GAC considered many factors and the impact on our communities and state if this measure is approved. I encourage you to read more about this ballot issue from Friday’s Memo article which you can find here.

DakCU named among Top 12 Trade Association Websites
I am very excited to share that Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) was named as one of the Top 12 Trade Association Websites in 2022 by Personify, the professional platform we use to manage the association’s website. Personify partners with many types of organizations, including associations, chambers of commerce, charities, educational institutions, and other purpose-driven entities. In a recent announcement, personify named DakCU as #8 on their list of “Top 12,” citing your association as an example of “how to” promote and facilitate education for members. “The best way to get your audience involved is to spotlight upcoming events, either on the homepage or through a dedicated events page. The Dakota Credit Union Association has done a great job of calling out upcoming events on a section of their homepage, as well as a dedicated space on the top navigation,” they said.

We often talk about how your association is working to serve you, our members – but it’s certainly nice when it’s noticed outside of our own office! Congrats to the DakCU team for keeping our website in the limelight!

ICU Day celebrated across the Dakotas
Dakota credit unions and members flooded social media by sharing their stories, highlighting the credit union difference, and even performing random acts of kindness.  I want to send a shout out to all the credit unions that joined in celebrating International Credit Union Day (ICU Day) last week. We were certainly pleased to see so many of our Dakota credit unions reaching out to members and the general public last Thursday. Social media was buzzing with positive credit union messages from across the Dakotas! Be sure to check out the story in today’s Memo to see what some of our credit unions did to celebrate.
 
Final Pints & Politics event of the season this Thursday
Our final “Pints & Politics” event of the season is this Thursday, October 27 with the Old West Chapter in Rapid City. We will meet at 5:30 p.m. at Pour 54 Taphouse in Rapid City, and we hope to have a strong turnout of credit union professionals to demonstrate to our legislators that we are engaged – so please join us! Be sure to contact me or Jay Kruse if you have any questions.

Have a great week. 

DakCU President/CEO