The President's Perspective

​Association welcomes new Director of Marketing!  Plus, IRS data collection proposal concerning for credit unions, and several “shout outs” in today’s message. 

Greetings, I hope you enjoyed the Labor Day weekend and were able to relax with family and friends.  It’s a very exciting day here at the Dakota Credit Union Association as we officially welcome Lindsey Hefta to the team as our new Director of Marketing.  Lindsey is bringing several years of financial service marketing experience and creative proficiency to our organization.  Having worked for a regional bank, her skills and experience in financial service messaging and her hands-on knowledge in media placement and creative design will be an asset our association as we strategically navigate forward.  More importantly, her energy and enthusiasm will help us better serve our member credit unions.  Please join me in welcoming her to the credit union family!
 
IRS Data Collection Proposal Concerning for Credit Union Members.  
We are very concerned about a recent IRS data collection proposal that congress is considering, which would increase tax information reporting requirements on financial institutions.  Specifically, such a proposal would require financial service providers to report information about the outflows and inflows on accounts over $600 to the IRS every year.  These new reporting requirements would not only impose significant compliance costs on our credit unions and other related financial institutions, but would also infringe on the privacy of millions of Americans, making their personal, financial data more vulnerable and at risk for cyberattacks.
 
The CUNA/League system has issued an Action Alert calling on credit union advocates to oppose the new Internal Revenue Service reporting provisions.  This language is part of negotiations on the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package Congress is currently considering and if adopted, would only worsen the divisions of banked, unbanked and underbanked citizens.
 
Upcoming Roundtable Focusing on State of Small Credit Union System.
As you may know, the Labor Day holiday generally signifies the start of our fall education schedule, and our first fall event is rapidly approaching.  We are once again hosting a specific meeting for Dakota credit unions under $100 million in assets.  The DakCU Small Credit Union Roundtable and Retreat will be held at the Buffalo Ridge Resort on September 20 and 21 in Gary, SD.  This year, we will focus on the challenges facing small credit unions in the Dakotas.  You’ll hear from credit union consultant and strategist, Jim Kasch on Strategic and Succession Planning and staff development.  Tom Sakash, CUNA’s Small Credit Union Initiatives Manager, will be sharing ideas on enhancing your board engagement and other related topics from CUNA’s recently released Small Credit Union White Paper, and I will also be talking about issues that are important to Dakota’s small credit unions.  Remember – we are offering this retreat at no charge, the only expense you will incur is for travel and accommodations.  Click here to register and for lodging information.

More Good News for Railway Credit Union!
I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Railway Credit Union (Mandan, ND) on their recent recognition by American Banker as one of the “Best Credit Unions to Work For.”  Out of more than 5,000 credit unions nationwide, 55 were selected and Railway claimed the #12 spot.  This is right on the heels of Railway CU being ranked on the “Top 200 Healthiest Credit Unions” list by DepositAccounts.com.  Congratulations once again to Paul Brucker and his terrific team on these remarkable achievements! 
 
Floyd Rummel Graces CU Magazine’s September Cover.
I want to send another “shout out” to Floyd Rummel III, CEO of Northern Hills FCU (Sturgis, SD) – who has a new “claim to fame.”  Floyd can now be known as a “cover boy” as he was featured on CUNA’s Credit Union Magazine this month in an article about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its use in a loan decisioning tool.  Be sure to check out the complete story and find out how Northern Hills efforts are hoping to prompt other small credit unions to use the same service bureau to pursue AI!  It’s certainly working for them. 
 
Credit Union Awareness Update
The Open Your Eyes awareness initiative is truly making a difference!  Thank you to everyone who attended our quarterly update webinar last week.  As a reminder, for contributors only, there is a digital marketing webinar series that you can register for here.  If you missed the first two of the series, you could find them here:  
 
Webinar 1: Strategic & Effective Organic social media for Credit Unions
Webinar 2: Paid Digital Campaigns for Awareness & Membership Growth
 
Be sure to visit the Contributor HQ for the latest digital assets, as well as educational videos on digital marketing topics. 
 
More Exciting Fall Events!
As we announced last week, registration is now open for our New Ideas Conference!  This year, we are headed to Deadwood, South Dakota on October 4 – 6.  We have a terrific fall event planned, with Lorraine Ranalli – famous storyteller, author, and public speaker as our emcee and facilitator.  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. 
 
Also announced last week – 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,” and each session is just $25!  With such a nominal fee, this really is another “benefits of membership” deal – and we hope you take advantage of the opportunity.  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!

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​President/CEO
​Dakota Credit Union Association