The President's Perspective

Witness a recap and highlights of DakCU's achievements in responsive membership engagement and relentless and bold advocacy throughout 2024.

Happy New Year!
Sending you all many blessings for 2025. As we closed another successful year at the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU), I am pleased to provide a comprehensive report that highlights our achievements in responsive membership engagement and relentless and bold advocacy. This year, your association has continued to fulfill its mission of empowering credit unions and their members while maintaining financial stability and excellence in service delivery.
 
Hitting the Ground Running
We began the year with a significant victory for our North Dakota credit unions as we successfully completed the settlement with the NCUA resulting the recovery of $11.9 million in lost U.S. Central Assets. This legal victory underscores the critical role that DakCU played in advocating for its member credit unions throughout the process.
 
Dakota Credit Union Association’s Pivotal Role
Throughout the lawsuit, we provided critical support to our member credit unions by:

1. Legal Advocacy and Strategy: DakCU worked alongside member credit unions to develop and implement a cohesive legal strategy. The association connected credit unions with legal experts, ensuring their case was presented effectively and that their rights were defended at every stage of the proceedings.
2. We helped to unite North Dakota credit unions, amplifying their collective voice and reinforcing the importance of the case and unifying support shared costs. By fostering collaboration, we helped maintain a strong front against the NCUA’s initial refusal to distribute recovered assets.
3. Even as the legal battle progressed, we continued to engage constructively with the NCUA, advocating for transparency and fairness in the administration of recovered funds. These efforts helped pave the way for a resolution that upheld the interests of North Dakota credit unions.

 
I honestly believe this victory would not have been possible without the determined efforts and the unwavering support of your association and our commitment to standing up for our members and ensuring that credit unions remain financially secure and empowered to serve their communities.
 
Relentless and Bold Advocacy
This year has been marked by proactive and strategic advocacy on behalf of our members. Key highlights include:

• Congressional Engagement: Established strong connections with our congressional representatives and their staff through our more than twenty-five meetings in DC and in-district, ensuring that the interests of Dakota credit unions were heard at the federal level.
• State Legislative Outreach: Ourt DakCU advocacy team personally engaged with nearly 70 state legislators and 73 candidates from both states during this election cycle, building relationships that will benefit credit unions in both North and South Dakota.
• Regulatory Collaboration: Coordinated or led more than a dozen regulatory virtual town halls with compliance directors, internal auditors, and BSA officers, fostering direct dialogue with key stakeholders.
• Political Fundraising Leadership: With your support and commitment, the DakCU advocacy team achieved its most successful political fundraising year in DakCU history, with federal and state totals exceeding $90,000. This achievement reflects our association’s growing influence and the commitment of our members to political engagement.

 
National and State Advocacy Leadership
Partnered in more than 30 North Dakota and South Dakota Governmental Affairs Committee meetings and strategy sessions.

• Participated in 46 national league advocacy calls and committee meetings, contributing to discussions that shape national policy for credit unions.
• Engaged with the State Credit Union Board and North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions on review and modernization of the Administration Codes.
• Engaged with NCUA Region 5 leadership team, including attending the West Region NCUA interim director this past December.

 
Responsive Membership Engagement
At DakCU, members are at the heart of everything we do. This year’s membership engagement highlights include:

• Member Connections:  Your DakCU team achieved more than 2,000 meaningful connections with members through various channels. This includes over 40 credit union visits and coordinating quarterly CEO Town Halls and other leadership dialogues which all help ensure a continuous exchange of ideas and feedback.
• Strategic Service Initiatives: Coordinated several discussions with the South Dakota and North Dakota Health Benefits Board of Trustees. These discussions included strategic planning with our broker and third-party administrator to enhance services for our members and strategically build a foundation for a successful and long-term employee benefits solution for affiliated members. Today, our Health Benefit Trusts provide benefits to more than 1,000 of our credit union employees and their family members. Cumulatively, our Trusts have succeeded in keeping the raising costs of health insurance costs at a minimum while securing upwards of $5 million dollars in reserves.

 
Leadership, Governance and Strategic Partnerships

• Partnership Development: Led and participated in several strategic meetings with key partners like TruStage and Pactola, strengthening relationships and exploring new opportunities for member benefit. This included assisting TruStage on a key advocacy effort with the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner on legislation that could have an impact on credit unions nationally.
• This past fall, six representatives from our association were assigned to America’s Credit Union’s national committees and councils. 

Premier Member Engagement and Philanthropy
In addition to our advocacy and operational initiatives, DakCU demonstrated a strong commitment to community and philanthropic efforts:

• Children’s Miracle Network Support: Though my position on the DakCU Foundation Board and as the facilitator of the Foundations objectives, together we championed a $500,000 capital campaign for the Fargo Sanford Children’s Miracle Network Hospital micro preemie unit. Additionally, our Dakota Credit Union Foundation secured a $100,000 commitment to our other two CMN Hospitals in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. This included securing corporate matches from Velera’s CMN matching gift program. More importantly, our Fargo Sanford Children’s Miracle Hospital’s credit union led micro preemie unit campaign was selected as one of twenty hospitals to receive a $10,000 gift. This recognition is especially meaningful, as Velera received nearly five hundred nominations from over 225 credit unions for nearly seventy hospitals nationwide.

Our friend, and lead development officer, at Fargo Sanford Children’s Hospital Hillery Mork said, “I extend my deepest gratitude and admiration to the North Dakota Credit Unions who have shared their intent of support for the micro preemie unit at Sanford Children’s Hospital in Fargo. This special project will bring hope and healing to the most delicate members of our communities in North Dakota!”

This generous gift will go directly toward the construction of our new micro preemie unit, a critical addition to our facilities with construction set to begin after the first of the year. This specialized unit will ensure that the tiniest and most fragile patients receive the advanced care and attention they need during life’s most delicate moments.

Looking Ahead
As we prepare for the year ahead, the entire Dakota Credit Union Association team remains committed to strengthening our association’s primary core pillars: advocacy, membership engagement, and fiscal stewardship. I am confident that our collective efforts will continue to drive positive outcomes for our members, their communities, and the credit union industry here in the Dakotas.
 
Thank you for your continued trust and support. Together, we have achieved significant milestones, and I look forward to building on this momentum to ensure the continued success of the Dakota Credit Union Association and its members.
 
North Dakota Kick’s Off 69th Legislative Session
One hundred and forty-one lawmakers have descended upon the Capital City for the 69th North Dakota legislative session. The session officially begins today with the Tribal-State Relationship message this morning followed by the State of the Judiciary address. Governor Armstrong will wrap day one with the State of state address at 1 p.m. followed by a reception in the great hall between the House and Senate chambers.
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The Republicans maintain their super majority in both chambers with a 42-to-5 advantage in the Senate and an 83-to-11 majority in the House. 
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​North Dakota’s First Congresswoman Sworn In
Julie Fedorchak was officially sworn in by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson last Friday as North Dakota’s lone At-Large member in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fedorchak was also appointed to serve on the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“This is the people’s house. The House of Representatives was designed by our founders to be completely reflective of the current political temperature in our country. And so, I’m very excited to be part of that,” she said.

“I want to be able to point to the things – to North Dakotan citizens – that I did on their behalf.”

South Dakota’s Dusty Johnson was also sworn in last week and he will begin his fourth term in the House and North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer was also sworn in as he begins his second term in the Senate.

Most notably, South Dakota’s John Thume officially became the leader of the Senate as his term as he took the gavel as the Majority Leader. 

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Year-End Coffee with Senator Cramer
DakCU Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, John Alexander and I had the opportunity to have a causal coffee with Senator Cramer before he left for his swearing in on January 3. We discussed the lame duck session as well as several prospective issues heading into the 119th Congress. We also took the opportunity to provide an America’s Credit Union PAC contribution to his Bully Pulpit Leadership Fund. 

​It's a New Year and the All-New Roundtable is just around the Corner
Want to escape the Dakota Winter weather for a few days? Who wouldn’t? The Roundtable will not only give you that opportunity to get out of the cold, but you’ll get to join credit union leaders from across our Midwest region in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, February 4-5, for The Roundtable (formerly the MonDak Roundtable).

This is a terrific way to kick off the new year and engage in a high-level educational and networking opportunity. This annual conference has included C-suite professionals from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Minnesota! New this year a pre-conference add-on: FREE Fintech Connect, sponsored by TruStage, featuring  industry leaders in the fintech and digital space like: WithClutch, Union Credit, Zest AI, Digital Storefront and more. It promises to be a great opportunity for credit union leaders to connect, share insights, and explore the latest trends and innovations in fintech. Lunch will be provided for attendees who add this event on to their registration. 

You can learn more about this year’s conference and sign up here. Registration closes soon!

Deadline to apply for the Arnold Paulson Scholarship to the 2025 DakCU Summit closes Friday
We are still accepting nominations for the 2025 Arnold C. Paulson Scholarship. The Arnold C. Paulson Scholarship is awarded to one individual each year to help defer costs associated with attending the association’s annual Summit. This scholarship fund was established in 1994 to promote the education of the credit union family as exemplified by the distinguished career of Arnold C. Paulson, who was president of the North Dakota League from 1973 – 1994. The criteria used to determine the winner of this $200 award includes future potential as a credit union leader, and contributions to the credit union movement.

The application can be found here and must be received no later than this Friday, January 10.
 
Floyd’s Send Off this Friday in Deadwood
One last reminder: Floyd Rummel’s retirement reception and send off party will take place this Friday, January 10, from 4–7 p.m. at The Lodge at Deadwood, located at one hundred Pine Crest Lane in Deadwood. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

Thank you, Floyd, for your many years of dedicated service to your members and to the credit union movement here in the Dakotas.
 
Let’s make it a great year!
Thank you for your continued support and engagement. 

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​DakCU President/CEO