The President’s Perspective

​Postal Family celebrates 87th Annual Meeting; condolences to Theresa Stickel family; several Dakota CUs receive accolades; and Summit anticipation! 

Theresa Stickel

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend, thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act! Say what? Didn’t we just recognize President’s Day? Yes, of course, officially we did. However, the story of President’s Day dates back to 1800 following the death of Geroge Washington in 1799. It wasn’t until 1870 that this date became a federal holiday, and it originally only applied to the District of Columbia; it later expanded to the whole country in 1895. “Uniform Monday” stuck for a little more than 80 years and then shifted to our current President’s Day holiday when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Fundamentally, the proposed change was seen by many as a novel way to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers, as it was believed that ensuring holidays always fell on the same weekday would reduce employee absenteeism. More importantly, we now have a day of extraordinary sales and promotions; everything from mattresses to automobiles has a “President’s Day” promotion. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s birthday with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. So, Happy Uniform Monday Holiday Act! It’s a good thing because I am shopping for a new mattress.

Postal Family FCU Celebrates 87th Annual Meeting
This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending Postal Family Federal Credit Union’s annual meeting, where they recognized their members, volunteers, as well as their leadership team and staff with a nice banquet and bingo night in Fargo. Thank you, Karen, and the Postal team for the kind invite, and congratulations on your 87 years of serving your Postal workers and families.

While Postal’s 87 years is impressive, the oldest credit union in the Dakotas still serving members today is Fargo Public Schools Federal Credit Union, which was chartered 90 years ago on January 1, 1934. This was six months before President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act into law on June 26, 1934.

Condolences to Theresa Stickel Family
I am sad to share that Theresa Stickel, former manager of Postal Family FCU, and a former manager of Fargo VA FCU, passed away on February 9th at the age of 88. As Karen Andersen, current manager of Postal Family FCU shared, she had a long legacy of credit union involvement. A celebration of life took place last Friday, February 16 at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Fargo. You may see her obituary or leave a condolence message here.

Kudos to Black Hills FCU
Congratulations to Jerry Schmidt and the crew at Black Hills Federal Credit Union (BHFCU) on earning the 2023 SD District Leadership Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration. This award recognizes the lender that made the highest number of SBA loans in the state! In 2023, BHFCU helped 27 South Dakota businesses secure $4.6 million in SBA 7(a) loans. This work supported 253 jobs, from manufacturing and construction, to retail, accommodation, and food services. Well done!

WCCU Names Next CEO
Last week, Western Cooperative Credit Union (Williston, ND) announced their next CEO upon the retirement of Melanie Stillwell, effective on April 1. First, we want to congratulate Justin Maddison and being named CEO-Elect. With a dozen years of solid leadership experience, Justin has demonstrated his management abilities in multiple areas. Secondly, we wish Melanie well as she begins this new adventure in her life. Melanie has been a true credit union advocate, always stepping up to volunteer whenever her skills were needed. For the past seven years, she has served on the DakCU Board of Directors, and her leadership has been strong and consistent. She has been a friend to our staff and to other credit unions throughout North and South Dakota, and she will be missed!

ND Housing Agency Recognizes First Community CU
The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) recently recognized their outstanding partners with the Champion of Affordable Housing Awards. These awards recognize the commitment and exceptional efforts in promoting and facilitating the agency’s homeownership programs. First Community Credit Union earned the Champion of Affordable Housing Award of Excellence for best practices and outstanding delivery of NDHFA’s homeownership programs. Congratulations to Steve Schmitz and the crew on this achievement!

NEW at Summit This Year!
We are very excited about our upcoming 2024 Annual Summit, May 14-16, at the Grand Falls Casino and Resort just outside of Sioux Falls, SD, a beautiful resort with an on-site spa, golf course, and many other amenities. This year’s meeting format will have an expanded agenda with more educational sessions and networking opportunities, ranging from credit union economics, volunteer/board of directors training, marketing, leadership development, and reaching GenZ. We are once again offering a Crasher opportunity for those age 35 and under. Be sure to encourage your emerging leaders to apply here! Of course, we will be hosting the popular golf outing, the awards banquet, and our annual business meeting. The early bird discount saves each person $70 and is good through April 12. Find all the finer details, lodging information, and registration here. I hope to see you there!

Reaffiliation Reminder & DakCU Board Seats Opening
Just a friendly reminder that March 5th is the deadline to submit your association dues in order to secure voting privileges at our 2024 Annual Meeting. We do have three DakCU board seats that will be opening this year: ND Division A (currently held by Melanie Stillwell); ND Division C (held by Veronica Holweger); and Multi-State At-Large (held by Sean Rinkenberger).

A nominating committee has been formed; feel free to contact Jeff Schmidt (Voyage FCU); Jana Thune (Fargo VA FCU); or April Tompkins (Explorers CU) with nominations or any questions about the nominating process.
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Wishing you all a pleasant and successful week!

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DakCU President/CEO