Growth strategies

Belt tightening during the recession has led to fewer CUs underestimating the impact of fraud.

There were several lessons from the past that our credit union was able to leverage once again during this recent period of turmoil: Accept and move on; people are everything; decisions are a must; communication is essential; cooperation is crucial; regulators count; philosophy works.

Redwood Credit Union has survived and succeeded the past few years by essentially doing the opposite of what everyone else was doing.

Many have stated a reluctance to return to previous debt loads, which could impact balance sheets for the next five to 10 years.

The credit union mission, "people helping people," becomes inherent in these hard times; the call for local charitable support is greater than ever.

Forth Worth Community CU emerged from the recent recession saying it has been reminded of one important lesson: the importance of a diversified marketing strategy.

The recession led Ent FCU to take a different approach to its collections process, including rebranding its collections department, and beefing up its staff.

There is such a thing as too many loan promotions. CP FCU learned that the hard way.

One lesson that should not have been learned during the recession to: trying to minimize or even eliminate risk altogether.

If credit unions learn just one thing from the recession, it should be that they're not just tied together through the cooperative spirit-they are also bound together for better or worse as a regulated industry.

The credit union needs to serve its members, but stick to the same credit mix that management calculated that the credit union could handle during "normal" times.

We are not just sitting in our offices, waiting for the members to come to us with their needs; we are proactively reaching out to our members and the community.

The troubles that began in 2008 prompted Clarence Community & Schools FCU to begin paying closer attention to the "writing on the wall."

Credit Union Direct Lending (CUDL) expects credit union indirect lending programs will benefit in the long run from the recent trough times.

Nancy Bodhorn, Manager of Spencerport FCU, can't narrow it down to one lesson from the recession, instead saying the CU learned to do a number of things better.

Pre-recession it was relatively easy to bring in new members. We became accustomed to that, but with the recession member viewpoints changed. We had to be much more business savvy, and we had to be more astute in operating efficiency.

CEOs need to always remember they must be the risk-management gatekeepers, and not allow underwriting standards or other quality factors to be loosened simply for volume, yield or ego.

If there's one thing the 2007-09 recession taught us, it1s to never underestimate an economic contraction. Historically, the average duration of a recession has been about 11 months. Not only did this downturn last around two and a half years, but the recovery continues to struggle.

While we are the "good guys" in the financial services arena, we certainly aren't immune from the negative aspects of business.

Don't be overly cautious. Members have needs, and a lot of our members have been through a particularly difficult period in their lives financially. You need to be there for them.