Corporate governance

Fredda McDonald, EVP for the credit union experience at PSCU, says, "The time is now to invest, grow and prosper with solutions that will attract, engage and retain members."

"A discontinuance of interest on overnight funds will cause significant problems for many credit unions who currently hold extremely large investment portfolios and cash reserves," said Tony Ferris, managing partner for Rochdale Group

Cory Jefferies, VP of business development for SWBC, said credit unions "simply have to pay more attention to non-traditional credit union products."

Credit unions can learn a thing or two from regional and community banks when it comes to succession planning, and CUs should keep that in mind when it comes to planning for 2013 and beyond.

Credit unions should continue to look for ways to improve their data-mining capabilities as they head into 2013, while also working to capitalize on the current "daily deals" craze.

Mark Weber, president and CEO of Weber Marketing Group, said that as 2013 begins to draw near, the "opportunity window" to capitalize on consumers' big-bank frustration and broken trust may be closing.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Northwest Community CU has acquired a Portland branch with a deal for Portland’s $24 million UFCW Northwest CU.

LAKELAND, Fla. – MidFlorida CU, which has been growing its branch network on the Gulf Coast, has agreed to acquire Indian River CU, a troubled $55 million credit union on Florida’s other coast.

Many credit unions have built marketing campaigns around saving their members interest by bringing in loans from outside lenders, but Yolo Federal Credit Union has taken the concept to a new level.

TAMPA, Fla. – Grow Financial FCU has signed with consumer advocate S.E Day to provide its members car-buying advice.

AUGUSTA, Maine – Due to what is anticipated to be a busy election season of commercials, the Maine CU League said its Statewide Awareness Campaign has increased advertising this summer in a variety of ways.

DOWNEY, Calif. – Financial Partners CU has contracted for Member Loyalty Group’s organization-wide Net Promoter program.

NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. – A lucky member of SAFE CU will be travelling to London for the Olympic Games as grand prize winner of the Visa London 2012 Olympic Games Sweepstakes.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU announced this morning its Prudential PenFed Realty CUSO has acquired Prudential Professional Realty in Clarksville, Tenn., an independent franchise outside the Fort Campbell, Kentucky, military base, which has been rebranded as Prudential PenFed Realty.

With leaner resources in other areas, we relied heavily on our staff to do more and they stepped up and did things that they had not necessarily been called upon to do in the past.

The human cost in our community — disrupted families, uprooted children, and caused divorces, stress, illness, etc. — has been much higher than the financial cost, in my opinion.

No doubt the recent economic challenges have offered many lessons to credit unions. For Louisiana Corporate, three stand out.

RAPID CITY, S.D.-The Credit Union Association of the Dakotas is hitting the road this summer to spread the word about credit unions.

SAN DIEGO-The message from David Polet sounds strikingly similar to an elementary science lesson: For every consumer intention there should be an equal and opposite credit union reaction.

Last fall, the Occupy movement encouraged frustrated customers to flee big banks in favor of credit unions and smaller banks. On the ground, it had mixed results. But large banks shouldn't get cocky. The perception that they are disconnected from their audience persists.