Corporate governance

Patelco Credit Union identified a few strategies to better weather the economic hardships over the last few years.

The lesson learned is that with a clear vision the credit union pulled together to serve our members with what they really needed in lean times — a safe, and secure place to save, borrow, and plan for the future.

LANCASTER, Penn. – Four local credit unions have signed on to a new city program aimed at outreach to the area’s unbanked population.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Ent FCU, a community charter with several air force bases in its field of membership, has created a new position of Military Relationship Manager who will work closely with military base service centers at Peterson, Buckley and Schriever Air Force bases to expand the credit union’s relationship with military members.

VENTURA, Calif. -- Ventura County CU has a goal of saving its members a total $5 million in 2012 by helping members refinance their high-interest car, home, Visa or personal loans.

We made two changes as the result of the recent recessions. First, we brought our first mortgage program in house. Second, we implemented a high-yield lending strategy.

Expense management is the name of the game at Tampa Bay FCU, and a focus on cost control was a major lesson the credit union learned as part of the recession.

Credit unions that stayed the course with underwriting-never moving to any extremes before, during and after the recession-are benefitting today, asserts Tommy Cobb, CEO of Tuscaloosa CU.

The recession forced TCT FCU to reverse its business philosophy of spending money first on branch staffing and member support and second on upper management.

Pennsylvania State Employees CU has learned that during a recession the credit union can't get too defensive and cut back in key growth areas.

Scott Wilson, CEO SeaComm FCU, acknowledges that sharpening in-house investment expertise is a big after-effect of the recession.

We've managed costs efficiently and kept net operating expenses low. Those measures, and our conservative approach to managing the credit union proved to be the proper philosophy during the current economic downturn.

Our recession lesson and how have we successfully weathered the recession? By doing what we've always done and not deviating from those guidelines or our core values.

When times become difficult, the importance of effective communication becomes that much clearer.

The most important lesson coming out of the recession, according to Jim Park, president of Credit Union 24, is that some credit unions must not forget that their lending practices got out of hand.

Maps CU here changed its marketing strategy and cut out nearly all of its newspaper advertising midway through 2011.

The Great Recession proved to be more than an economic event for our credit union. The recession was an opportunity to validate our business model.

If anything good has come out of the last few years, it has been the push to expand our technology footprint, giving us the ability to compete and offer the services of the future.

One thing the recession teaches you, insists Niagara County's FCU, is that you can't make it through a downturn without some difficult choices.

As a result of the recession, North Jersey Federal Credit Union has learned to do more with less.