The Boardcast

Credit Union Association of New York CEO Bill Mellin Visits the North Country

The Adirondack Chapter of the Credit Union Association of New York recently hosted a dinner at Cricket's Restaurant in Peru, NY. Board members and staff from UFirst FCU joined a number of other north country credit unions in welcoming Bill Mellin, President and CEO and Ron McLean, Vice-President of the newly named Credit Union Association of New York. Mr. Mellin was the guest speaker for the evening. He began by explaining the reason for the name change from the New York State Credit Union League. He has been in a leadership position at "the League" for the past 8 years. Mr. Mellin talked about the confusion that the old name generated among both legislators and the general public. The new name emphasizes the role of the organization as the credit union trade association for New York credit unions. In addition to the name change the association has relocated to offices they will be sharing with Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union which is a credit union for credit unions. This move allows both the Credit Union Association of New York and the New York Credit Union Foundation to be in close proximity to this important credit union service provider as well as providing cost savings to the association and its members.

Mr. Mellin went on to outline some of the priorities that the Credit Union Association of New York has set. An important job of the association is to help promote a positive environment for credit unions through governmental advocacy.  He asked for help in this task from credit union staff, boards and members by encouraging us to attend the national and state governmental affairs conferences as well as speaking with our legislators about the contributions of credit unions. In addition to the fight for passage of CURIA (the Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act) that is currently taking place in Washington, Mr Mellin mentioned pending New York State legislation that would help NY credit unions. Passage of this legislation would allow credit unions to be able to accept Municipal Deposits. This would give government entities like school districts and villages the option to place deposits in credit unions allowing these deposits to remain in the local area.

Mr. Mellin reminded the group that Governor Patterson has told audiences that he appreciates the work of credit unions. In fact, his first job was with a credit union and he is currently a member of two credit unions.  He also spoke about initiatives which are being spearheaded by the Credit Union Association of New York to encourage credit union memberships among low income individuals as well as immigrant groups.

Mr. Mellin discussed other state and national areas of achievement and concern for credit unions during his talk as well as in an interview with me prior to the meeting. Below is an audio file of the 15 minute interview. (The interview took place at Crickets Restaurant in Peru, NY which explains the background music).

New York State Governmental Affairs Conference

Ufirst CEO Linda Bourgeois, Board Member Ginny Brady and Supervisory Committee Member Jaimie Trautman attended the New York State Credit Union League Governmental Affairs conference and lobbying day in Albany on Monday, May 19th. The Flickr link on the sidebar features some pictures from the conference.

The day began with a briefing by Amy Kramer, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the New York State Credit Union League. UFirst participants then joined representatives from  Dannemora Federal Credit Union, GP Community Federal Credit Union and Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union in visits to Senator Betty Little and Assemblywomen Teresa Sayward and Janet Duprey. Listen to the short interview by clicking the right arrow on the player at the end of this post for an explanation of why it is important for credit union members to be represented at this yearly event.

GAC Networking

The CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference provided a wonderful opportunity for UFirst board members Ginny Brady and Liz Woodard as well as Marketing Director Jody Carpenter to network. Tuesday evening March 4th was set aside to meet credit union bloggers many of whom we have known through their online presence.

Morriss Partee and Adam Lueb attended from Everything CU, Holyoke MA. Morriss developed a Facebook Group page for the gathering and is a leader in credit union Web 2.0 innovations. We spoke about BarCampBank New England which Morriss is organizing and will be held in early April at America's Credit Union Museum in Manchester NH. Adam's web design and execution skill can be seen in Everything CU's website and products like the Everything CU Switch Kit which appears on our UFirst website.

Brent Dixon of Trabian and Open Source CU attended our gathering and could be seen throughout the conference interviewing attendees and covering the GAC for CUNA's Real Solutions program. Brent developed a GAC microsite for the GAC which includes a Flickr group of photos taken during the conference. Brent is recognized as an expert in the effective use of social media by credit unions.

Christoper Morris, Web Manager at CUNA Councils came to the gathering as well as contributing to our GAC Facebook page. Jody was thrilled to meet another attendee, Bryan Sims of brass Magazine. Brass is a magazine for young adults focused on money and how it affects the lives of those preparing to enter the world of work. Jody has been intrumental in distributing this wonderful resource to student members who are particpating in our in-school educational programs.

Jeff Hardin and Rob Rutkowski rounded out our gathering. Jeff is the Communications Director for the North Carolina Credit Union League and has the CU Communicator blog. He recently posted videos which give a wonderful sense of the sites and sounds of GAC. Rob is an attorney and shareholder with Weltman, Weinberg and Reis Co., L.P.A. He blogs at That Credit Union Blog and is the host of Current Issues in Credit Unions a monthly podcast aimed at credit union professionals.

Our gathering was a testimony to the fact that conferences are not only beneficial for their educational sessions. They also provide an invaluable opportunity to network with those individuals who are at the forefront of innovation in the credit union world.