Credit Unions Hit the Newspapers…….

The current recession has been big news for a long time now. There has been much written in newspapers about the struggles of many industries with much attention paid to the struggles of the large investment banks who received government bailout money.

Things are starting to strike a little closer to home as the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a series of articles in the past week identifying Minnesota banks and credit unions that are struggling in this poor economy. Most of the institutions cited were based in the Twin Cities.

The newspaper articles did a fine job highlighting problems affecting some community banks and credit unions and how these institutions brought some of the pain upon themselves with poor business practices. What it didn’t do a good job of was clarifying that the vast majority of credit unions are extremely sound and doing just fine.

This is important stuff and I want to clarify that North Shore Federal continues to perform at a very high level: we are on track to have another excellent year financially and projections for 2010 are even better. We issued another Patronage Rebate at the end of 2008 and will do so again in December of 2009. We also have the highest safety and soundness rating from our regulator.

The “secret” to our success is this: our primary business strategy is to meet the needs of North Shore Federal members, period. We don’t care about being the biggest credit union – we just want to be the best credit union we can be for our members. We don’t pursue certain loan or investment strategies simply because everyone else is doing it or because we are chasing higher returns. Rather, we focus on what our members want and need. Thankfully, the members of North Shore Federal are using good judgment in the products and services they request, meaning we can run a smart business while taking care of our members. Let’s use sub-prime mortgages as an example. Our members have never needed that risky product so we never have been involved with them either as loans or investments. Unfortunately for many other financial institutions, they were a central part of a risky strategy of pushing the boundaries in search of greater profits. NSFCU members never placed us in that situation and we are all better off for it.

You, as members, have done your part as well. We have very low loan losses because our members have a strong tradition of paying their debts, even through tough times. As well, most of our members do most, if not all, of their business with us which is the foundation of our success.

This is truly an example of benefiting from doing business locally. If you ever have a question or concern about something you read or hear concerning financial institutions, call me or send me an e-mail (marks@northshorefcu.org). I would be happy to discuss it.

Mark

Feeling Appreciated

This week is Member Appreciation Week, with lots of different activities in all three offices.

The famous cookout is happening on Tuesday in Silver Bay, Wednesday in Grand Marais and Thursday in Lutsen. It is really a fun time and it is nice to see all the people that I really don’t get to see much anymore. People are always nice and put up with my less than legendary grilling skills.

I was recently asked how long we’ve been doing Member Appreciation Week and I honestly can’t remember. I believe it is about 16-17 years now but I am not completely sure. I do remember the first year using two charcoal grills thinking it would be no big deal to cook enough brats for the 40 or 50 people that would show up. Well, when several hundred showed up and the charcoal died in both grills at the same time I remember asking myself “What were you thinking?”

We now have the mongo, propane event grill that could feed an army so things have changed a little in that regard. One thing that hasn’t changed is the spirit of appreciation surrounding the week. In fact, with turbulent times for financial institutions, I personally would like to thank our members for their consistent support and patronage. It’s a “what goes around, comes around” deal; because of your support, your Credit Union continues to perform at a very high level and has maintained the highest levels of safety and soundness.

Anyway, grab some food, win a prize, and enjoy the week!

Mark

Calling all Bloggers

I'm slacking a little bit on the blog posts as things are getting pretty busy around the Credit Union these days (which is good!).

I'm always amazed at the talented people we have as members so I think now would be a good time to tap into that talent. I think it would be fun and interesting to have a guest blog post or two from the membership.

Ideally, the post would be related to the credit union world in some fashion but it wouldn't have to be. It doesn't need to be long and your grammar doesn't have to be perfect. Just remember that we always try to keep things positive around here and that includes our blog.

If you are interested, give it a shot. Type the blog in Word or Wordperfect and e-mail it to me at marks@northshorefcu.org.

Thanks and get to work!

Mark