MILWAUKEE, Wis. – For the first time Corporate Central hosted its annual Economic Outlook Conference virtually this year, and is reporting that over the two-day event approximately 150 credit union professionals from 20 states across the country logged in to participate.
“Our goal is to help credit unions grow and prosper,” said Chris Felton, president/CEO of Corporate Central. “During these uncertain times, we realize credit unions are facing many challenges. The Economic Outlook Conference allows us to look towards the future in the only way we can, collaboratively. We wanted to offer all credit unions the opportunity to participate in this conference.”
Corporate Central said the event offered credit union-specific economic insights and covered issues related to the pandemic, fiscal policy, market opportunity, risk management, and growth planning. Speakers also discussed trends impacting the industry.
The Presenters
Among those who presented to the meeting:
- Dr. Roger Tutterow, professor at Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University, who presented on the economic, business, and political climate on a global, national, and regional level. Tutterow also covered recent developments on the effect of COVID-19 on the retail sector and real estate, the causes and effects of the recent changes in energy prices, the structure and effect of recent fiscal stimulus, and the linkages between trade policy and currency valuation.
- Clare Zempel, principal of Zempel Strategic, who shared his insights on whether the economic recovery will happen slowly and falteringly or sharply and progressively from its deep COVID-19-induced springtime shutdown. Zempel also addressed the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented stimulus and the political climate.
- Charles Dougherty, VP and economist at Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, who provided his insights on the economic outlook in the U.S. He provided an in-depth review of current conditions and insights into how the U.S. economy is expected to perform in coming months. He also covered key elements of the national economy, including prospects for GDP growth, the housing market and banking sector, as well as expectations for the path of interest rates.
- Mike Schenk, deputy chief advocacy officer and chief economist with CUNA, who spoke about how big disruptions magnify and accelerate change. The COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis have underscored this point at credit unions in many obvious ways. Schenk shared his thoughts on what changes are likely to be temporary and which may be permanent. He reviewed research from the consumer packaged-goods (CPG) industry and explored five key trends that could be game-changers for the movement.
The Panel
The two-day event concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Kevin Chiappetta, SVP Investment Services at Corporate Central. The panellists discussed how each of their credit unions were handling the deposit surge, if or when they considered loan participations, and how they plan to prepare budgets and strategies for 2021 while dealing with a pandemic.
Participating on the panel were:
- Beth Ellis, VP of Finance & IT with the Wisconsin Credit Union League, Madison.
- David Murphy, VP-finance and risk with Marshfield Medical Center Credit Union in Marshfield, Wis.
- Niki Schaumberg, CFO with Fox Communities Credit Union in Appleton, Wis.
- Ryan Balts, VP-finance with Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis.
- Keith Peterson, CFO with Summit Credit Union in Madison, Wis.
“Our first year hosting this conference as a virtual event felt like a great time to introduce a panel discussion,” said Chiappetta. “The responses and discussion generated by the group were well received by attendees. I cannot thank our panelists enough for their insight.”