By Andrew Price
There was a credit union CEO who, after 42 years working in the credit union movement, decided to retire. He had certainly earned this right, having stood on the lawn in Washington in 1998 to insist on the passage of H.R. 1151, which helped save the credit union system in the United States and, more importantly, growing his credit union into a pillar of the community.
He was a mentor of sorts to me, allowing me to observe him skillfully manage his credit union, work the halls of Congress and the state legislature to better the regulatory framework, and more importantly, serve his members and community. A well-respected banker lobbyist, one who had worked fastidiously to diminish the credit union movement, towards the end of his career, took my mentor aside and told him that he was sorry to see him retire and that the contribution his credit union made to the community was incredible—perhaps the highest praise that could ever come from the “opposition.” I knew to pay close attention to my mentor’s words and conduct if I wanted to be successful in the industry.
During his retirement speech in 2010, he touched on the cooperative principles for credit unions:
- Voluntary Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Members’ Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Education, Training and Information
- Cooperation Among Cooperatives
- Concern for Community.
But what I remember most in his speech was an aside he took where he raised particular concern over the level of cooperation among credit unions (Item 6), remarking that he believed we, as an industry, were losing some of that cooperative spirit and culture, and that perhaps our competitiveness was overtaking that principle.
I vividly remember him raising concern and knew I must keep an eye on that sentiment moving forward.
The Spirit of Cooperation
Although COVID-19 presents us with numerous problems, I am pleased to say that spirit of cooperation is still alive and well. Credit unions around the world from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia, U.S., Canada and the EU are all coming together on Zoom calls with their regulators, with their trade associations, with their vendors to find solutions and to help each other through these challenging times. And many more of these virtual information exchanges are still in the works.
It’s what is helping us make it through this crisis. Let’s keep it going!
Andrew Price is VP-advocacy with the World Council of Credit Unions.