A Direct Line Blog

Have you heard of CURE — NCUA’s new Office of Credit Union Resources and Expansion? They recently replaced the former Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives with a mission to “let us help you grow” by assisting credit unions through various stages of strategic development and expansion. They provide support to low income, minority, and any credit union seeking assistance with chartering, charter conversions, by-law amendments, field-of-membership expansion requests, and low-income designation.

Besides chartering and field of membership, credit unions also have access to online training and resources, the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, Community Development Financial Institutions streamlined certification application, and a program for preserving and growing minority depository institutions.

The Governance section of their Learning Management Service has some amazing training tools available for you as board members. They are not only free but timely and relevant to your role as a director. Here are a few of the available sessions:

• BOD Video Effective vs. Ineffective Chair
• BOD Video Succession: How to Develop a Plan
• BOD Video What a Director Should Know
• Webinar Cybersecurity: What Can You Do?
• Webinar Internal Controls and Accounting Tips for Small Credit Unions

The list is much more extensive, but that should give you an idea of the broad variety of topics and options you can use to get up to speed or to train one or several board members.

As this new office gets their feet under them and starts to take off, I expect there will be more blogs discussing resources and options they have developed for you. Until then, check out their website and don’t be afraid to contact them with feedback on your own credit union’s needs.