A Direct Line Blog

At the beginning of 2019, Montana will join 21 other states as part of NCUA’s realigned Region III. It is part of an agency move from five regional offices to three, with a continued emphasis on more remote work and longer exam cycles when possible.

While local examiners and supervisory examiner Sherri Hudson will not change, the regional director will. We thought it might be fun to get to know Region III Director Cherie Freed in a little “beyond the resume” interview. She and her team in Tempe, AZ are excited to work with Montana credit unions!

• How many years have you been working in or with credit unions? In January it will be 32 years.
• What was your most memorable experience in a credit union?  Working with credit unions in the small towns in the mid-west.  Working with those individuals that really want to have the credit union be successful.
• What do you think credit unions do really well?  Provide quality service to their membership.
• What word would people use to describe you? “Engaged” in all aspects of work
• If you had a crystal ball, where do you see credit unions in five years?  Continuing to become more complex, offering more products, and providing more electronic services.
• What was your first job and how did it prepare you for your role as regional director? Farm labor. I grew up on a farm in a small community in Iowa. I know hard work, responsibility, and commitment and have carried those traits through my NCUA career.

Thank you Cherie! We look forward to a great working relationship. We will be working to get to know other regulators in the coming months.