"Coopetition' is essential

In response to Mike Welch's March 22 column about cooperation and competition-"Cooperation and competition can co-exist" I could not agree with him more. There is a term coined for the concept-"Coopetition." The key to the concept is very straight forward:You do not have to blow the other fellow's light out for yours to shine. This concept is different than the standard view of business: "It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail" (Gore Vidal). Quite simply we should cooperate to create and expand a market but compete for our individual piece of the market. The bigger the pie the bigger your slice. I'd love nothing more than to see credit unions put their name up on a big building - their common name is irrelevant, their surname CREDIT UNION is the key. Credit unions that are squeamish when they see the "big guys" advertising or opening offices have leadership that does not appreciate the worth of their company. They do not exist because they are tax exempt or because NCUA Chairman Norm D'Amours is protecting them. They exist because their brand of service is what a segment of the market wants. They exist because of who they are. These credit unions are not going to go by the wayside because of products but because of failing to recognize their true value - their ability to shine. Once they understand how they shine and take the leap of sharing it with the market - the bigger the market the bigger their slice. Here in Minnesota there is plenty of market for everyone. Some choose to hang back and not leverage their light; these are the ones that will blow their own light out. I just returned from my home state of California and the credit union business is going great guns! And imagine that the state allows overlaps just about everywhere. In my home town of Folsom, Golden 1 has two offices and medium-size American River (originally a small credit union serving a single sponsor) has an office up and running. The presence of Golden 1 simply heightened consumers' awareness of credit unions as an alternative banking solution and American River is reaping the same benefit. Anyway, I say open the doors to credit union-on-credit union competition and cooperation, those who are willing to step up to the porch will reap the benefits while those unwilling to step up will be lost in the dust; not because of big credit unions or banks, but because they were unwilling to take their product to the market. John G. Gisler President Twin City Co-ops FCU