DENVER-Exchanging the mountainous skyscrapers surrounding its Wall Street digs for real mountains, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions is readying for its annual meeting here this week, said executive director Cliff Rosenthal. There is no shortage of topical events and federation initiatives to discuss, he indicated during a brief interview with Credit Union Times. "Predatory lending is quite significant for us," Rosenthal stated (see page one for latest CU update). To that end, a two-part workshop session on current trends and prevention; CDCU responses and alternative practices is blocked into the federation meeting agenda. Micro-lending and small business initiatives are also timely for discussion and further CU involvement, he said. NFCDCU has been working with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to expand the agency's Section 7a Guaranteed Lending Program to CDCUs. "We'll be signing a letter of understanding shortly," Rosenthal said. "We are working on expanding our participation with SBA into a fuller relationship. This is the year of small business and micro-lending." Coming off its anniversary celebration in 1999, Rosenthal said that current trends and news in the financial world are giving CDCUs a bigger presence. "This is a critical year for us," he acknowledged, referring to the advent of prompt corrective action, PCA, the dark side of the passage of the CU Membership Access Act. "While most CDCUs are all right in the short term, a significant number of our members- perhaps as much as a quarter or a third- will be put at risk," he said. Another trend that CDCUs were out front about before it went mainstream was the effort to buck the consumerism/spending attack to which much of America has fallen prey. A big push on savings programs and stressing adherence to the principles of maintaining a regular savings plan has always been a hallmark of CDCUs, he said. Now, however, everybody seems to be on the bandwagon from the president to the Consumer Federation of America to the Treasury Department. Technology and its power to innovate and make life easier for small and community development CUs is also on the agenda as well as the usual celebration of the winners of the annual Annie Vamper Helping Hands Awards. This year also marks the first time that all three NCUA Board members will make an appearance at an NFCDCU conference. For more information, see the federation's Web site at (www.natfed.org) or call (212) 809-1850. -
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