Discovering that there is growing interest in offering member business loans in Louisiana, a new council held a three-day confab this week to help credit unions seek out opportunities.
The Louisiana Credit Union League's Member Business Services Council kicked off a business lending school on Tuesday in Baton Rouge. Representatives from 13 credit unions around the state attended the sessions.
According to the league, the program included an overview of the national and state MBL landscape and a review of how business loans are structured and priced.
Attendees from credit unions with established MBL programs as well as those that were interested in offering the loans, also heard a discussion of examiner hot button topics and more advanced issues such as risk analyses and monitoring, financial statement analyses, credit presentations, loan participations and overall program management.
The league said there was also a discussion on the challenges and opportunities with their peers, and attendees had the opportunity to apply what they learned in hands-on exercises.
The member business services council coordinated its local business lending training with Mike Smith, vice president and senior business officer with CU Business Group, a business services and lending CUSO in Portland, Ore.
While 33 credit union in Louisiana offer MBLs, the league said there is strong interest out there and a great need for more information as many credit unions gear up to begin offering this service.
The MBSC was developed through a collaborative effort of the league and several member credit unions and is directed by an advisory committee of representatives from four Louisiana credit unions.
The council coordinates training opportunities for member credit unions, provides members with a resource website, email listserv, and regular news updates on issues relating to member business services, according to the Louisiana league.
