ARLINGTON, Va. – NASCUS has named Jim Blaine, president/CEO, State Employees' CU, Raleigh, N.C. chair of the association's new six-member Alternative Capital Task Force. Besides Blaine, the other five members of the task force are: Jim Jordon, president/CEO, Ascension School Employees CU, Gonzales, La.; Mike Osborne, vice president, finance/accounting, First Technology CU, Beaverton, Ore; Roger Little, director, Credit Union Division, Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services; Chip Filson, president, Callahan & Associates; and Jerrie Lattimore, administrator of the North Carolina Credit Union Division and NASCUS Chair. Credit unions are restricted from ways they can raise and use alternative capital because it is not included in retained earnings, said Lattimore, and that's restricting their growth. "Credit unions need options if they want to move forward," said Lattimore. "They can't do that if they're stuck with the current definition of alternative capital." She added that half of the states give state-chartered credit unions the tools to raise capital, but that doesn't count towards their net worth. Lattimore stressed that alternative capital was "not a way to get around prompt corrective action (PCA)." Instead, "it's a way to use capital to provide revenue that allows for growth."