ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The next Access Across America Economic Empowerment Summit is slated for Feb. 9 in Des Moines, Iowa. The one-day conference is free of charge and all credit unions in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin were invited to attend. It will focus on federal resources available to all credit unions. The summit aims to enhance credit unions' abilities to expand financial services to their members by partnering with other federal agencies and non-profit organizations. Participating organizations will include the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Small Business Administration, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. The Economic Empowerment Summit will cover financial education, member business lending, Health Savings Accounts, homeownership, and serving underserved areas. “We look forward to kicking off the New Year with a successful summit in Des Moines and plan to host others throughout the country in 2005,” NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson said. “This is an example of how popular the Access Across America initiative has become among credit unions exploring new opportunities to reach out to the underserved.” The Iowa Credit Union League and the Iowa Credit Union Foundation are co-sponsoring the workshop. “NCUA is pleased to co-sponsor this event with the Iowa Credit Union League and the Iowa Credit Union Foundation as part of their conference. This first summit of 2005 will bring together public and private entities to discuss economic outreach, particularly outreach to rural communities,” Johnson said.