NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – NACUSO has appointed four Advisory Boards to provide input and advice to the NACUSO Board in a variety of service areas CUSOs are active in. The four include: the Financial Services Advisory Board (for investments, insurance and trust services); the Business Services Advisory Board for business lending, depository and ancillary services; the Consumer Lending Services Advisory Board for indirect lending, mortgage lending, student lending and collections; and the Operational Services Advisory Board for data processing, disaster recovery, shared branching and management services. NACUSO Chairwoman Ava Milosevich said NACUSO realizes that "while there are common points of interest in offering any type of service in a collaborative endeavor, each one has concerns that are unique. Through these Advisory Boards we hope to lean those particular needs so that we may address them in our conference agenda and through other support services." Each Advisory Board has a NACUSO Board liaison, and so far members of two of the four Advisory Boards have been selected: NACUSO Board member Pete Snyder, COO and Operations Manager, Addison Avenue FCU, is the liaison for the Financial Services Advisory Board. Members include: Keith Pipes, Wescom CU; Bill Partin, Vista FCU; Michele Dean, Bethpage FCU; Sandra deChastain, Orange County Teachers FCU; Barry Hughes, IBM Southeast Employees FCU; and Scott Jenner, The Golden 1 CU. For the Business Services Advisory Board, NACUSO Board member and Counter Intelligence Associates President/COO Mike Hales is the liaison. The members include: Pierre Cardenas, IBM Texas Employees FCU; Keith Reed, Cooperative Business Services, LLC; Dan Bleil, Spectrum Business Resources LLC; Dave Dunn, Taber-Dunn Consulting; Dave Coggins, The Business Lending Group; and Bill Beardsley, Michigan Business Connection LC. Snyder said the Financial Services Advisory Board will be "proactive rather than reactive and will work to create further collaboration between NACUSO members and members of the Bank Insurance & Securities Association (BISA). In one of its first moves, at the upcoming BISA Annual Conference, Snyder will facilitate a Credit Union Peer Group Meeting co-hosted by NACUSO and BISA. The event on March 7 will feature the NACUSO Financial Services Advisory Board and is entitled "Current and Timely Investment/Insurance Program Issues Discussion and Investment Program Performance Metrics and Benchmarks." Hales said the Business Services Advisory Board will allow the NACUSO Board to focus on the unique needs of CUSOs that serve the small business market. There is nothing cookie-cutter about business services CUSOs, said Hales. Even though some core processes may be the same, those members who come to them for loans and other help really want someone who understands the regional influences and conditions under which they operate, he explained. We need to know what they need so that we can help them find the answers, Hales said. The Advisory Boards will be appointed annually. NACUSO intends to complete the appointments to the remaining two Advisory Boards and name the NACUSO Board liaisons before the NACUSO 2006 Annual Conference May 15-18. -

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