BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — Seeking to raise both education levels and networking skills of volunteers, the chairman and vice chairman of two New Jersey credit unions disclosed plans for a new Northeast "Chairmen's Group."
The new organization, which will draw on experiences of similar groups operating in Maryland and the District of Columbia and with close ties to the National Association of Credit Union Chairmen, is set to hold its first meeting in April and will solicit members from three Northeast states, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In letters and e-mails sent to NACUC members in those states, the two volunteers, Peter Bruno and Michael Kzirian, said chartering of the new group is a vital step toward increasing the knowledge base of directors on such issues as field of membership "overlap", mutual bank conversions and mergers.
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"We need to be informed on issues arising from changes in technology, products and services, security, finance management and only then can we effectively manage our respective credit unions," explained Bruno, who is chairman of Financial Resources Federal Credit Union of Bridgewater. He is joined in the Northeast "Chairmen's Group" project by Kzirian, vice chairman of Affinity Federal Credit Union of Basking Ridge.
Bruno said an organizational meeting to form a separate NACUC chapter and patterned after the successful "Chairmen's Forum" started several years ago among Maryland/District of Columbia CUs will be held at an April date to be determined at a north Jersey location. Once organized, the Northeast Chairmen's Group would meet quarterly.
The new group, wrote Bruno in his Jan. 2 letter, would have flexibility "to deal with political issues pro-actively, since we can charter ourselves accordingly if we so choose."
In a statement, Bruno and Kzirian said for months they have been conferring with Wesley Bone, chairman of First Financial Federal Credit Union of Maryland and a past NACUC chairman, "who successfully organized a regional chapter that includes chairmen from Maryland and Washington, D.C."
The statement said the Northeast chapter "would add continuity to the networking and discussion quality gained at the annual Chairman's Group Roundtable" during NACUC's national conference.
Roundtable members, as they do in Maryland/D.C., "exchange information and ideas on specific topics selected in advance by the membership," said the statement.
Apart from "pro-active participation in the local and national political process", the group could also have these topics on its first-meeting agenda:
o"NCUA approval of expanding/overlapping field of membership."
o"Small credit unions are rapidly diminishing in number through mergers, receivership, charter conversions etc. What is the impact on the underserved?"
o"Bankers' legal and political pressure to tax credit unions: are we helping?"
The Bruno/Kzirian letter said it was writing to Northeast chairmen to gauge "if there is sufficient interest" in chartering such a group "to provide networking educational opportunity on topics relevant to our section of the country."
The group would follow "the discussion leader concept to keep us on point and assure participation," the letter concluded. –[email protected]
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