BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — One important lesson learned from the Wings/Continental controversy for volunteers: communicate frequently and clearly to members while staying tuned to their concerns.
That was one of the conclusions reached by a group of East Coast directors and chairmen convened here for the spring conclave of the fledgling Northeast Credit Union Chairmen's Forum, which like other industry trade groups denounced the hostile takeover as anathema to the CU mission.
"The unthinkable can happen," warned Peter Bruno, chairman of Financial Resources Federal Credit Union, in sounding a volunteer alarm over the withdrawn attempt by Minnesota-based Wings to forcibly acquire another airline CU in suburban Los Angeles.
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Bruno was one of the leaders in the Northeast CU Forum meeting and idea exchange which included a teleconference feed with chairmen representing the National Association of Credit Union Chairmen on a hookup with volunteers in four states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.
The participants, meeting in a roundtable format patterned after the much larger annual fall NACUC conference, discussed an array of volunteer issues but Wings/Continental demonstrated the need for chairmen to "get much closer to their members" through newsletters and other vehicles, said Bruno. In addition, the volunteers lauded NCUA for "doing the right thing" in entering the case though "they got off to a slow start," said Bruno.
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