Whirlwind Awareness Tour at CUNA’s GACPosted by Miriam De Dios Woodward on March 21, 2017 We’re fresh off another exhilarating CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference. It was a terrific conference with what I believe was record attendance! While in the nation’s capital for the event, we were lucky enough to chat with several credit union leaders about the value and importance of serving the Hispanic financial consumer. As part of our whirlwind awareness tour, I got the chance to talk with CU Broadcast host Mike Lawson. We discussed quite a few things, including growth of the Hispanic population in places people may not expect. Credit unions in the Midwest, for example, are finding an explosion of the multi-faceted Hispanic communities in their areas to be a clear call to action. Take a listen to the conversation at CUBroadcast.com and download our white paper, “Hispanic Growth Strategies Not Just for ‘Gateway States’ Anymore.” Then, get in touch. I’d love to hear your impressions, as well as where your credit union is on its own path to better serving this influential and growing group of community members. Leave a comment One Credit Union’s Strategic, Collaborative Approach to Hispanic Member GrowthPosted by CCBlogAdmin on March 13, 2017 Sometimes the best way to lead a successful strategy is to have survived an unsuccessful one. That is precisely the spirit with which Anne Hagen is approaching her credit union’s second go at Hispanic membership growth. The vice president of marketing for Iowa’s Community 1st Credit Union, Hagen believes one of the biggest lessons learned from the cooperative’s first attempt was that a single champion of the program is not enough. “We identified how important it would be to serve the Hispanic community back in 2007,” said Hagen. “When we lost the key person leading that effort, however, the program fizzled out. After continuing to evaluate the segment and truly understanding how underserved it is, we knew we had to try again.” President and CEO Greg Hanshaw explained that the calling to do more is rooted in the credit union’s 80-year history. “Our goal as an organization has always been to personify the credit union philosophy of people helping people. Although that can sound cliché, it’s the real deal around here. And it’s a huge part of why we felt years ago it was critically important to reach the Hispanic market.” CU Recognizes Need for Grassroots Leadership
“When David came to the credit union, he did not sit back,” said Hagen. “He immediately identified those areas where we weren’t doing enough for the community and started building initiatives from scratch. He spearheaded partnership with Coopera to help us learn best practices and with local Hispanic organizations to get us connected to the community in a grassroots way.” According to Hagen, Suarez has a knack for explaining to community members how a credit union can help. “His message really resonates with the Hispanic people in the communities we serve.” The result has been close relationships with many credit union members, many of whom attribute their financial successes to his guidance. That knack for explaining extends to Suarez’s influence inside the credit union. “One thing I’ve learned from David is a lot of the folks in Iowa have come from cultures and backgrounds where they didn’t trust the financial system that was built to provide those types of services,” said Hanshaw. “So we have an opportunity to show what a not-for-profit cooperative is and how it is uniquely built to provide services to people who may not meet the right criteria at a traditional financial institution.” To read more about Community 1st all-in approach to Hispanic membership growth, download “Hispanic Member Growth Not Just for ‘Gateway States’ Anymore.” Leave a comment |
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