By Ron Jooss
Last week I attended CUES' Basics of Business Lending Seminar in beautiful Milwaukee. Providing members with business services presents many challenges and an equal amount of opportunities for credit unions. But just as importantly, at least as far as CUES' mission is concerned, it also presents a huge opportunity for credit union employees.
The financial services marketplace has a real shortfall of business bankers right now, according to Jim Devine, founder, chairman and CEO of Hipereon, Inc., who led the seminar. The folks taking part in the seminar backed him up. "And, Devine said, "the banks are as hungry for them as you are."
With its three-week School of Business Lending, CUES offers credit unions a way to begin filling this void. After sitting in on Devine's seminar, I'm confident that participants in the CUES school will leave with the knowledge and know-how they need to help lead their credit unions' business services initiatives. Devine's equally as confident.
"Every nickel you put into the CUES school, you'll get your value back," he told seminar participants on the first day.
Devine's the right guy to lead the school. First, he's a former business banker, with Seattle First National Bank, back in the '70s and '80s. He's a faculty co-chair at the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He consults with and teaches both banks and credit unions, but he's nondenominational. Devine told the seminar participants he doesn't have a preference for working with credit unions or banks; he's just interested in helping financial institutions help small business.
But Devine has more than business banking experience; he's worked in the business world as well, and he's got the scars to prove it. He wrote the original business plan for Costco. He ran his own construction business. He's like your favorite teacher in college. Every example he provides is a story that captures your attention and ends with an important lesson.
Oh, if you're worried about Devine's credit union knowledge, he's spent plenty of time with NCUA regulators and he knows exactly what they expect when it comes to credit union members business services.
I have yet to meet Bob Hogan, founder, president and COO of Hipereon and Devine's co-facilitator at the CUES School of Business Lending, but my fellow CUESers tell me he provides a good complement to Levine's pragmatic style.
Again, if you're a credit union executive looking to increase your value—both to your credit union and in terms of salary—getting into business lending is a good bet.
If your credit union has members who own businesses, and as net margins remain razor thin, business services are a critical way to grow the bottom line.
And, finally, if credit unions have as much goodwill with members as they believe they do (and research indicates) getting those members to do their business banking with them should be a cinch—if the credit unions can demonstrate their business expertise. Credit unions, with their new community-oriented scope, are competing with banks for expertise that doesn't exist, yet.
Devine said it best: "You're going to have to grow your own talent and find a way to keep them."
Ron Jooss edits the General Management and Board sections of CUES' Credit Union Management magazine.
