Federation promoting retired execs as resource.

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions is promoting the idea of community development credit unions using retired credit union executives as resources, particularly through an organization called Credit Union Retired Executives.

CURE is a virtual network of retired credit union executives who volunteer their time and expertise to provide free, confidential advice to all credit union professionals.

While the average CDCU tends to be smaller, many provide a full array of financial products and services to their members, services that are often considered "complex" by the credit union's regulators, the National Federation said. Tack-on constantly changing regulations and requirements that must be met by all CDCUs, regardless of their size and capacity, and one can begin to imagine just how difficult it can be to successfully operate a credit union dedicated to serving the poorest members of our nation.

"CDCU managers can benefit from specialized advice, which has typically been available at a cost that puts that knowledge out of reach for most CDCUs," explained National Federation Director of Membership Services Pablo DeFilippi. "All credit union professionals will benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of CURE's network, and we are pleased to encourage our member credit unions to take advantage of this service."

"Given the challenging times facing all credit unions, and particularly CDCUs, this resource is more important than ever," said National Federation President/CEO Cliff Rosenthal. "This showcases the fundamental principles of cooperation inherent in our credit union system, and we are confident that this initiative will make the expertise and sophistication of mainstream credit unions much more accessible to CDCUs."[e-mail]