In an industry first, CU Strategic Planning has been tapped by the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, a leading advocate for women on economic and leadership issues, to find the right credit union to serve its more than 500,000 members' needs.
"This really is a unique opportunity for the right credit union to transform its operations and provide existing and new members with a great benefit," Mike Beall, senior consultant for CU Strategic Planning, said.
For USWCC CEO and Co-Founder Margot Dorfman, the move to partner with an existing credit union represents a dynamic way to address business challenges for American women and small business owners.
According to the 2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN, women entrepreneurs now own 30% of all enterprises in the United States. As of 2015, there are slightly more than 9.4 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., yet, these account for only 4.23% of business revenues, which is roughly the same amount they contributed in 1997. In addition, 70% of women-owned firms have less than $25,000 in revenue and only 10% have paid employees.
"We aren't looking for the largest credit union, we are looking for the right credit union with which to build a portfolio of women's and small business-friendly loans and services, and in return, drive our membership to this credit union," she said. "A win-win for everyone."
The two organizations said the ideal credit union partner would have between $20 million and $100 million in assets, and be interested in developing business services to meet the needs of USWCC members and small businesses. Candidates are not required to have existing business lending products and expertise, but they must express their dedication to expanding their product and service offerings in their partnership proposal. They must also demonstrate a willingness to invest in their future with the backing of their board of directors and senior leadership.
Interested credit unions should send an email that includes their name, charter number, CEO's name and contact information (email and phone number) by Feb. 15, 2016 to Beall at [email protected] with the subject: USWCC Intent to Respond to RFP. Credit unions will also need to complete the USWCC's Request for Proposal Application, which gathers more in-depth information regarding capacity and culture, by March 31, 2016.
All questions and proposal requests must go through CU Strategic Planning. The USWCC will consider well-qualified applications as they are submitted. If a credit union has not already been selected prior to the deadline, final telephone interviews will take place during the week of April 11-15, 2016.
No more than three final candidates will be selected based on the telephone interviews. Each will receive an invitation to meet with USWCC's CEO and executive team at its headquarters in Washington on or before May 17, 2016.
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