COLUMBIA, Md. — In a new one-on-one venture to help out volunteers at small credit unions, the Maryland/D.C. Chairmen's Forum said last week it is hosting a Sept. 14 meeting in Laurel to provide management guidance by which large CUs can be paired with smaller institutions. "Since the merger of the Maryland League and the D.C. Credit Union Association, we felt there's a whole group of chairmen and vice chairmen at smaller credit unions who might find it helpful to gain the advice of peers at larger credit unions," explained David H. Gilbert, chairman of Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union. Gilbert, who serves as one of the coordinators for the Sept. 14 meeting and reception to be held at a branch of the $1 billion Tower Federal Credit Union, said the session would focus on current issues impacting the industry as well as review governance and education problems. The chairman of Tower FCU, George Cumberledge, said the goal of the Chairmen's Forum is to get wider participation among volunteers in work being done by the organization, which is not formally affiliated with the MDDCCUA, but has lent space for meetings. Solicitation of D.C. and Maryland CUs began in earnest last June during the annual convention in Ocean City, said Cumberledge. The Chairmen's Forum meets four times a year in a networking and training format.

Gilbert said the reception Sept. 14 will be organized in an informal give-and-take structure "where we talk about ourselves in a kind of group therapy discussing what we've been trying to do to survive."