The Year of ‘To Be Announced’

Keeping a stash of face masks in the car is a concept that last-August me would have found ridiculous. Last-August me was focused on the NCUA’s new Chairman Rodney Hood and his ideas on financial inclusion. Last-August me did a deep dive on the state of financial education of kids in school. Last-August me was living out of a backpack at my parents’. This-August me is just hoping Major League Baseball can pull off a shortened 60-game season. We’re just over a week into the season and it’s already not looking very promising. Postponed games due to players testing positive for COVID-19 and even line-up cards have some position players listed as “to be announced.”

Action and inaction have played a big role in our lives this year. I’d like to take some time to recognize those who’ve taken action to find solutions, despite the odds and despite the challenges. Those people who push us forward, despite the overwhelming nature of this year – the year of “to be announced.”

Chief Operations Officers

To those COOs out there, hats off to you. You are the on-the-ground version of an events planner for your credit union. Your job changed from defense to offense, and possibly a hybrid of both, within hours. Many of you were the ones who advised your executive teams to shut down branches in March. You created emergency teams to thoughtfully and safely attempt to re-open branches and safely allow your staff to resume services for your members. Despite the fact that your credit union was deemed “an essential business,” the weight of the viability of your credit union as related to the health risks must have and continue to take a significant toll on you and your team.

I’ve witnessed first-hand the logistical “to be announced” aspect of scheduling employees, what-if scenarios and the pure nightmare of simply trying to secure PPEs and cleaning supplies for your branches. The actions you’ve taken are impressive, even when things go wrong. You’ve made some tough decisions even when you, like many of us, wanted to just sleep and hide from the pandemic world. You’re doing your best to keep things moving forward and I applaud your efforts.

Chief Lending Officers

Wow, what an exhausting year for you so far. “Emergency” has been the word of the year for you: Emergency lending programs, forbearance for your members, economic injury disaster loans and the chaos (especially in the early days) of the rollout of the Paycheck Protection Program. You, my friend, have been on the front lines and not simply sitting by watching the economic world crumble. You have been pushing your team and yourself to find creative lending ideas for your members while looking at the shrinking bottom line. You are doing your best for your members, and the small businesses and struggling families in your community. I have friends and some family who’ve benefited from your emergency loans and forbearance programs. The next big challenge for you will come pretty quickly with this expected wave of evictions and lapses in extra unemployment benefits for the tens-of-millions who’ve lost their jobs since March. And that ­180-day forbearance time is also running out. There’s a lot coming at you in the second half of this year that will be even more challenging than the first half of 2020. I don’t know what the credit union answer will be for those problems, but I feel confident that you can find some real, smart and creative solutions.

Chief Economists

This goes out to CUNA, CUNA Mutual Group, NCUA and NAFCU and the incredible number-crunching that has gone on with you and your wonderfully nerdy teams who are a little too good at Excel spreadsheets. Since February, you have been working your collective butts off with the rapidly-changing economic numbers inside the credit union space. For you, maybe you were just a little too excited to witness such historic and tectonic economic shifts? No one would blame you for that at all. I mean, new history has been written each week for months now.

We have relied on and trusted your math and projections – even when things were changing negatively on a nearly daily basis. You are the closest we get to scientists for credit unions. Each day you’re looking at, analyzing, studying and comparing ­historical ­economic data to help explain what’s really going on with our credit unions and their members. And your data collection, like a baseball statistical genius, helps us all see what has happened, might happen and what we should expect in the months ahead.

I want to personally say how much I’ve enjoyed watching CUNA Mutual Group Chief Economist Steve Rick’s monthly videos from home. Steve, your hair was envious before the pandemic and now your shelter-at-home mane is approaching a new and lengthy phase. Will we see a man bun in next month’s video? I can’t wait to find out because this is how desperate I am for new online content … and I’m here for it.

Chief Marketing Officers

So many questions: Do we continue with our messaging? Do we adjust our marketing plans? How can we show our members that we are here to help?

The amount of mask-wearing community giving events we have witnessed has been inspiring. You’ve continued your work and showing your value (which can be hard even in normal times) to your credit union and to the people, members and consumers in your area. As your community events and regular sponsorships of concerts and celebrations quickly came to a halt, you pressed on to find other ways to connect and share the trusted credit union brand with your world. Keep doing what you do even when you’re feeling frustrated and every day feels like Tuesday. What you do is important and has lasting positive impacts.

There’s one thing all of these jobs have in common, and it’s the “to be announced” aspect. What will your branch operations look like in four months? To be announced. What will the financial outlook be for credit unions in December? To be announced. What will your members need to know about your credit union in January? To be announced.

I give you all the biggest thanks and appreciation for taking action when it was needed. There’s a reason you all are in your jobs – you’re good at it. What happens next will require even more from you and your teams. Thank you and stay safe.

Michael Ogden is editor-in-chief for CU Times. He can be reached at mogden@cutimes.com.