Dakota CU Association Holds In-Person Convention Despite Being in a COVID Hotspot

While the pandemic forced many credit union leagues to cancel or postpone their annual meetings, with some opting to go virtual, the Dakota Credit Union Association decided to hold its annual meeting in person in South Dakota last week, despite the fact that the state and North Dakota had become COVID-19 hotspots.

“I’m glad we did it. I think that the comments from our members that attended were glad we did it,” Dakota Credit Union Association President/CEO Jeff Olson said. “I was nervous about it. I’m still holding my breath a little bit to see how this works out, but I think when it all is said and done, I think we’ll be glad that we did what we did and the precautions we put in place. So far, knock on wood, it worked. It will help us plan for next year.”

The respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 typically appear an average of five to six days after exposure, but they may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The DCUA convention was held on Oct. 5 and 6. Olson said during an interview with CU Times on Monday that he has not heard of anyone coming down with the coronavirus following the annual meeting attended by more than 100 credit union professionals.

While the number of coronavirus cases were among the lowest in the country in the Dakotas for months, things began to change in September when the Associated Press and local media outlets reported that COVID-19 infection rates were growing faster in those states than anywhere in the country.

Currently, North Dakota is ranked second in the nation in the number of COVID-19 cases with 3,716 cases per 100,000 people. South Dakota is ranked sixth in the nation with 3,279 cases per 100,000 as of Wednesday, according to the CDC. The national average is 2,353 cases per 100,000.

However, over the last seven days, as of Wednesday, North Dakota and South Dakota ranked first and second in the number of COVID-19 cases, 72.8 and 70.1, per 100,000, the CDC reported.

Fortunately, the number of deaths per 100,000 in the Dakotas has been relatively low. The national average is 65 deaths per 100,000. North Dakota is ranked 25th in the nation with 46 deaths per 100,000, and South Dakota is ranked 37th in the country with 32 deaths per 100,000, according to the CDC’s data as of Wednesday.

Nationally, the number of new coronavirus cases has been rising from about 30,000 to 35,000 in September to about 50,000 new cases each day in October, and the number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing in 33 states, according to public health officials.

Because of the COVID-19 shutdown earlier this year, DCUA cancelled its convention originally scheduled for May. But before deciding to hold its convention in Sioux Falls, S.D., last week, Olson twice surveyed DCUA credit union members soon after the schools opened in September when COVID-19 cases began to rise.

“When the COVID numbers started going up on a daily basis, we realized we better look at this again,” Olson said. “We actually did two surveys to members, and the majority of folks said, ‘Yes, we’ll come to Sioux Falls.’ Our attendance was about 65% of what it normally is. We thought that was pretty good and it turned out really well.”

Olson said two credit unions asked, “Are you sure you want to do this/?” They also said they discontinued travel for their employees because of the coronavirus concerns and would not attend the convention.

The convention center and its adjoining hotel had COVID-19 safety protocols in place and the meeting rooms were set up so that the 106 credit union attendees and vendors could socially distance. The association handed out masks and hand sanitizer. Everyone was required to wear masks in public spaces.

Photos taken during the convention that were posted on DCUA’s website showed that some people were wearing masks or social distancing, and some people were not wearing masks or social distancing during some of events.

Olson explained that people who sat together were those who came from the same credit union and stayed together during the events.

“There wasn’t a lot of ‘I’m going to network with somebody new,’’’ he said. “It was people that more than likely had come from the same credit union.”

DCUA also abbreviated the convention from two-and-a-half days to one-and-a-half days. On Oct. 5, the association held a golf event and vendor social event in the evening.

On Oct. 6, the convention hosted a full day of events with speakers, breakout sessions and other activities, ending with the annual business meeting and an awards banquet.

Olson acknowledged that because DCUA is a small organization, serving 71 credit unions, it made the convention more manageable, though it might be more challenging for leagues that serve hundreds of credit unions.

“We’re smaller and we thought we can do this by protecting ourselves and mitigating the risks to make this work,” he said. “Somebody was going to have to be the first one to do this some day, so we said hey, we’re going to do this. We just had to take that leap of faith.”