Don’t Feed the Sharks, Credit Unions are their Prey
by: Brad Roteman, Vice President Member Advocacy, Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union
The sharks are in the water. You can feel the frenzy in the water. They are circling their prey. Their teeth are showing. And, credit unions are their prey!
Regulators, politicians, and bankers more and more often call us part of a broad banking industry. Our own leadership often falls into step by describing the credit union movement in “industry” terms. All the while, bankers smile broadly, their teeth gleaming like the sharks’ teeth in the water, as they see our movement slowly slide into a brand identity they want for us.
We need to learn from this presidential election cycle. Obama’s Chicago brain-trust early on determined to define Romney in the public mind as out of touch with the average American. They spent the summer artfully painting him as caring exclusively about the one percent. At every turn the Obama team attacked their opponent as lacking compassion and for being disdainful of hard working, less affluent Americans.
Then came Romney’s sound bites that supported the portrait the Obama team had so skillfully painted of him. He said he enjoyed firing people. He said corporations were people. The Obama shark team smiled broadly with every misstep and pounced upon the now infamous video referring to the 47%. They had succeeded, in Chicago, in portraying Romney as they intended. The gap between the candidates grew and solidified.
Next year the credit union tax exemption and additional regulation of the financial services industry will be considered by a new Congress. Do we want them looking at us as just another part of a banking industry? Or, do we want them to view us as a “movement” that provides fairness and opportunity to American citizens and voters who have far too often been victimized by the banking industry?
The answer is obvious, isn’t it? It is time to celebrate who we are. It is time to reaffirm the credit union movement and it’s values. It is time to define ourselves. If we do, we will survive the attack the sharks are preparing for us. Credit unions are “People Helping People” – a MOVEMENT not an industry.
Brad Roteman has served HSFCU since February 2005. He is a former district sales manager with Bankers Systems, Inc., now Walters Klewer Financial Services. Brad has won numerous awards for sales excellence and sales management. He has been a featured speaker for many organizations both within and outside of the credit union industry. www.hsfcu1.org
