Iowa Credit Union Convention Offered Full Program, Awards and Featured Governor Rick Perry

CONTACT: Emily Caropreso, Director of Communications and Marketing
515-221-3015
emilyc@iowacreditunions.com

Des Moines, IA—More than 350 credit union representatives attended the Iowa Credit Union Annual Convention held September 14-16 in Des Moines.

Presidential Candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry addressed the crowd on Friday and commented on the difficulty in accessing capital for small businesses l and stated that, “now is the time to consider increasing the member business lending cap for credit unions.” Such a move which would inject $13 billion in loans into the national economy and create as many as 140,000 new jobs, with no cost to taxpayers.

“You serve small businesses and you need to have that member business lending cap raised. That is an arbitrary number that someone said was 12 percent, and why its 12 percent no one can answer,” said Governor Perry.

“We were very pleased to hear Governor Perry’s support for raising the member business lending cap,” said Patrick S. Jury, President and CEO, Iowa Credit Union League. “This is a common-sense solution that should be advanced by Congress and, hopefully, the attention provided to the issue by Governor Perry today will aid in growing bi-partisan support for the issue.”

Iowa credit union attendees also heard Aaron Thomas’ inspirational story of courage, passion and overcoming the odds. Aaron’s father, the late Ed Thomas, was a much-loved coach and pillar of the community who helped his town recover in the wake of a deadly tornado. Just a short time later, Ed was killed by a mentally ill former player. Aaron spoke about how to deal with adversity and set important goals to live a meaningful life.

Other educational sessions focused on compliance issues, marketing and business development, crisis communications, financial education, governance and more. Speakers included Mike Schenk, CUNA; Mark Arnold, On the Mark Strategies; Brent Dixon, Filene Research Institute; John Vardallas, The American Boomer Group; and Jim Power of CUNA Mutual Group among many others.

ICUL’s Annual Meeting awards ceremony recognized three individuals for their contributions to the credit union industry. Below are the award winners.

Heritage Award

Larry Nuss received the 2011 Heritage Award for lifetime achievement within the credit union industry. Nuss has been active within the credit union movement for more than 50 years. His past credit union involvement includes serving as Cedar Falls Community Credit Union’s CEO for more than 32 years as well as serving as chairman of the Iowa Credit Union League and as vice president and president of the Black Hack Chapter of Iowa credit unions, among others. Download Photo (from left to right: Joe Hearn, Iowa Credit Union League Board Chairman, Larry Nuss, retired CEO, Cedar Falls Community Credit Union, Pat Jury, President/CEO, Iowa Credit Union League).

Professional Cooperative Spirit Award

Tom Kuehl was presented with the 2011 Professional Cooperative Spirit Award in recognition of outstanding service, commitment and leadership in the credit union movement. Kuehl has been in the credit union industry for more than 30 years and has been a visionary leader, change agent and strong advocate for the movement. Most recently, Kuehl served as CEO for The Members Group and prior to that as CEO of Iowa Corporate Central Credit Union. Download Photo (from left to right: Joe Hearn, Iowa Credit Union League Board Chairman, Tom Kuehl, retired CEO, The Members Group, Pat Jury, President/CEO, Iowa Credit Union League).

Volunteer Cooperative Spirit Award

Financial Plus Credit Union Board Member Steve Williams received the 2011 Volunteer Cooperative Spirit award for his outstanding volunteer accomplishments in the credit union industry. A few of Williams’ involvements include serving as a board member, treasurer, audit, credit and chairperson of Financial Plus. During his 35 years of service to the industry, Williams has seen the credit union grow and develop tremendously, as well as the credit union movement itself. Download Photo (from left to right: Joe Hearn, Iowa Credit Union League Board Chairman, Steve Williams, Board Member, Financial Plus Credit Union, Pat Jury, President/CEO, Iowa Credit Union League).

The 2012 Iowa Credit Union Convention will be held September 19-21 in Coralville, Iowa.

The Iowa Credit Union League is the trade association that represents the interests of Iowa credit unions and their more than 900,000 members. Credit unions are not-for-profit, financial cooperatives owned and operated by their members. Iowans use their credit union membership to receive higher interest rates on savings and lower interest rates on loans. For more information on ICUL and Iowa credit unions, visit IowaCreditUnions.com. Follow ICUL on Twitter at www.twitter.com/icul or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iowalittleguy.

---